Engineering the Northern Advantage: Innovation, Technology and the Systems Transformation of Northern Australia
Tracks
MacDonnell Room B & C
Ellery A
Ellery B
Ellery C
| Wednesday, August 5, 2026 |
| 11:50 AM - 12:15 PM |
Overview
Raelene Lockhorst, Deputy Director, National Security Programs, Australian Strategic Policy Institute
Speaker
Raelene Lockhorst
Deputy Director
National Security Programs, Australian Strategic Policy Institute
Engineering the Northern Advantage: Innovation, Technology and the Systems Transformation of Northern Australia
Presentation Overview
Northern Australia is no longer a frontier economy defined by distance and constraint; it is emerging as a decisive platform for national resilience, productivity and strategic advantage. Innovation and technology will determine whether the north remains a peripheral supplier of raw inputs or becomes an integrated engine of value creation across energy, critical minerals, agriculture and defence. The challenge is not invention, but system transformation. Digital infrastructure, automation, and advanced processing must be aligned with logistics, workforce, capital and policy settings to unlock scale and speed. Fragmented approaches will fail. Governments must act as system orchestrators, industry must invest with long-term intent, and partnerships with Indigenous communities must be embedded from the outset. The opportunity is clear: build competitive, sovereign industrial ecosystems in the north that deliver economic growth while strengthening Australia’s strategic posture in an increasingly contested region.
Biography
Raelene Lockhorst is Deputy Director of the National Security Program at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), where she leads research on the strategic role of Northern Australia in Australia’s defence posture and national resilience, with a particular emphasis on logistics networks, fuel security, critical minerals, and the infrastructure required to support Defence operations alongside regional economic development.
Raelene is a regular contributor to The Strategist and has authored major reports on Northern Australia’s defence ecosystem, national resilience and supply chain security. She works closely with government, industry and academia and has led strategic dialogues and research programs on contested logistics, civil–military resilience and the development of Northern Australia’s industrial base, focusing on how dual-use infrastructure, industrial capability and workforce development enable Australia’s security and economic resilience in the context of strategic resources and critical minerals.
