By Ethan James

Australia risks being unable to properly protect its “rightful resources” in Antarctica if it doesn’t adopt a more focused approach and boost funding, a report says.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has called on the federal government to develop a specific polar strategy and appoint a polar ambassador.

Australia’s Antarctic territory covers about 42 per cent of the frozen continent – 5.9 million square kilometres – and contains three research stations.

Report author and Australian polar geopolitics expert Elizabeth Buchanan believes the federal government’s current 20-year Antarctic plan is outdated and falls short.

The country faces challenges in the region as superpowers including China, India and Russia increase their presence, Dr Buchanan says.

An Antarctic treaty, set up in 1959, stipulates the continent is a demilitarised zone dedicated exclusively to peaceful purposes and scientific cooperation.

There is a ban on mining but from 2048 onwards countries could trigger reviews or push for changes to treaty protocols.

“The big strategic threat we face is the loss of our rightful resources … fisheries, fresh water, oil and gas, critical minerals,” Dr Buchanan said.

“Rising powers that have plenty of people …  to feed are looking elsewhere, they’re looking ahead.

“There is no way our country today could defend 42 per cent of Antarctica, should it need to.”

A dedicated polar strategy and associated ambassador would align Australia with European nations and southeast Asian neighbours who are doing the same, she said.

Australia has no territorial claim in the Arctic but the potential for the opening of new shipping lanes in the area in decades to come could impact the nation economically, Dr Buchanan said.

A polar strategy would “encourage greater sharing between like-minded countries and the pooling of assets such as icebreakers”.

The most recent federal budget allocated $366 million to Australia’s Antarctic interests, including science and international engagement, in 2026/27 – a figure Dr Buchanan said was hundreds of millions short.

The report recommends a foreign interference assessment of Australia’s Antarctic higher education and polar research sector.

It also calls for more investment to tell the nation’s polar story in schools.

“This is how we bolster a sense of national buy-in to such seemingly distant theatres,” it reads.

“Australia’s polar identity can’t be narrowly defined in stewardship or environmental research terms.

“The polar regions should be framed as core national security interests.”

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