With not much happening on the polling front his week, there is the following to relate:
• There is a modest field of five candidates for the April 1 by-election for Aston, which I’ve had less to say about than I would have liked due to the distraction of New South Wales. Following the ballot paper draw last Thursday, they are in order: Owen Miller (Fusion), Roshena Campbell (Liberal), Angelica Di Camillo (Greens), Mary Doyle (Labor) and Maya Tesa (Independent). Pauline Hanson interestingly offered last week that One Nation had decided to stay out of it as a “strategic decision not to take votes away from the Coalition”.
• Paul Sakkal of The Age reports that not only have Monique Ryan’s recent difficulties encouraged Josh Frydenberg in his determination to recontest Kooyong at the election, but that Tim Wilson and Katie Allen have similar ideas about Goldstein and Higgins, which they respectively lost to teal independent Zoe Daniel and Labor’s Michelle Ananda-Rajah.
• A by-election will be held in the Northern Territory on Saturday for the seat of Arafura following the death of Labor member Lawrence Costa. The candidates in ballot paper order are Leslie Tungatalum (Country Liberals), Manuel Brown (Labor) and Alan Middleton (Federation Party).
• The West Australian reports a rare item of state political polling crediting Mark McGowan with an approval rating of 63%, down seven since October, with disapproval up six to 24%. New Liberal leader Libby Mettam debuts with 24% approval and 18% disapproval. The poll was conducted “last week” by Painted Dog Research from a sample of 1052.
Rupert is still angry about having Star Satellite banned from China, and being set up to marry a CCP spy.
Cost of a Virginia $3.5 billion US, so about $5 billion AUD, so about 15-25 billion for 3-5. × 4 for operation and sustainment. So about 60-100 billion in current dollars, but maybe a bit of a discount because they’re second hand.
Richard Marles way too good for David Speers and his attempted gotcha tactics.
sprocket_ says:
Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 9:48 am
Might be worth using the 20/20 hindsight view of history to see how often CIA public prognostications were correct.
China is a “bad character” but there are too many conflicting interests here.
Rupert being spurned by China & told to get rooted when he wanted to install his media empire there.
US business interests pissed off that they can’t do as they want in China
Etc etc.
Then there is China wanting restitution for being raped by the British & US in the Opium War.
“ To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it.”
Confucius
“Marles says the decision to store the waste generated by the nuclear subs somewhere in Australia is not in breach of the ALP party platform.”…
Of course it isn’t. Just as the need to properly dispose of radioactive waste produced in hospitals (used in medical treatments) is not in breach of the ALP party platform!!
It is using nuclear for electricity generation that would be a serious political problem for the ALP!…. But that plan is not an ALP plan, so it isn’t a problem for the ALP!
This is what’s in the ALP energy plan:
https://www.alp.org.au/policies/powering-australia
Where should subs radioactive waste be stored, after appropriate processing that minimise the possibility of leaking radioactivity?
In my view we should store it here in Australia, in appropriate “containers”, in a far away place, deep underground, away from any source of water and after a specific agreement (and compensation) to Aboriginal local communities. This is a massive country, mainly arid, and even with natural deposits of radioactive uranium, so we can certainly find a place and an appropriate way of dealing with this waste.
I don’t think that’s a good idea to send the waste overseas and wash our hands from that. We should assume our responsibilities.
Bullshit point no.2: Marles on ‘snorting’ at the very end of Insiders (the requirement that conventional subs periodically use their snorkel to remain submerged) with Pine (you then riffs to a refined to cocaine in Darlinghurst. Boom boom). OMG.
If the real point Marles was trying to make (and unfortunately we don’t know because the clip was cut off after Chrissy’s ‘punchline’) was that ‘snorting’ cant be done safely anymore then he literally knows shit and has been completely captured by propaganda.
