In an otherwise thin week for polling, the annual survey on Australians’ attitudes to international issues by the Lowy Institute offers its usual panoply of insights, perhaps the most interesting of which is that concern about China and war over Taiwan, while high, is not actually more so than it was a year ago. Key points:
• An unchanged 64% rate “a military conflict between the United States and China over Taiwan” as a critical threat, behind “cyberattacks from other countries” on 68%, up four from last year. The critical threat rating from Russian foreign policy has eased from 68% to 57%. After a sharp deterioration between 2018 and 2022, there was a nine-point drop in those who saw China as more as a security threat and an eleven-point increase as more of an economic partner, now at 52% and 44% respectively. Sixty-one per cent expected China would have a more important and powerful role as world leader in a decade’s time, whereas 22% felt the same of the US, which 32% expected to become less powerful and important.
• Forty-nine per cent rate that AUKUS will make Australia more safe, down three on less year; 9% less safe, up two; and 23% make no difference, up one. Sixty-seven per cent favoured the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines, down three, with opposition up three to 31%. However, 40% favoured a defence strategy that protected Australia close to home against 26% for one that deterred potential enemies far from Australia’s shores. Fifty-six per cent felt Australia should remain neutral in the event of military conflict between the US and China, up five on last year, while 42% felt Australia should support the US, down four.
• Fifty-seven per cent favoured allowing the United States to base military forces in Australia, down six on last year, with 42% opposed, up six. Corresponding figures for the United Kingdom were 67% and 32%. There was a nine-point drop among those rating the importance of the US alliance to Australian security as very important to 51%, but this was a reversion to the mean after a spike last year, with the fairly important rating up four to 31%. Seventy-three per cent felt the US was more respected in the world under Joe Biden against 24% for Donald Trump.
• The most trusted global powers were Japan, the United Kingdom and France, with combined results of “a great deal” and “somewhat” of 79% to 85%, which are approximately the reverse of the results for China and Russia. The United States’ rating is down four points on last year to 61%, putting it about equal with India and a little ahead of Indonesia, but still well above where it was under the Trump administration. A question on “Australia’s best friend in Asia” records India spiking from 7% last year to 16%, though Japan remains far ahead of the field on 44%.
• In response to a question on confidence in world leaders, the field was led by Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskky and New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins who each scored a combined 72% for a lot of confidence and some confidence, though one doubts that the latter’s name recognition is quite that high. Support for military aid to Ukraine was nonetheless down six points to 76% with opposition up eight to 24%, while support for sanctions on Russia was down two to 87% and opposition up three to 12%.
• Twenty-five per cent felt Anthony Albanese had done a very good job on foreign policy, 58% a reasonable job and 15% a poor job. The question was extended to other recent prime ministers, producing neutral ratings for Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard and net negative ratings for Malcolm Turnbull and, especially, Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison.
• Forty-seven per cent felt an Indigenous Voice would improve Australia’s reputation, 44% that it would make no difference, and 8% that it would damage it.
Two other poll results to relate:
• The West Australian had a Painted Dog Research poll on the Indigenous Voice on Saturday which found 57-43 of WA respondents in favour on a forced response basis, narrowing from 60-40 when the last such poll was conducted in March. The poll had a sample of 1050, with field work dates not specified.
• This week’s federal voting intention numbers from Roy Morgan have Labor’s lead out to 57-43, from 56-44 last week, with primary votes of Labor 36.5% (up one-and-a-half), Coalition 34% (up half) and Greens 13% (steady).
Other news that does not relate to the three looming by-elections, which I am holding back for a post on Friday, when candidates will be declared for the federal by-election in Fadden and the Western Australian state by-election in Rockingham:
• Victorian Senator David Van’s exile from the Liberal Party put the numbers in the chamber at Coalition 32, Labor 26, Greens 11, One Nation two, Jacqui Lambie Network two, United Australia Party one, and independents three. Greg Brown of The Australian reports Van “plans on remaining in parliament until his Senate term is up in 2025 and will consider contesting the next election as an independent”, and that he will not consider joining One Nation or the United Australia Party.
• Rachel Eddie of The Age reports that Russell Broadbent, 72-year-old veteran Liberal member for the West Gippsland seat of Monash, faces a preselection challenge from Mary Aldred, head of government relations for Asia Pacific at Fujitsu and daughter of the late Ken Aldred, member for various federal seats from 1975 to 1996. While her father was a figure of some controversy, Mary Aldred is reportedly “viewed as a moderate”, in common with Broadbent.
