Without bursting out of the confines of the error margins, the monthly prime ministerial ratings featured in the fortnightly Essential Research poll give Anthony Albanese his highest approval rating to date, up two points to 60%. His disapproval is up one to 27%, which leaves him one point shy of his previous best net approval rating. However, an occasion question on the national direction finds a five-point increase since September for “wrong” to 34% and a two-point drop for “right” to 46%.
Once a lengthy explanatory spiel was out of the way, 50% expressed support and 27% opposition to the government’s multi-employer bargaining laws, and has further results supporting industrial relations policies that strengthen the hand of low-paid workers. The poll also finds 43% of the view that it is inappropriate for politicians to use Twitter, compared with 16% favouring the option that it is a “vital channel” for politicians and 41% for a middle course. The full report is here – the poll was conducted last Wednesday to Monday from a sample of 1035.
JWS Research has also released its occasional True Issues survey on issue salience, distinct from the one a fortnight ago that focused specifically on the budget. Asked unprompted to name the three most important issues, 44% came up with a response the pollster categorised as “cost of living”, up from 38% in August and all the way from 11% a year ago. Housing and interest rates increased over the year from 10% to 19%, which environment and climate change was steady at 26% and hospitals, health and ageing fell eight points to 29%. The poll was conducted October 28 to 31 from a sample of 1000, and also features results on national direction and government performance in various policy fields.
Note that a dedicated thread for discussion of the Victorian election continues in the post below.
“Let’s be thankful that QANTAS was sold off. It is the shareholders and the dupes who fly with that cruddy airline who pay the Irishman’s exorbitant salary, otherwise it would be the community.”
Except for the taxpayer gift of billions, without taking equity. Taxpayers are the bunny, they are always the bunny.
If Labor wins in NSW and Victoria they should form a jv to do Sydney / Canberra / Melbourne high speed rail, with Qantas price gouging the Sydney Melb route it would be a hugely popular undertaking.
BREAKING: Twitter halts office building access, as reports emerge that hundreds of employees are leaving the company after Musk’s ‘hardcore’ ultimatum.
I suggest there is a element of underestimating her in her win. This also underestimates KKs campaigning abilities and/or overestimates the effect of her parachute.
Dont get me wrong, parachuting KK in was a major factor. But come 2025, Dai Le will have the benefit of incumbency and will be hard to shift even by an ALP candidate with a strong connection to the community.
Yes, she will vote with the liberals almost all the time – but I think she will find some votes she can hold up to claim (right or wrong) independent credentials.
Andrew_Earlwood says:
Friday, November 18, 2022 at 11:42 am
“ Why AUKUS should really become JAUKUS”
_____
Why stop there Cronus?
We really should be talking about a strategic alliance (hopefully evolving to something equivalent to NATO) that has at least the following founding members:
Australia, Singapore, France, South Korea, Japan, America (perhaps we could call it something like the O6 [original six/organisation of 6] with invites (either as associate membership, observer status – or if they want in, full membership) extended to Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, NZ, Canada and the various micro PI nations.
If the UK want to shop their military wares, then fine, but let’s not kid ourselves that would ever have a genuine commitment to security in the region: not after they cut n’ run in 1942 and again in the 1950s.
—————————————————————————————-
One challenge to consider is that the larger the alliance, the more unwieldy they can become. Observer status though at least provides an element of transparency and perceived inclusiveness.
Other than some vaguely historic links, I’m unsure as to the UK’s real interests in the region, there seems to be a logic mismatch to my mind (not to mention that I question their reliability in any case).
In AUKUS we appear to have been handed a lemon, perhaps we can try turning it into lemonade.
I note Pelosi has done the honourable thing and managed herself out.
WeWantPaul says:
If Labor wins in NSW and Victoria they should form a jv to do Sydney / Canberra / Melbourne high speed rail,
________
Talk about pissing away billions. Just add it to the debt?
“BREAKING: Twitter halts office building access, as reports emerge that hundreds of employees are leaving the company after Musk’s ‘hardcore’ ultimatum.”
