Missile defence for Australia? Expensive and probably not wise

The North Korean ballistic missile threat is both more intractable, but also less dramatic, than calls for an Australian national missile defence suggest. Following the most recent tests by North Korea of a missile that might be able to hit Alaska, the prospect of a direct threat to Australia from the Kim regime is exciting the Australian defence debate. Over the weekend, former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull weighed in in the issue. And yet, in a debate based on analysis-by-soundbite, a range of basic factors - the significance of the threat; the systems that might be useful to defend Australia; indeed, what 'missile defence' actually is - risk being very much confused.