• Linda Silmalis of the Daily Telegraph reports Sutherland Shire mayor Carmelo Pesce is rated the front-runner to succeed Scott Morrison in Cook, with a general view that Morrison is likely to pull the plug later in the year.
• Katina Curtis of The West Australian argues school holidays and football finals mean the date for the referendum can be narrowed down to October 14, November 4 and November 25, with the former most likely as the November dates are complicated by that month’s APEC conference.
Well it seems more like a bipolar moment, deftly managed by Putin, than a serious coup attempt. If it was serious the Wagner forces would either have been pulverised, or left entirely alone to progress.
SO, are we now in a three weekly Newspoll cycle? As a bedwetter I can’t wait.
I’m thinking the geniuses down at LNP HQ may have jettisoned a few more women voters this last fortnight.
The Greens? I’m hoping for another couple of points gained.
Meanwhile the Hawk(e)s are getting flogged.
subgeometer @ Sunday, June 25, 2023 at 6:07 pm
Yes. What’s more, I suspect the whole Belarus angle is just face saving by Putin. A lot of Tankies on Twitter are claiming that Putin is playing 3D chess by sending Prigozhin to Belarus, which would indicate that Putin has at least fooled them.
[‘One of the opening paragraphs of the explanatory memorandum pertaining to the amendments federal attorney general Mark Dreyfus has just made to the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (Cth) (the PID Act) is kind of humorous.
The newly passed changes to the legislation, which the current AG initially drafted during an earlier stint as the nation’s chief lawmaker, have been enacted in a supposed effort to protect whistleblowers in making public interest disclosures to the forthcoming National Anti-Corruption Commission (the NACC).
The early paragraph in the explanatory document adds a touch of amusement, however, as it claims that the PID Act allows public officials to disclose suspected wrongdoing of other public officials, and if a public official makes such a disclosure, in accordance with the Act, they’re protected from “civil, criminal and administrative liability”.
The reason why these words do raise eyebrows though is that certain whistleblowers, Witness K, ex-ADF lawyer David McBride and ATO official Richard Boyle, weren’t protected under these laws after exposing corruption.
And neither was K’s lawyer, Bernard Collaery, with the AG having to intervene to end his prosecution.
Indeed, the Coalition had a field day wielding Dreyfus’ laws during its decade in office, with then AG Christian Porter seemingly executing a hitlist of political prosecutions against former public officials, who’d exposed government departments and agencies with an inability to abide by the rules.
Dreyfus, however, did admit his laws were lacking whilst in opposition and he pledged in the leadup to the last election, to overhaul them if re-elected. And last week saw his priority reforms passed ahead of a greater overhaul slated for later this year.
Yet, the attorney general had also conveniently chosen to wait to pass this reform bill, until after the prosecutions of Porter’s targets had progressed beyond the point of any protection his amendments may have provided being able to be applied to them.’]
https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/attorney-general-enacts-bare-minimum-protections-for-public-sector-whistleblowers/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=week-26
McBride’s matters are listed for trial in November; Boyle’s, October. Dreyfus could still nolle the indictments against them or exercise his authority under the Judiciary Act, like he did
for Collarey. Why he has not done so is anyone’s guess.
Late Riser @ Sunday, June 25, 2023 at 6:36 pm
I’m a little surprised some of them haven’t already tried something, since Russia’s military performance has been exposed as very underwhelming in Ukraine.
Now that we are seeing cracks appearing in the façade of the Russian regime itself it would seem inevitable that eventually someone will seize an opportunity.
Meanwhile Rabbitohs are flogged by Cowboys.
I think the thing to watch is what happens to Wagner gear. You don’t need lots of tanks etc if you aren’t going to run a war.
Re: McBride & Boyle:
[‘JUDICIARY ACT 1903 – SECT 71
Discharge of persons committed for trial
(1) When any person is under commitment upon a charge of an indictable offence against the laws of the Commonwealth, the Attorney-General or such other person as the Governor-General appoints in that behalf may decline to proceed further in the prosecution, and may, if the person is in custody, by warrant under his or her hand direct the discharge of the person from custody, and he or she shall be discharged accordingly.
