Preparing for a China war in Australia

The intensifying great power competition between the People’s Republic of China and the United States has meant the possibility of future war in the Indo-Pacific region has become a regular feature of Australia’s national discourse.

It is surprising, then, how little attention has been given to what day-to-day life could look like if a war actually did break out.

While such a war is not inevitable, scrutinizing what it might look like should be an urgent priority so we can take the necessary steps to improve Australia’s preparedness and, ultimately, our deterrence.

I previously worked in the Department of Defense, analyzing what would be required to mobilize Australia’s privately held industrial base and civil society to support various wartime scenarios.

From this experience, I believe the government has a detailed understanding of how war could impact domestic supplies of critical goods and international freight transporting supplies to Australia.

What is missing, however, is a frank engagement with industry and the public about the hardships that may arise during a crisis and how our industrial base needs to be recalibrated to address these vulnerabilities.

Shortage of critical goods

There are three categories of goods that would be most impacted by war:

• energy and fuel
• pharmaceuticals and raw materials
• smart devices and their components.

These are utterly indispensable to our daily lives and the continuity of our society. Yet, Australia currently lacks the ability to produce enough of these goods domestically to endure the supply disruptions that a conflict would bring.

For example, as a member of the International Energy Agency, Australia has an obligation to maintain sufficient reserves of refined fuel to meet its