I know there is a huge Elon fanbase here, but surely the twitter saga has shown he is both an idiot and one of the most disgusting people on the planet. I mean he has to be on the wrong side of Gina in the ‘decency’ rating.
nath says:
Friday, November 18, 2022 at 12:07 pm
Andrew_Earlwood says:
If the UK want to shop their military wares, then fine, but let’s not kid ourselves that would ever have a genuine commitment to security in the region: not after they cut n’ run in 1942
_________
Bloody Poms. Refusing to send their forces to the Far East to reassure a few million hysterical Australians screeching about the Japanese a few thousand miles away from Sydney.
I guess they had a bit going on at the time.
中华人民共和国
The Battle of the Coral Sea was fought off Townsville (which was also bombed). Milne Bay, Kokoda and most of the PNG Campaign are closer to Townsville than Brisbane is to Townsville.
The Brisbane Line lives well on this blog.
Go for a run up to Kanchanaburi, on the Kwai Noi, at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetry and see gravestone after gravestone of Australian Cobbers, some of the 15,000 captured by the Japanese when Singapore fell. Yes the Poms had a bit going on at the time.
nathsays:
Friday, November 18, 2022 at 12:07 pm
Yes, their country was being invaded in Burma, Malaysia and Singapore.
Dai Le voted for Labor’s emissions target. Labor bots happy. They’ll turn on her in a flash for daring to vote independently.
davo, chinese utes in Australia still have a ways to go – EV or otherwise.
I am interested, but would be keen to see how they perform after a couple of years in use. I know a couple of friends who bought Chinese ICE utes not long ago who not happy.
WeWantPaul @ #107 Friday, November 18th, 2022 – 12:19 pm
I’m a fan of Tesla and Starlink, but that email was appalling. You don’t treat human beings like that.
Upnorth – Be Proud of your Pragmatism says:
中华人民共和国
The Battle of the Coral Sea was fought off Townsville (which was also bombed). Milne Bay, Kokoda and most of the PNG Campaign are closer to Townsville than Brisbane is to Townsville.
___________
And we had the U.S fighting alongside us. What would be the point of sending over British troops when the U.S were moving into the region?
I wonder how many U.K divisions would have been sunk in the Atlantic by wolfpacks?
WWP, not going to disagree with you on Elon, but a point of difference between him and Gina….
Elon got $20k from his dad to get going – how much did Ginas dad give her?
Simon Katich @ #111 Friday, November 18th, 2022 – 12:22 pm
Most people who own utes are generally angry.
nath says:
Friday, November 18, 2022 at 12:07 pm
Andrew_Earlwood says:
If the UK want to shop their military wares, then fine, but let’s not kid ourselves that would ever have a genuine commitment to security in the region: not after they cut n’ run in 1942
_________
Bloody Poms. Refusing to send their forces to the Far East to reassure a few million hysterical Australians screeching about the Japanese a few thousand miles away from Sydney.
I guess they had a bit going on at the time.
——————————————————————————————-
The Poms wanted to have their cake and eat it nath. They got away with it 70 years ago but won’t again. I think if Australians today even knew of this lack of commitment to us back then they’d have a vastly different perspective as to our cultural history.
It wasn’t just that they refused to help their commonwealth brethren who were at that time fighting to defend Britain, they baulked at even returning Australian troops initially to defend our own continent. Poor form at the very least and nothing I’ve seen or heard since then has suggested that they’ve changed. We owe them little other than wariness.
“I’m a fan of Tesla and Starlink, but that email was appalling. You don’t treat human beings like that.”
There has been evidence over a long time that that is EXACTLY how Elon has always treated workers. There was even a piece recently on how ‘tech bros’ attracted to Elon’s companies put up with the abuse as normal.
Personally I’m hoping twitter goes down takes Tesla with it and Tesla is bought by a company that knows how to make cars well.
WeWantPaul @ #107 Friday, November 18th, 2022 – 12:19 pm
Yes, I note nath has turned up.
However, someone put it well yesterday in another forum when they said that the guy is running 3 multinational companies right now. He’s not superhuman, though many in his cult believe he is, and he’s not running his latest acquisition very well at all. Especially when he seems addicted to being a Twitter troll as well. 😐
At times like this my grandfather would stand up and sing Rule Britannia.
Rex Douglassays:
Friday, November 18, 2022 at 12:25 pm
You must have a driveway full of them Integrity.
davo says:
Friday, November 18, 2022 at 12:12 pm
Oh noes, the weekend’s ruined again;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E9TUQopIwc
Don’t tell Sussssssan Ley or Barnaby, they’ll be apoplectic.