To repeat, even if detection while snorting is an actual thing (and that claim is sus anyway) then the ‘answer’ to that is in service. The Singapore navy ‘invincible class’ can go 42 days – six weeks – submerged between ‘snorts’. Naval group have developed a system that could have been inserted into the Attack class (which we cancelled because, inter alia ‘the snorting problem’) that can go 23 days (over three weeks) between snorts. Waiting between 3 and 6 weeks to snort? There is ‘no problem’, especially in littoral waters, where there is always wind swell creating white caps, a fishing fleet to hide behind and so on.
‘VCT Et3e says:
Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 8:47 am
…Perhaps it’ll do for national security what Dreadnoughts did a century ago (along came aircraft carriers).
….’
————————-
Dreadnoughts ensured an effective naval blockade of germany in WW1, thus playing a critical role. They cost stupendous mountains of butter. They did the job.
Spears is a light weight.
To save insiders Spears needs to get the chop and Laura Tingle needs to be put in charge.
Sceptic says:
Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 9:59 am
sprocket_ says:
Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 9:48 am
Might be worth using the 20/20 hindsight view of history to see how often CIA public prognostications were correct.
China is a “bad character” but there are too many conflicting interests here.
Rupert being spurned by China & told to get rooted when he wanted to install his media empire there.
US business interests pissed off that they can’t do as they want in China
Etc etc.
Then there is China wanting restitution for being raped by the British & US in the Opium War.
“ To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it.”
Confucius
===============================
When China gives equal restitution claims to the families of the 600,000 Tibetans they murdered then we can begin to take that seriously.
AE
It is not a technical question. You can argue until you blue in the face.
It is about alliances.
Why should I show any contrition to C@t?
Your claims of being bullied are risible. You are always happy to throw a punch, or at least unleash scorn and snark at anyone – on the board or more generally – at anyone who doesn’t confirm to your blinkered views.You are happy to create offence, but have a glass jaw when it comes to receiving the same.
On Friday night you were prepared to lie about me. i called you out on that, but you dont have the integrity to even acknowledge that you went too far.
Cry me a river.
“Trump claims he ‘will be arrested’ on Tuesday in New York criminal case”…
I hope so!
Will the Bison-head guy come to Trump’s rescue?….
Probably not. Did you know that the Bison-head guy has got his own wikipedia page?
“On September 3, 2021, Angeli pleaded guilty to a single count of obstructing an official proceeding and agreed to accept the prosecution’s recommended sentence of 41 to 51 months in prison as part of the settlement. Earlier, his lawyer said Angeli broke away from QAnon and asked that it no longer be used in terms for him.[8] Judge Lamberth turned down a request for release (Angeli wanted to visit his grandfather while Watkins wanted to provide him with shelter and care for his mental health) on the grounds that there was no convincing evidence that there would not be any risk of escape.[60]
On November 17, Angeli was sentenced to 41 months in prison.[61] He is currently serving out his sentence at Federal Correctional Institution – Safford in Safford, Arizona,[17] and has a July 9, 2023, release date.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_Angeli#:~:text=On%20September%203%2C%202021%2C%20Angeli,as%20part%20of%20the%20settlement.
Nice entry for the series: Famous Idiots of the World…..
From the Saturday Paper editorial:
“ In reality Albanese looked like a middle manager at an out-of-town trade show, checking for cut sandwiches because he’d spent his per diem sending drinks to someone else’s table the night before. This is more or less the structure of the AUKUS deal.
The media coverage of this week’s announcement has been foamy and uncritical. Essentially it is: defence spending is good, so more must be better. The groupthink is absolute. Both major parties see the arrangement as self-evidently right. China can only be a threat. Peter Dutton suggests we could harass the disabled to pay for it.
Even more galling is the fact that if the same spending were announced for climate action, the outlets celebrating Albanese’s panache would be campaigning for his ouster. Over a similar period as the subs deal, we need to end our reliance on fossil fuels. We need to radically reform the economy and spend hugely to achieve transition. The project has all the elements of AUKUS, except it is actually necessary.
This is the real crisis for which Albanese should be preparing. This is the threat that will most impact our lives. Instead, the press and our politics are cheering a few old boats and some unlikely new ones and the chance to say America told us a secret.”
Resonates with me.
