This is John Batchelor, conversation with my colleague Ronan Wordsworth of geopolitical futures

about the Second Island Chain in Oceania for a defense against the attack by the People's Liberation Army.

Ronan here describes what Australia is doing to prepare the Second Island Chain

since it's the anchor of the Second Island Chain,

extending from the Northern Mariana's all the way through

Papua New Guinea, the Solomons to Australia, and then west to the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean.

Australia's getting ready.

They're spending money a lot in the Northern Territory.

Here's Ronan Wordsworth to explain more of this tonight.

Yeah, so as part of the last federal budget in Australia, there was about 3.6 billion Australian dollars set aside for upgrades specifically of these northern bases, including increasing

including increasing resiliency, but then upgrading the runway is increasing

hangar space, increasing fuel storage, all these logistical things which will be needed to be able

to operate long-range operations out of them.

And then for future works, they've also been requested basically 14 to 18 billion dollars over the next decade, basically,

for future upgrades of these bases as well.

So we see that money going between, especially the Darwin and Townsville bases.

But then as you mentioned in the intro there some money in to upgrade the base on the

Cocos Islands which are very small islands in between, basically, Australia and Sri Lanka, if we imagine, in the Indian Ocean there,

so that that runway will then be able to accommodate long-range surveillance aircraft and long-range

drones, etc.

Again, to be able to help with logistics, to help with information and to overall increase the security

profile of the whole region there.

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