Sunrise Session: National Defence as a National Endeavour

CHAIR: Stephen Dziedzic, Foreign Affairs (Asia Pacific) Reporter, ABC News

PANELLIST: The Hon Peter Malinauskas MP, Premier of South Australia

Remarks by the Minister for Defence Industry and Minister for Pacific Island Affairs

CHAIR: Mike Hughes AIM, Director, Defence Strategy Program, Australian Strategic Policy Institute

PANELLIST: The Hon Pat Conroy MP, Minister for Defence Industry and Minister for Pacific Island Affairs

Keynote Address by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence

CHAIR: Justin Bassi, Executive Director, Australian Strategic Policy Institute

PANELLIST: The Hon Richard Marles MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence

Spotlight discussion with Hugh Jeffrey

CHAIR: David Wroe, Resident Senior Fellow, Australian Strategic Policy Institute

PANELLIST: Hugh Jeffrey, Deputy Secretary, Strategy, Policy, and Industry, Department of Defence

In conversation with Australia's Defence Chiefs

CHAIR: Courtney Stewart, Deputy Director, Defence Strategy Program, Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

PANELLISTS: Air Marshal Stephen Chappell DSC CSC OAM, Chief of Air Force; Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AO RAN, Chief of Navy; Vice Admiral Justin Jones AO CSC RAN, Chief of Joint Operations; and Lieutenant General Simon Stuart AO DSC, Chief of Army.

LTGEN Susan Coyle on delivering an objective integrated force

CHAIR: The Honourable Joel Fitzgibbon, Former Minister for Defence and Member for
Hunter

PANELLIST: Lieutenant General Susan Coyle AM CSC DSM, Chief of Joint Capabilities, Australian
Defence Force

James Paterson on the greatest risks to delivering the defence agenda

CHAIR: The Honourable Joel Fitzgibbon, Former Minister for Defence and Member for
Hunter

PANELLIST: Senator James Paterson, Shadow Minister for Defence and Liberal Senator for Victoria

SPI Defence Conference 2026: Mass Without Mass: Scaling Military Effect in the Future Force

CHAIR: Dr Shannon Zimmerman, Senior Lecturer in Strategic Studies, Centre for Future Defence and National Security, Deakin University

PANELISTS: Air Vice-Marshal Nicholas Hogan CSC, Head of Air Force Capability, Royal Australian Air Force; His Excellency Vasyl Myroshnychenko, Ambassador of Ukraine to Australia; Mark Palmer, Vice President, Vision Systems, Shield AI Presented by Shield AI

ASPI Defence Conference 2026: What Are We Deterring — And Is It Credible?

CHAIR: Courtney Stewart, Deputy Director, Defence Strategy Program, Australian Strategic Policy Institute

PANELISTS: Professor Peter J. Dean PhD SFHEA, General Sir Francis Hassett Chair of Military Studies, Australian War College and Professor of Strategic Studies, Australian National University; Markus Garlauskas, Director, Indo-Pacific Security Initiative, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council; Dr Lavina Lee, Director, Foreign Policy and Defence Program, United States Studies Centre

ASPI Defence Conference 2026: Industrial Resilience and Australia’s Freedom to Act

CHAIR: Dr Marigold Black, Senior Lecturer in War Studies, UNSW Canberra

PANELISTS: Matt Opie, Chief Executive, Defence SA; Jennifer Parker, Adjunct Professor of Practice, Defence and Security Institute, University of Western Australia and Principal and Founder, Barrier Strategic Advisory; Steven Thorpe, DSM, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Omni Executive Presented by the Sovereign Australian Prime Alliance (SAPA)

ASPI Defence Conference 2026: Allied Industrial Power: Securing Supply Chains & Capability at Speed

CHAIR: Kate Louis, Head of Defence and National Security, Australian Industry Group and Executive Director, Australian Industry Group Defence Council

PANELISTS: Dr Jennifer Moroney, Senior Political Scientist, RAND Corporation; Dr Osamu Nishiwaki, Director-General for Trade and Economic Security, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Dr Kristijonas Vizbaras, Co-founder, BROLIS Defence

ASPI Defence Conference 2026: Keynote session with David Johnston

CHAIR: Justin Bassi, Executive Director, Australian Strategic Policy Institute

PANELIST: Admiral David Johnston AC RAN, Chief of the Defence Force

ASPI Defence Conference 2026: The Role of Middle Powers in Securing a Free and Open Indo Pacific

CHAIR: Professor Maria Rost Rublee, Professor of International Relations, University of Melbourne

PANELISTS: Professor Renato Cruz De Castro, Distinguished Professor, Department of International Studies, De La Salle University; Raquel Garbers, Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Australian Strategic Policy Institute; Professor Bec Strating FAIIA, Director, La Trobe Centre for Global Security and Professor of International Relations, La Trobe University; His Excellency Ambassador Kazuhiro Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan to Australia

ASPI Defence Conference 2026: Space as a Warfighting Domain

CHAIR: Dr Malcolm Davis, Senior Analyst, Defence Strategy Program, Australian Strategic Policy Institute

PANELISTS: Motoya Nakamura, Head of Satellite Constellation Project Group, IHI Corporation; Major General Greg Novak AM, Commander, Defence Space Command, Department of Defence; Professor Melissa De Zwart, Deputy Director, ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space and Professor, Space Law and Governance, Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources, Adelaide University