“ AE
It is not a technical question. You can argue until you blue in the face.
It is about alliances.”
Of course it is Fred. And also our national paranoia and fear of isolation from ‘our kin’ in the Anglosphere.
The technical issues are worth exploring because they give the lie.
In their guts, what the Austral-Americans want are nuclear weapons to keep all the yellow people at bay and in their place. They perceive that nuclear power is a stepping stone to the ultimate goal. that’s why Dutton has a murder boner for the vertical launch capabilities of the Virginia class. Whilst a 40 missile launch of conventional armed tomahawks from a concealed position would undoubtably be ‘handy’, what actually make the Virginia class a ‘strategic deterrent’ is only that those missiles could be nuclear armed.
Frankly, every other argument is a dress up.
“Dog’s Brunch says:
Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 10:21 am”
It resonates with you?…. Are you sure? That quote from the article is full of crap and propaganda on all the relevant issues:
– The difference between ALP and the Coalition on China.
– The relevance of defence regarding national security.
– The climate change politics (focus on renewables in particular) of the ALP.
The Albanese government is indeed preparing for all the relevant crises that are important to the People. What they can’t do much about is to eliminate the hysterical propaganda crap coming from the right-wing media and even some brainless self-defined “left”-wing media.
Next test of the People’s view on the ALP: The coming NSW state election!…
Keep your eyes open.
Meet Ukraine’s Three Avengers!
“OPINION: Ukraine’s Avengers: Every Nation Needs Its Superheroes
The deft use of social media has been a hallmark in Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression. One of the offshoots has been a new triumvirate of role models.
From the first days of the war, Ukraine has shown the world images of heroic defiance: a woman puts sunflower seeds in a Russian invader’s pocket, telling him it’s because she wants flowers to bloom once he’s buried; a group of unarmed villagers push a Russian tank back; or, most recently, a Prisoner Of War forced to dig his own grave refuses to remove his Ukrainian flag patch and responds with “Slava Ukraini” just seconds before the Russians riddle him with bullets.
For over a year now, the world has been watching this war – watching more closely, perhaps, than any war in history. With the advent of satellite imagery, drones and GoPro cameras, we are getting a wide-spectrum view of every major battle and event. Unfortunately, with the increase in what we see comes a proportional increase in what can’t be unseen.”
https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/14371
(1 of 4)
BW
Dreadnoughts ensured an effective naval blockade of germany in WW1, thus playing a critical role. They cost stupendous mountains of butter. They did the job.
And thank God for that: sure 20 million people died but the Balkans were freed of Hapsburg hegemony
(2 of 4)
Kyianyn: Captain Cossack
“I am just one of hundreds of thousands of those who defend Ukraine. There are many Cossacks like me.”
He goes by the call sign Kyianyn, which simply means Kyivite, and has thus far managed to keep his given name a secret identity. His stoic demeanor, gaunt features and icy blue eyes convey something unflappable. A soldier in the 204th motorized infantry battalion, Kyianyn has been regularly posting brief videos from Bakhmut and environs with more or less the same message: “The situation is difficult, but our Cossacks are holding. Bakhmut was, is and will be Ukrainian.”
Kyianyn often describes the suicidal human wave attacks by the Wagernites and calmly shrugs them off as an inhuman tactic that will only lead to the inevitable disintegration of the Russian military’s forces.
However, as he warned in a recent post from outside Bakhmut, “the hordes keep coming.” And though “we have the situation under control, we need to prepare for a long war… This won’t end tomorrow… There will definitely be a counteroffensive, but this war has been going on for a long time, and it’s up to our generation to put an end to it.”
https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/14371
And further, on ‘alliances’, if we weren’t acting out of ‘gut feelings’ of paranoia and the felt need to forelock tug to our betters in the Anglosphere, but were rationally trying to ‘build alliances’ sticking with the French on subs (nuclear or conventional) would have been brilliant. It would not have been mutually exclusive with alliance building with either America or France. After all, the French subs would have been stacked full of American technology for ‘interoperability’ and if we truly wanted VL capabilities it would probably have been inevitable that we would have contracted to BAE for VL modules – just like the Americans have. moreover, France is a genuine SOUTH pacific power, due to its extensive territory off the east coast of australia. A claim that neither US or Britain can make.