Nah, they are very happy because the government subsidises their fishing/4WD/camping trips.
WeWantPaul @ #117 Friday, November 18th, 2022 – 12:27 pm
This is another point that was well made yesterday. Elon Musk is also having to deal with multiple court cases wrt Tesla malfunctions causing injury and death. He really should be concentrating on his core business right now.
Anything that distracts from Elon Musk developing Starship is a shame.
Simon Katich @ #103 Friday, November 18th, 2022 – 12:16 pm
Not to mention the (former) ALP members in that seat who are aiding her.
Holdenhillbilly says:
Friday, November 18, 2022 at 12:15 pm
BREAKING: Twitter halts office building access, as reports emerge that hundreds of employees are leaving the company after Musk’s ‘hardcore’ ultimatum.
————————————————————————————————
In a period of low unemployment likely resulting in increased wages and improved employee conditions, I think Musk is misreading the room.
Ven @ Friday, November 18, 2022 at 9:07 am:
=======================================
The Ukrainian national was, like the other (Russian national) defendants, fighting for the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic. The ethno-linguistic lines in eastern Ukraine are, like in most border areas around the world, somewhat scrambled. There is no clear correlation between “Russian-speaking” and “pro-Moscow” in Ukraine, nor between “Ukrainian-speaking” and “pro-Kyiv”. The tragedy for folk living in that particular region comes from Moscow denying Kyiv a right to independence, creating an existential zero-sum ethnic conflict where none ought to exist.
nath says:
Friday, November 18, 2022 at 12:23 pm
Upnorth – Be Proud of your Pragmatism says:
中华人民共和国
The Battle of the Coral Sea was fought off Townsville (which was also bombed). Milne Bay, Kokoda and most of the PNG Campaign are closer to Townsville than Brisbane is to Townsville.
___________
And we had the U.S fighting alongside us. What would be the point of sending over British troops when the U.S were moving into the region?
I wonder how many U.K divisions would have been sunk in the Atlantic by wolfpacks?
中华人民共和国
Go to the same Commonwealth War Graves Cemetry on the Kwai Noi and next to our Australian Cobbers you will also see row after row of some of the 130,000 Allied servicemen who were captured in Singapore when Lieutenant General Arthur Percival surrendered on 15 February 1942.
From https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/case-against-negotiations-russia:
“THE CASE AGAINST NEGOTIATIONS WITH RUSSIA
Nov 17, 2022 – Press ISW
By Frederick W. Kagan
[The Critical Threats Project supports ISW’s daily reporting on the war in Ukraine. CTP Director Frederick W. Kagan leads this supporting effort.]
Negotiations cannot end the Russian war against Ukraine; they can only pause it. The renewed Russian invasion in February 2022 after eight years of deadly “ceasefire” following the first Russian invasions of 2014 demonstrates that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not rest until he has conquered Kyiv. Ukraine’s resistance to the invasion this year shows that Ukrainians will not easily surrender. The conflict is unresolvable as long as Putinism rules the Kremlin. Negotiations won’t change that reality. They can only create the conditions from which Putin or a Putinist successor will contemplate renewing the attack on Ukraine’s independence. Before pressing Ukraine to ask Russia for talks we must examine the terms Ukraine might offer Russia, the dangers of offering those terms, and, more importantly, the likelihood that Putin would accept them.”
…
Whether Britain was right to do so, or wrong, the fact remains: they cut n’ run. At a time when they had far more strategic interests in the region than now (which is zero). The logical mismatch in UK’s involvement in AUKUS is entirely explained by the nostalgia for Empire that runs hand in glove with the Brexit brain fart AND … Johnson chancing his arm that he could get Australia on the hook for a quarter trillion dollar boondoggle on the assumption that the Americans would simply subcontract to the brits and we – without any necessary industry or know how – would be completely at the Brits mercy for the next 70 years (given that BAE are now the main beneficiaries of the Future Frigfates program which started life out as a modest 6 billion for 8 ships a decade ago and has now morphed into a $45 billion for 9 ships on the never never for the Hunter class, one can see the potential: something that might cost $90 billion for construction should be able to be padded out to double that wit the ‘able’ assistance of Fort Fumble; not to mention the astonishing sustainment costs that BAE should be able to extract as monopolistic rents from the RAn once we actually get the subs. Frack, did I say a quarter of a trillion: on reflection put me downs for a full trillion dollars if the Brits get the lolly jar).
