"What we want is sovereignty with real choices… and so self-reliance is the way," Hugh Jeffrey, deputy secretary for strategy, policy and industry, told the 2026 ASPI Defence Conference.
Hugh Jeffrey: sovereignty as political agency and real choices
Jeffrey framed sovereignty not as isolated self-sufficiency but as the political agency that gives leaders the capacity to act in the national interest. At the conference he argued for a "holistic approach" to national power and warned that "rules without power is a pipe dream." For Jeffrey, the value of alliances and partners is instrumental: they expand the space for choice and act as a force multiplier rather than a constraint on decision-making.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Admiral David Johnston on growing agency
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles put the dilemma plainly: "the decisions we make… will either increase sovereignty or decrease it." Admiral David Johnston, then chief of the defence force, echoed that emphasis on agency, declaring "we are a nation with agency." Both officials argued that careful defence strategy can expand the room in which leaders can exercise sovereignty—turning capability and posture choices into greater political freedom.
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Get a security leadAlliances, AUKUS, and partnerships from Papua New Guinea to Europe
Conference discussions made clear that alliances are central to the debate over how Australia builds agency. While current debates around AUKUS "rightly question what is being compromised and for what gain," those conversations sometimes become broad critiques of partnership itself. Jeffrey rejected the isolationist framing—calling it "sovereignty in a desert"—and pointed to Australia's network of relationships, "from our nearest neighbour in Papua New Guinea to the far end of the globe in Europe," as ways to increase strategic options.
Industry perspectives: Matt Opie and Steven Thorpe on control and resilience
Industry voices at the panel on industrial resilience stressed that sovereign industry should serve political agency. Matt Opie, chief executive of Defence SA, said the aim of sovereign industry was to give the prime minister and deputy prime minister "sovereignty over decision making." Steven Thorpe, managing director at national security support company OMNI Executive, pressed a complementary question: "What is it that we truly want to control in a time of need?" Those lines—decision-making authority and targeted control in crisis—underscore a broader policy tension.
The 2026 Defence Strategy and supporting strategic documents, the conference noted, outline sovereign priorities and self-reliance, but they do not specify how degrees of independence are to be calibrated. Participants suggested that greater clarity on how the government assesses dependence, risk, and the tradeoffs inherent in partnerships would improve public trust and the quality of debate.
What this means for the prime minister, the defence industry, and the Australian public
- The prime minister and deputy prime minister: their ability to choose courses of action is the yardstick for sovereignty; policy choices about alliances, force posture, and industrial priorities are tools for enlarging that space.
- The defence industry (Defence SA, OMNI Executive and others): industry exists to supply targeted control where it matters, shaping resilience around priorities that give leaders usable options in a crisis.
- The Australian public: public confidence depends on clearer government explanation of the tradeoffs—how much independence is sought, where control is prioritised, and how partnerships expand rather than erode agency.
Framing sovereignty as the capacity to make choices reframes familiar arguments about autarky and alliances. The 2026 conference consensus was plain: sovereignty is political agency, not isolation; alliances can be force multipliers; and industry should be calibrated to provide leaders with effective options. What remains open—and what the public needs to see made explicit—is the government’s method for calibrating degrees of independence and the explicit tradeoffs that accompany each choice.
Source: ASPI Strategist — "Sovereignty isn’t self-sufficiency. It’s the power to make choices"