But no. Why? … ultimately it’s about emotions. An emotional fear of the yellow peoples and an emotional attachment to Britain and America.
(3 of 4)
Madyar: Birdman of Transcarpathia
Robert Brovdy, 47, comes from Uzhhorod, in the far west of Ukraine, near the Hungarian border – hence, his call sign Madyar (the Ukrainian pronunciation of Magyar). Before the war he was a successful entrepreneur in the agricultural sector.
Today, the shaggy-bearded Madyar is the commander of an AFU aerial reconnaissance unit near Bakhmut.
During the Battle of Kyiv, shortly after Russia launched its full-scale attack, he took part in the capital’s territorial defense and helped civilians in Bucha and Irpin. But he quickly realized he was better suited to entrepreneurial activities than sitting in a sodden trench. On his own, he raised the funds to buy a fleet of drones and set up a reconnaissance unit, “Madyar’s Birds,” which was eventually absorbed into the 28th Mechanized Brigade.
In an interview with Forbes magazine, Madyar likens his drone commander experience to the world of business, where you set a goal – find and identify the enemy, inform the artillery, destroy the enemy. “It’s a complete business cycle, where you just improve the product every time,” the entrepreneur said.
Madyar’s knack for salty analogies and metaphors shrouded in black humor has made him a veritable social media star among war watchers in Ukraine. His colorful western Ukrainianisms – describing how he’s hunting for “worms” above the killing fields of Bakhmut – is certainly helping de-russify the AFU, at least linguistically. And his patent sound effects when showing how artillery hits an ammo dump or hideout have earned him the moniker Mr. Jaga-jaga.
https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/14371
(4 of 4)
Wonder-witch of the East
But the real heartthrob of the AFU has to be Olha Bihar, call sign “Witch.” With her intense gray eyes, full femme fatale lips, and raven-black hair cascading over her shoulders when she takes off her helmet, she is the embodiment of the female Scythian warriors that Herodotus likened to mythical Amazons in his account of the Ukrainian steppes.Originally from the Donbas, she left for Kyiv when the Russians first invaded in 2014. Before the war, Bihar had opened a legal services firm in Kyiv while finishing her dissertation in law. Today she is not only an officer in the 241st Territorial Defense Brigade, but also the mother of a young boy and the daughter of a woman also serving in the AFU.
Bihar is always quick to point out that Ukraine has many such Wonder Women, and she often posts to recount the exploits of her brothers- and sisters-in-arms rather than her own.
https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/14371
Good!… The American Democrats are smartening up:
“Indivisible is targeting little-known GOP House members in swing districts for the 2024 election. Co-founder Ezra Levin says: ‘They are basically Marjorie Taylor Greenes in how they vote’
Juan Ciscomani. Tom Kean Jr. Brian Fitzpatrick. Marc Molinaro. David Schweikert. Brandon Williams … Many Americans would struggle to identify who these people are or what they do.
They are all, in fact, Republican members of Congress. And progressive activists argue that their fate is more crucial to the future of American democracy than more high-profile rightwing political figures such as Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who said he hates Trump ‘passionately’, said the January 6 attack was ‘mostly peaceful chaos’.
Indivisible, a leftwing political umbrella movement founded in response to Donald Trump’s election as president in 2016, has launched a campaign to unseat 18 Republican members of the House of Representatives from districts that Joe Biden won in the election of 2020.
The “Unrepresentatives” initiative is based on the premise that these 18 districts – not the safe, deep red ones of Gaetz and Greene – will determine if Republicans maintain control of the US lower chamber next year. They are the “Achilles heel” of the Maga (Make America great again) House.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/18/republican-house-targets-2024-ezra-levin-interview
pew pew pew
‘Oakeshott Country says:
Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 10:33 am
BW
Dreadnoughts ensured an effective naval blockade of germany in WW1, thus playing a critical role. They cost stupendous mountains of butter. They did the job.