Upnorth – Be Proud of your Pragmatism says:
Go to the same Commonwealth War Graves Cemetry on the Kwai Noi and next to our Australian Cobbers you will also see row after row of some of the 130,000 Allied servicemen who were captured in Singapore when Lieutenant General Arthur Percival surrendered on 15 February 1942.
______
You blame the British for Percival surrendering? Sorry I don’t understand what you are getting at here.
“This is another point that was well made yesterday. Elon Musk is also having to deal with multiple court cases wrt Tesla malfunctions causing injury and death. He really should be concentrating on his core business right now.”
There was a suggestion in the last couple of days, that besides the 1000’s of former staff who can and should sue him, his stupidity has opened himself and twitter up to dozens of EU regulatory actions, at least in the privacy space if not others.
I have just never believed his ‘works hard’ propaganda, and twitter has shown he doesn’t do his homework, he just says stuff and tells staff they have to sacrifice their entire lives to his cause.
Barney in Cherating says:
Friday, November 18, 2022 at 12:28 pm
Rex Douglassays:
Friday, November 18, 2022 at 12:25 pm
Simon Katich @ #111 Friday, November 18th, 2022 – 12:22 pm
davo, chinese utes in Australia still have a ways to go – EV or otherwise.
I am interested, but would be keen to see how they perform after a couple of years in use. I know a couple of friends who bought Chinese ICE utes not long ago who not happy.
Most people who own utes are generally angry.
You must have a driveway full of them Integrity.
中华人民共和国
The “Angry Victorians Party” has got to figure somewhere in Rexs’ vote.
…
“When Putin re-invaded Ukraine in February he already had Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk, and no one was realistically going to take them away from him. That was not enough for him. Offering him a return to a situation so unsatisfactory to him that he launched a massive invasion to change is not a face-saving off-ramp. Imagine Putin sitting at one end of a long table and announcing proudly to the Russian people that at the cost of more than 100,000 dead and injured Russians and nine months or more of economic devastation he has secured…almost exactly what he had before. No. Putin saves no face by doing that. He would likely accept such an outcome if the military realities of the situation required it, but he will never regard it as an attractive off ramp. The Kremlin’s repeated refusals even to consider negotiations along these lines are proof enough of this conclusion.”
…
WeWantPaul says:
Friday, November 18, 2022 at 12:19 pm
“BREAKING: Twitter halts office building access, as reports emerge that hundreds of employees are leaving the company after Musk’s ‘hardcore’ ultimatum.”
I know there is a huge Elon fanbase here, but surely the twitter saga has shown he is both an idiot and one of the most disgusting people on the planet. I mean he has to be on the wrong side of Gina in the ‘decency’ rating.
——————————————————————————————-
I’m confident that you misrepresent people’s support for the product (Tesla and SpaceX) over support for the person (Musk).
Skipping now to near the end:
“Putin did not invade Ukraine to gain territory. He invaded because he rejects the idea of an independent Ukrainian state or a Ukrainian ethnicity. He attacked because he refuses to tolerate a government in Kyiv that is not under de facto Russian control. He has built these ideas deeply into his ideology and will not remove them. Putin will never stop trying to regain control of Ukraine by one means or another. Neither the Ukraine nor the West can change Putin’s ambitions—so they must create reality in which even Putin understands that he must not pursue them by war and in which he lacks the capability to continue fighting even if he wanted to.
How can that reality come about? The West should help Ukraine liberate the areas that are strategically vital to its security and economic well-being and then build up the Ukrainian military and economy to a point that deters future Russian invasions. Moscow will continue to pursue means short of invasion to undermine pro-Western Ukrainian governments and coerce Ukrainians to surrender their independence. Success for Ukraine and the West lies in turning this hot war into a cold war on terms that leave Ukraine strong enough to survive and ultimately win it.”
…
Kagan’s conclusion:
“Advocates of negotiations now might claim that this is precisely what they are doing. But they have judged their moment poorly. Freezing the conflict where it is now invites renewed Russian invasion sooner and badly undermines Ukraine’s ability to prevail in either a renewed hot war or in the new cold war.
