Journalists specialising in security policy took part in a research trip to Australia organised by the KAS Media Programme Asia. The agenda began in Canberra with a conference on security policy in the Pacific, hosted by Bertil Wenger, director of the Regional Programme Australia and the Pacific. Speakers such as Japanese Ambassador Suzuki Kazuhiro, Jennifer Parker and David Andrews from the National Security Council, German Members of Parliament Tilman Kuban and Nicolas Zippelius, as well as Matthew Clarke from Deakin University, provided deep insights into the security architecture in the Pacific region and its challenges. The journalists from Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, and Germany then travelled to Perth to meet with security experts such as Kate O’Shaughnessy, Paul Haskel Dowland, and Helge Janicke, as well as entrepreneurs Karl Hofmann and Mike Deeks. Accompanied by Honorary Consul Gabriele Maluga, the group also visited the Luerssen Shipyard and the State War Memorial and were guests at the ANZAC House. The main takeaway: security has to be secured.
The group visiting the Australian War Memorial in Kings Park, Perth. Photograph by: Matt Jelonek