And thank God for that: sure 20 million people died but the Balkans were freed of Hapsburg hegemony’
—————————————–
National security debates could probably do without all the snarking and personal vitriol. I find it quite difficult having had my life seriously turned arse over tit by a couple of wars.
The policy discussions are actually hard to do. There are three issues conflated here, each involving a set of goalposts.
1. The original issue which is whether the spend on dreadnoughts shows that the spend on nuclear-powered submarines makes no sense because aircraft carriers took over from dreadnoughts. My point there was that the dreadnoughts actually did what was intended. Embedded in that issue is whether nuclear powered submarines are, or will become, obsolete within the frame of the plan. Further embedded in this discussion is a sensible risk analysis with some confidence limits and a values judgement about guns-v-butter.
2. Going-to-war choices. I believe that all war choices in WW1 were insane. Just like I believe Putin was insane invading Ukraine. Just like I believe Xi is insane if he follows up on his promise to start a war with Taiwan. The problem with war is that 50% of them are started by someone else.
3. War consequences. I have often repeated a couple of my aphorisms on Bludger. Wars rarely go the way intended. War costs are nearly always much higher than anticipated. The consequences of wars once they are over are rarely what people thought they might be when they started the war.
#HeavilyArmedNeutralAustralia.
‘Andrew_Earlwood says:
Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 10:34 am
And further, on ‘alliances’, if we weren’t acting out of ‘gut feelings’ of paranoia and the felt need to forelock tug to our betters in the Anglosphere, but were rationally trying to ‘build alliances’ sticking with the French on subs (nuclear or conventional) would have been brilliant. It would not have been mutually exclusive with alliance building with either America or France. After all, the French subs would have been stacked full of American technology for ‘interoperability’ and if we truly wanted VL capabilities it would probably have been inevitable that we would have contracted to BAE for VL modules – just like the Americans have. moreover, France is a genuine SOUTH pacific power, due to its extensive territory off the east coast of australia. A claim that neither US or Britain can make.
But no. Why? … ultimately it’s about emotions. An emotional fear of the yellow peoples and an emotional attachment to Britain and America.’
————————————-
Ah yes. If only we weren’t all racists we would have nothing rational fear about our national security.
Cos really and truly China is run by a cute and cuddly panda?
Pi @ Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 10:45 am:
“pew pew pew”
===========
Pi, you really don’t like posts showing Ukrainians strong and with a voice, or showing Russians weak or brutal, do you?
Revealing.
Landmines will be a danger to Ukrainian men, women and children for at least a generation – a consequence of Russia’s injustified war upon Ukrainians being fought upon Ukrainian soil, not Russian:
“In his Dec. 8 address to the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Michael Tirre, the Europe Program Manager for the U.S. State Department’s Office of Weapons Removal, said: “The humanitarian impact of landmines and unexploded ordnance was already severe in eastern Ukraine following the 2014 invasions and, tragically, this has been magnified exponentially by Russia’s [2022] full-scale invasion.”
Tirre estimated that the area of Ukraine severely impacted by ERW was at least 160,000 square kilometers, an area the size of the United Kingdom; as the war continues, that figure increases daily. Until detailed surveys can be undertaken these estimates will remain simply that although, previous experience shows, that initial estimates can over-estimate the levels of contamination.
James Cowan, the CEO of the UK’s demining charity the HALO Trust, said in a February interview with the Canadian Journal Newswire, that the immensity of the affected territory, would require unprecedented funding and collaboration between donors, state and international demining organizations. His view, an echo of the situation at the end of World War II, is that it can only be “resolved by the creation of a ‘Marshall plan for landmines’, as a clear call to action for the international community.”
His view is supported by the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, which reported that the GLOBAL landmine clearance effort, measured against 35 active demining programs, had each year only managed to declare, on average, less than 1,500 square kilometers of “suspect” land as being clear and, within that figure, the actual area of landmines being removed was as low as 200 square kilometers. So, if the actual contaminated area in Ukraine is reduced by survey to half, about 80,000 square kilometers it would still take more than 50 years to clear the problem and then only if the equivalent of ALL of the clearance resources currently assigned to mine clearance globally were diverted to Ukraine.”