Allowing Russia to keep some or all the areas it currently holds also condemns millions of Ukrainians to the ongoing Kremlin efforts to Russify them; to identify, torture, and kill people who still give their allegiance to Kyiv; to abduct Ukrainian children and adopt them forcibly into Russian families; and to continue the ethnic cleansing campaign Putin is pursuing to eliminate the Ukrainian national identity everywhere he can.
The current lines are thus neither defensible nor acceptable. Ukraine must push on, and the West must help Kyiv create conditions on the ground that are sustainable over the long term. Ukraine must first establish the military facts on the ground that it needs to survive and only then, with the backing of its partners, turn to Russia to codify those facts in a diplomatic agreement.”
Andrew_Earlwood says:
Friday, November 18, 2022 at 12:35 pm
Whether Britain was right to do so, or wrong, the fact remains: they cut n’ run.
___________
Well, their troops in Malaya and Singapore were beaten and surrendered. So they didn’t run anywhere. Many of them died in camps.
Where they could defend they did, such as Burma.
I suppose they could have withdrawn their troops from the MED and sent them East. I don’t think that would have been a good move.
I’m ok with some BRIT bashing, but this ww2 stuff is just bullshit.
WWP
“ Personally I’m hoping twitter goes down takes Tesla with it and Tesla is bought by a company that knows how to make cars well.”
I’m delighted with mine, never been so happy with a car in my life. I’d be happy for Musk to fall over and bump his head and be unable to carry on in any management or control capacity thereby leaving it to the rest in the company to carry on doing what they clearly do so well. Equally, I could care less about Twitter, it’s meaningless to me.
“BREAKING: Twitter halts office building access, as reports emerge that hundreds of employees are leaving the company after Musk’s ‘hardcore’ ultimatum.”
Lol
“Anything that distracts from Elon Musk developing Starship is a shame.”
He’s not developing anything. He’s exploiting the intrinsic motivation of some very talented people and otherwise behaving like a slave driver to achieve his goals.
Looks like that approach – aka boss bastardry – is about to blow up in his face.
Percival?
Nice teeth but he fell off after that.,
Inter alia, Percival flat out and big time personally lied to the Australian Prime Minister of the day.
nath says:
Friday, November 18, 2022 at 12:27 pm
“At times like this my grandfather would stand up and sing Rule Britannia”
Not sure Britannia could rule their backyard these days, they’re a self-destructing nothingburger.
Dandy Murray says:
“Anything that distracts from Elon Musk developing Starship is a shame.”
He’s not developing anything. He’s exploiting the intrinsic motivation of some very talented people and otherwise behaving like a slave driver to achieve his goals.
____________
All those Spacex engineers on 750k. What a slave driver!
nath says:
Friday, November 18, 2022 at 12:23 pm
Upnorth – Be Proud of your Pragmatism says:
中华人民共和国
The Battle of the Coral Sea was fought off Townsville (which was also bombed). Milne Bay, Kokoda and most of the PNG Campaign are closer to Townsville than Brisbane is to Townsville.
___________
And we had the U.S fighting alongside us. What would be the point of sending over British troops when the U.S were moving into the region?
I wonder how many U.K divisions would have been sunk in the Atlantic by wolfpacks?
——————————————————————————————-
Surely you mean the US had to intervene to assist Australian because the Brits simply failed to? Now that’s what true allies do.
Why won’t The Guardian poll Peter Dutton’s approval ratings?
Cronus says:
Surely you mean the US had to intervene to assist Australian because the Brits simply failed to? Now that’s what true allies do.
_______________
I’m reasonably certain that the division of labour between U.S and UK troops were worked out between them and that it was obvious after the fall of Singapore that the millions of U.S troops moving into the Pacific negated the need for British reinforcements.
But hey, everyone is free to believe in bullshit.
nath says:
Friday, November 18, 2022 at 12:35 pm
Upnorth – Be Proud of your Pragmatism says:
Go to the same Commonwealth War Graves Cemetry on the Kwai Noi and next to our Australian Cobbers you will also see row after row of some of the 130,000 Allied servicemen who were captured in Singapore when Lieutenant General Arthur Percival surrendered on 15 February 1942.
______
You blame the British for Percival surrendering? Sorry I don’t understand what you are getting at here.
中华人民共和国
Err well the British were responsible for the defence of British Malaya. It was their possession (since 1824). They were also responsible for facing the large naval guns in the wrong direction, lack of Air and Naval support. Your arguments are those of Churchill who repeatedly said Australia had no fear of invasion. Curtain called his BS. Churchills’ only focus in the East was saving India.
