Revealing Secrets and the Signals Intelligence Ties That Bind

The AUKUS trilateral security arrangements between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States mark a profound step in deepening security ties between three long-standing, English-speaking democracies, but this didn't occur in a vacuum. An examination of the realm of Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) in the context of Australia and its connections with the 'Five Eyes' intelligence network, is not widely understood, but goes a long way to explain how it happened. This talk provides a rarely seen glimpse into America's Down Under SIGINT partnership and helps explain how such a compact could be contemplated and why it is unlikely to be replicated.

Speaker and Presenter Information

John Blaxland is Professor of International Security and Intelligence Studies and Director of the ANU North America Liaison Office. He is a former military intelligence officer, who started his career as a Royal Australian Corps of Signals satellite and HF radio troop commander. He later served as Australian defence attach� to Thailand and Myanmar, and exchange officer at the US Defense Intelligence Agency as well as deputy director of the Military Sigint Operations centre at the Defence Signals Directorate (now Australian Signals Directorate). He has written several books including Signals Swift and Sure: A History of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals, 1947-1972 (1998), and two volumes of the three-volume official history of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization. Recently, he was co-author of The US-Thai Alliance and Asian International Relations (Routledge 2021) and Revealing Secrets: An Unofficial History of Australian Signals Intelligence and the Advent of Cyber (NewSouth Publishing, 2023).