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/14439
Indeed BW
60,000 Australians died in a war of imperial hegemony, for which the precipitating factors remain obscure (Although I recently heard one Italian say that “our language can be heard in Trieste”. I pointed out that German was still spoken in Bolzano despite 500,000 Italian deaths. But that’s another story)
Anyway, now we are spending 360B and apparently it has something to do with the sovereignty of Taiwan and Australia’s conflict between culture and geography. Brilliant
Griff:
Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 9:03 am
[‘I have stepped back from posting on the open thread these past couple of days.’]
I think quite a number of posters have followed suit, the level of vitriol & self-centeredness displayed by some has been over the top & given it has again raised its ugly head again, I’m off.
… and here is the usual defence of the Neoliberal Media liars and manipulators, as frequently reminded here by many of us:
“As it tries to defend itself against the accusation that it knowingly spread lies about the 2020 presidential election, Fox News has touted some lofty notions about the role of journalism in a democratic society.
“There will be a lot of noise and confusion generated by Dominion and their opportunistic private equity owners,” said a recent company statement, “but the core of this case remains about freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which are fundamental rights afforded by the Constitution and protected by New York Times v Sullivan.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/18/fox-news-dominion-lawsuit-rupert-murdoch-freedom-of-the-press
Hey, Foxy Murdock: LYING in order to overturn a democratically elected government has nothing to do with “freedom of the press” and “freedom of speech”. As you already know, it’s called sedition, it’s anti-democratic and it’s illegal. Trump will eventually pay for this (alongside his Stormy Daniels current crap), but Murdoch and the other media should also pay for it. You don’t have the “democratic right” to destroy Democracy!!!
Andrew_Earlwood says:
Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 10:23 am
“ AE
It is not a technical question. You can argue until you blue in the face.
It is about alliances.”
Of course it is Fred. And also our national paranoia and fear of isolation from ‘our kin’ in the Anglosphere.
The technical issues are worth exploring because they give the lie.
In their guts, what the Austral-Americans want are nuclear weapons to keep all the yellow people at bay and in their place. They perceive that nuclear power is a stepping stone to the ultimate goal. that’s why Dutton has a murder boner for the vertical launch capabilities of the Virginia class. Whilst a 40 missile launch of conventional armed tomahawks from a concealed position would undoubtably be ‘handy’, what actually make the Virginia class a ‘strategic deterrent’ is only that those missiles could be nuclear armed.
Frankly, every other argument is a dress up.
At least your arguing where the real argument is.
Every sub choice brought a different strategic arrangement.
It is interesting that all choices resolved around US Weapon systems.
Russia is a nuclear power and it looks as if they are about to lose a war in Ukraine. The USA is about to win a war without the loss of a single USA life.
WAR CRIME – Moscow uses cluster munitions against civilians:
“Russian forces used cluster munition in their latest attack on the eastern city of Kramatorsk, killing at least two civilians and wounding five, Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported on March 18.
Over 100 countries ban the use of cluster munition, but Russia continues to use the weapons – which release small explosive bombs and indiscriminately harm civilians. International observers have confirmed Russia’s “extensive” use of cluster munitions, an accusation that Moscow denies. Russia is not a signatory of the 2008 convention, but it is obliged by international humanitarian law to avoid its use.
In a Telegram post, Kyrylenko said that the Russians targeted Bernatsky Park, located in the southern part of the city. A dozen residential buildings and several cars were damaged by the attack, according to the official.
“Ukrainian Kramatorsk is one of the biggest irritants for Russians,” Kyrylenko said. “They purposefully hit the city, trying to kill as many of its civilians as possible.”
https://kyivindependent.com/news-feed/governor-at-least-2-killed-5-wounded-by-cluster-munitions-in-kramatorsk
Arrest Putin and his cronies. Trial at The Hague. Prison for the rest of their miserable lives. Disarmament of Muscovy and creation of a 20km wide DMZ within Muscovite territory along its border with Ukraine. Anything less is a craven cop-out.
