Lowy Institute

Australia's appetite for methamphetamine and cocaine is reshaping Pacific communities, turning island nations into key transit points on a global drug superhighway, and exposing them to violence, corruption and addiction.
In this special panel discussion, the Lowy Institute's Oliver Nobetau is joined by three ABC Pacific Local Journalism Network reporters who have reported from the front lines of the crisis: Lice Movono in Fiji, Marian Kupu in Tonga, and Chrisnrita Aumanu-Leong in Solomon Islands. All three played a pivotal role in Foreign Correspondent's two-part investigation Cartel Paradise.
Drawing on their deep local knowledge and hard-won access, the reporters take us behind the scenes of a complex, multi-country collaboration. From gaining access to naval and intelligence operations in Fiji, to tracking narco subs in Solomon Islands, to examining how deportation policies are fuelling gang culture and drug networks in Tonga.
This event was recorded on Wednesday 22 April 2026.
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When Iran deterred shipping from the Strait of Hormuz following Operation Epic Fury, it sent shockwaves through global energy markets and exposed uncomfortable truths about Australia's dependence on maritime trade.

Jennifer Parker, a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute and former Royal Australian Navy warfare officer, joins Research Fellow Charlie Lyons-Jones to explain what a naval blockade means for the crisis. They also unpack Australia’s new National Defence Strategy and discuss why Australia’s surface combatant fleet is the smallest it's been since the 1950s.
This episode was recorded on Wednesday 15 April 2026.
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Geopolitical strategist Parag Khanna joins the Lowy Institute's Sam Roggeveen to make sense of a world in flux.
In a wide-ranging conversation recorded on the day President Trump declared the Iran war nearly over, the pair discuss what the conflict reveals about multipolarity, why Mark Carney's Davos speech resonated more than expected, and why every attempt to unwind globalisation ends up deepening it.
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British Cabinet Minister the Rt Hon Darren Jones MP joins the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove AM for a wide-ranging conversation about politics, power and the transatlantic relationship.
Serving as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Minister for Intergovernmental Relations, and Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, Jones is one of the most senior figures in PM Keir Starmer's government.
In this episode, Darren Jones and Michael Fullilove discuss the MP’s rise from a council estate in Bristol to the Cabinet table, the lessons UK Labour learned from Hawke and Keating, and why people shouldn't underestimate Keir Starmer.
They also cover the challenge posed by Nigel Farage's Reform UK party, the long shadow of Brexit, how Britain navigates its alliance with President Trump's America, and the strategic logic of AUKUS.
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Stephen Biegun, former US Deputy Secretary of State and Trump administration chief North Korea negotiator, joins the Lowy Institute's International Security Program Director Sam Roggeveen at the National Press Club in Canberra for a wide-ranging conversation on American foreign policy.
They discuss President Trump's worldview and its roots in the 1980s, the historical precedents behind US policy on Greenland, the war with Iran, nuclear proliferation, and the health of American democratic institutions.
Biegun brings four decades of experience in government and the private sector to bear on some of the most pressing questions in international affairs today.
More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.
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