Curtain knew the British had “done over” Australia. Curtains’ two-page cablegram sent on 17 January 1942 makes his views on the level of British commitment to the defence of Singapore clear to his British counterpart, Winston Churchill. Marked ‘IMMEDIATE’ and ‘MOST SECRET’, the cablegram refers to past conferences, discussions and assurances on the security of Singapore. While he praises the people of Britain for their magnificent efforts, Curtin makes no apology for raising the issue of British air support and for focusing on the defence of Australia.
While the British naval base and fortifications of Singapore were established to guarantee the defence of the British Empire in the region, including Australia, this cablegram summarises Curtin’s (1885–1945) view that the island could not withstand a Japanese invasion without additional air and army support. In June 1937, as Leader of the Opposition, he had argued that reliance on Singapore was useless for defending Australia.
The cablegram was sent as the Japanese advanced down the Malay Peninsula towards Singapore. British military planning centred on where and if the Japanese could be stopped, to allow the island base to continue to function. Curtin saw Johore as the ‘minimum reasonable hinterland’.
The Japanese success at the Battle of Muar led to the British evacuation of the Malay Peninsula and the Japanese landing at Singapore on 8 February. British forces, including 15,000 Australians, surrendered on 15 February.
The bitterness of Curtin’s recriminations to Churchill in this cablegram may reflect his apprehension that he had been deceived during November 1941 into thinking that Britain was serious about defending Singapore. Churchill had despatched the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battle cruiser HMS Repulse to Singapore, thus ensuring that Curtin did not instigate plans to evacuate the 8th Division of the Australian Imperial Force from Malaya and sent reinforcements instead.
This message was part of a series of acrimonious exchanges that Curtin described as an almost daily cable fight with Churchill. During late 1941 and early 1942 many of Churchill’s cables contained implicit criticism of what he saw as Australia’s unwarranted fear of invasion and its lack of commitment to continuing to fight abroad. Curtin, for his part, had recently declared that Australia was turning to the United States for help in spite of its traditional ties to Britain.
The tensions between the two leaders, which are evident in this cablegram, related to their different strategic interests. In January and February 1942, Churchill’s interest in the struggle against Japan was focused on protecting India and keeping the route to China open through Burma. By February he was prepared to leave Singapore and the troops to their fate. Curtin’s focus was on defending Singapore, saving Australian lives and maintaining Australia’s forward defence.
Curtin was a passionate believer in the need for air superiority, and the lack of adequate air support in Greece and Crete from April to May 1941, and again in Malaya and Singapore, are major themes in this cablegram. The campaigns in Greece and Crete were disasters for Australia and many believed Churchill had tricked Australia into committing its troops. Australia and New Zealand suffered extensive losses, and many troops were killed, wounded or taken prisoner as a result of the campaign in Greece.
But I guess like “Red Ted”, Curtains’ reputation is due also for a “drive by shooting” by the anti-Labor cohorts who inhabit PB.
Acknowledgments
Learning resource text – Education Services Australia Limited and the National Archives of Australia 2010
Musk clearly lacks EI, whether because he’s on the spectrum or just a pure technocrat. He is a classic case of a highly intelligent and functioning individual with zero capacity for personnel management. He really needs to hand this element of his businesses over to people better qualified in this skill set.
Just how hard do CEOs of big companies actually work? Dont they just figure out a way to increase their short term bonuses, lather themselves in perks, cover their arses and have the next job lined up?
FWIW, CEO tenure average is about 5 years. Some might argue ‘burnout’ – I have another explanation.
Upnorth – Be Proud of your Pragmatism says:
中华人民共和国
Err well the British were responsible for the defence of British Malaya. It was their possession (since 1824). They were also responsible for facing the large naval guns in the wrong direction, lack of Air and Naval support. Your arguments are those of Churchill who repeatedly said Australia had no fear of invasion. Curtain called his BS. Churchills’ only focus in the East was saving India.
________
there is no doubt that the British clearly made some mistakes re the defence of Malaya. Oh well.
As for Australia being invaded. I think it was bullshit. The U.S were moving into the area right after Pearl Harbor.
Australians shit themselves with the enemy thousands of miles away. One giant national pant shitting.