“ Ah yes. If only we weren’t all racists we would have nothing rational fear about our national security.
Cos really and truly China is run by a cute and cuddly panda?”
Do you go out of your way to appear so stupid?
The rise of Asia generally, not just China requires a defence response. We should plan defence capability based all foreseeable risks on the board over the period that is required to get said capabilities upo and running. Given the huge lead times involved in that process a bunch of ‘worst case’ senarios have to be contemplated.
Waaaay before AUKUS – indeed before Morrison took over the Lodge – I advocated increasing of defence spending to up to 3% of GNP. I also advocated taking a more independent line on foreign policy and defence. One within the American led alliance, but not just reliant at on the ‘good will’ of one player (noting the limitations of ANZUS). You’ll find my posts on this subject on bludger as far back as 2017.
The issue is not whether we should respond to the rise of China, but selecting the right response. AUKUS and doubling down with dubious America and the wank fast that is ‘Global Britain’ is just not that response.
ANOTHER WAR CRIME:
“At least six civilians were wounded in the town of Konstyantynivka after Russian forces shelled an area near the central market with cluster munitions, Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported on March 18.
The attack, carried out using Uragan multiple rocket launchers, damaged nine multi-story buildings, ten houses, a school, a children’s store, and a dozen cars and garages, according to the official.
Earlier, Kyrylenko reported a Russian cluster munition attack on the nearby city of Kramatorsk, in which he said at least two people were killed and five were wounded.
The Russian troops “are fighting the civilian population, and they must be stopped – by the strength of the Ukrainian army, by the efforts of the entire civilized world,” Kyrylenko said in a Telegram post.”
https://kyivindependent.com/uncategorized/governor-6-civilians-wounded-by-cluster-munitions-in-konstyantynivka
😡
WARNING – this report on Moscow’s torture chambers is not for the faint-hearted:
“Voices from a torture chamber in Kherson. How Russians tormented Ukrainians
On 16 November, the Security Service of Ukraine reported finding another of the Russian occupiers’ torture chambers in Kherson in a basement of the former UkrAgroPromProekt facility at 15 Pylypa Orlyka Street.
This torture chamber is one of the scariest filtration camps in the city, where the occupiers held locals in inhumane conditions because they had refused to collaborate with the Russians.
Ukrainksa Pravda.Zhyttia tells the stories of Kherson residents who managed to survive after being in the Russian torture chamber.”
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/articles/2023/03/18/7394079/
😡
‘Andrew_Earlwood says:
Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 10:59 am
“ Ah yes. If only we weren’t all racists we would have nothing rational fear about our national security.
Cos really and truly China is run by a cute and cuddly panda?”
Do you go out of your way to appear so stupid? ‘
….’
————————-
Do you go out of your way to be vicious and nasty? Does that come naturally or did you have to learn how to be like that?
I have previously pointed out that racism was, and is, an issue with respect to national security policy discussions.
Perhaps if it was all about race we would be fomenting FUD about India, which at least has direct access to Australia’s border, or Indonesia, which is right next door, or if we wanted to foment East Asian FUD we could choose Japan. It has form. These are all functioning democracies. All more or less support liberal values. None have shown much interest in imperial expansion.
Nobody is FUDing about any of these states.
These are all asian countries. For some reason all the supposedly racist decision makers and racist policy developers and racist punters are focused on just the one nation. Now. Why would that be?
‘Oakeshott Country says:
Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 10:55 am
Indeed BW
60,000 Australians died in a war of imperial hegemony, for which the precipitating factors remain obscure (Although I recently heard one Italian say that “our language can be heard in Trieste”. I pointed out that German was still spoken in Bolzano despite 500,000 Italian deaths. But that’s another story)
Anyway, now we are spending 360B and apparently it has something to do with the sovereignty of Taiwan and Australia’s conflict between culture and geography. Brilliant’
———————————————–
1. The federal budget over the same period will be how many trillion?
2. I think it is dopey for Australian to shed sovereignty in the way it has with this, and with other deals. The risks and rewards are poorly balanced, IMO.
