Australia’s Defence Strategy Exposed — Are We Ready?
From The Karl Stefanovic Show by Karl Stefanovic
April 17, 2026 · 50 min · Season 1 · Episode 37
About this episode
The episode discusses Australia's latest defence strategy and its adequacy in addressing current threats with insights from former Defence Minister Mike Kelly and Brigadier Ian Langford.
Australia has released its latest defence strategy — but serious questions remain.In this episode, Karl sits down with former Defence Minister Mike Kelly and one of Australia’s most decorated soldiers, Brigadier Ian Langford to break down what the plan gets right — and where it falls short.The world is rearming. Conflict is evolving fast.But Australia’s response is being challenged on speed, scale and urgency.This conversation covers:Why the new defence strategy may not match the current threatThe reality of modern warfare — drones, cyber and asymmetric attacksThe growing gap between long-term planning and immediate capabilityWhy Australian defence and innovation talent is being forced overseasThe lack of local investment — and what it means for national securityWhether AUKUS is coming at the cost of today’s military capability“Invariably what happens is these companies have to go to the US or Europe to be solvent.”Australia has the talent.The question is why we’re not backing it here.Thank you to R5 for giving me the energy to train. Try it with me at https://revive5.com.au/karl and use the code Karlos for 20% off.
People in this episode
Host: Karl Stefanovic
Guests: Mike Kelly, Brigadier Ian Langford
Topics covered
- Australia's defence strategy
- military capability
- modern warfare
- national security
- defence innovation
- AUKUS
Keywords
- defence strategy
- military
- drones
- cyber attacks
- asymmetric warfare
- national security
- AUKUS
- innovation
- investment
Sponsors
R5
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: AUKUS
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