#StronglyArmedNeutralAustralia.
Oh come now C@t. As I’ve said before, you give as good as you get which is admirable and there is no need for you or your supporters to be playing the bullying card and topping it up with a reference to domestic violence . It’s all just a bit too precious and can only demean your image as a strong minded woman on this blog.
Best for you to just thank Evan for his concern and tell him you are well able to take care of yourself – which you are.
“ Do you go out of your way to be vicious and nasty? Does that come naturally or did you have to learn how to be like that?”
A combination of natural talent and university debating. Mia culpa Boer.
Edited to add: I’m sorry Boer but the racial fears about all the other states you have mentioned has been well and truly alive in the mid set of the Austral-britons and little Americans for decades. Especially the fear of Indonesian invasion (as if that could ever be achieved by anything more sophisticated than a fishing fleet, lol).
It’s just that Big Panda makes them soil themselves the most. Although being greedy bastards its a laugh a minute seeing them oscillate ‘on a gut reaction level’ between the money to be made out of China and the fear of a Panda invasion.
#StronglyArmedNeutralAustralia.
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Great. What will the Defence expenditure be, 8% of GDP?
Spears is a light weight.
To save insiders Spears needs to get the chop and Laura Tingle needs to be put in charge.
The reason the show was called ‘insiders’ because the genre is politics and also what ‘political insiders’ are saying. The show was hosted by Barry Cassidy who is a journalist but more importantly Bob Hawke’s former press secretary from 1986 to 1991.
Cassidy has rubbed shoulders with people inside the political tent, but had the ability also to remain impartial. It would be nice to find that kind of host to host the show again rather then just another journalist. But it would be hard to find. A former Liberal politician acting as a Liberal stooge on Sky news doesn’t count. And hasn’t achieved anything near the terms of impartiality or content that Cassidy achieved on Insiders. Replacing Cassidy is very difficult.
i thinkmarles would know slightly more abbout submarines then our resident submarine exbert at not only does iit look like aukus will happin but nsw labor will also likely form the next nsw government
“nath says:
Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 11:27 am
#StronglyArmedNeutralAustralia.
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Great. What will the Defence expenditure be, 8% of GDP?”
No!…..
….Next?
Andrew_Earlwood @ Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 10:59 am:
“I advocated increasing of defence spending to up to 3% of GNP. I also advocated taking a more independent line on foreign policy and defence. One within the American led alliance, but not just reliant at on the ‘good will’ of one player (noting the limitations of ANZUS).”
===========================
Andrew_Earlwood, I think both your points here are entirely correct.
Australia even suggesting acquiring nuclear weapons would be politically suicide domestically; appalling internationally where we’d be rightly treated as a pariah for breaching nuclear non proliferation; and if you think US Congress will be difficult about allowing the sale of SUBS, imagine the reaction to selling actual nukes.
It’s a total furphy along with taking the low road by saying all who disagree with you are racists.
I suggest ParkySP’s comment of last night to all those who continue to take the low road in their attitude to this debate.
Seems we’re being dragged into a terrible war by warmongers for the US defence industry.
Labor and Liberal have sold us out to the US.
On our alliances, I think geography needs to outweigh history in our considerations. Indonesia as the gatekeeper of the avenues for hostile deployments against us is an unalterable given. Indonesia ought to be our very best friend, whomever else we befriend.
“Rex Douglas says:
Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 11:35 am
Labor and Liberal have sold us out to the US.”
The US have been essential for the defence of Australia since at least WWII… Have you been in hibernation for the past few decades, Rex?
There is only one real alternative to updating our naval capabilities with the submarines, and that’s the White Flag Defence Program of Adam Bandt and the Greens. Do you subscribe to that program, Rex?
#StronglyArmedNeutralAustralia.
That is my position.
But we must be armed as much as possible with modern capability that can be operated autonomously and remotely.