Historyintime @ #1399 Sunday, June 25th, 2023 – 6:51 pm
Yeah, sure. 🙄
I’d say it’s more like:
– The Wagner guy was acting out of desperation, knowing before he started that the MoD or the MoD+Putin had it in for him regardless
– Putin has been depantsed and thoroughly embarassed by the whole debacle; claim to command the world’s strongest army but can’t even eradicate a small convoy travelling in the open with no air support down a major motorway while it travels 1000km to depose you? Not a good look.
Deft management does not include losing six choppers and their crews, publicly declaring that rebels will be caught and punished only to equally publicly declare amnesty for them not even a day later, or several other things that happened. Putin didn’t lose; that doesn’t mean he won.
This guy reckons it was real.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5BvOgv8WQQ
The main movement on the front yesterday was along a roughly 5km wide front about 4.4 km south of the town of Mala Tokmachka in Zaporizhzhia. It is small, but continues to be in Ukraine’s favour, from the latest map on https://deepstatemap.live/en#14/47.4850/35.8844 .
Ukraine has taken full control of a roughly 1.4 sq km sized, broad southwards-pointing triangle, 4 km east-west and 700m north-south, of contested territory between Novodanylivka and Novopokrovka. It is centred upon a ridge of elevated land about 50m elevation higher than a contested gully to its south and west which it overlooks.
Russia has lost full control of a roughly 2.0 sq km area of the same shape and orientation as the Ukrainian-seized land above, but 5 km east-west and 800m north-south, located parallel to the Ukrainian line about 1.15 km south. This area is now contested, and contains a lower ridge between two parallel gullies, about 20m elevation lower than the ridge now controlled by Ukraine, 30m elevation higher than the northern gully immediately overlooked by Ukrainian units, and 50m elevation higher than the southern gully still controlled by Russian units.
Consequence: Russia’s front has now been backed into the lowest, southernmost gully in this section of the front, about 50m elevation lower than a contested ridge right in front of them, and about 80m elevation lower than the position Ukraine controls, about 1.2km north of them.
Assessment: Ukrainian tactical success.
It is through hard graft like this that Ukraine will loosen the sauce bottle for their main push. Not flashy showboating like what Prigozhin put on yesterday.
Peter Hartcher, SMH, believes that Putin’s authority has been grievously wounded.
” Vladimir Putin has often been called the puppet master of Russian politics, but now one of his puppets has turned on him and savaged him. His wounds ultimately could be fatal to his rule.
The abortive coup by his most effective military commander, the mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, has exposed the void at the centre of Putin’s regime.”
https://apple.news/ACZyq8y2WQgCNneCyFbW6WQ
In Russia today, the Emperor has no clothes. That’s all we need to take away from yesterday’s song and dance between Rostov and Moscow.
Sprocket
To your list of other potential trouble zones on Russia’s borders if Putin looks weak, you could ass Transnistria in Moldova. The small Russian garrison is practically marooned in a narrow strip of a now independent country (Moldova) who would love to remove them.
The question remains, who is Russia’s greatest love machine.
‘Enough Already says:
Sunday, June 25, 2023 at 6:11 pm
Boerwar @ Sunday, June 25, 2023 at 4:33 pm:
“I am curious as to why ISV does not mention the role, or potential role, of the Russian Air Force.”
================
BW, this is the other shoe I am waiting to hear drop. Could the Russian MoD have seen how easily Wagner PMC despatched 6 helicopters and then put a hard veto on Putin ordering the deployment of other aircraft, in order to preserve them for Ukraine, where they are obviously proving decisive in keeping Russia in the contest? That’s honestly the only explanation I find plausible. What do you think?’
——————————–
Russia has around 90% of its prewar fixed wing fighters and bombers intact.
The sole fixed wing that was shot down during the Prig Revolt was a reconnaissance aircraft.
Theoretically Putin has hundreds of combat aircraft available to him.
Putin also has numerous and varied missile forces.
Yet, as far as is known, not one was deployed against Prig’s Moscow convoy.
It is unthinkable that Russia does not have significant airforce units ready to scramble at any one time as required for the Ukraine War.
It is a mystery.
sprocket_, Paul TA, thanks for your thoughts. Any and every subsequent one of those will nibble away at Putin. At some point it will be too much. Easy to speculate on from Brisbane. Not so easy close up. But it does help knowing where to look.
Socrates @ Sunday, June 25, 2023 at 7:39 pm:
“Sprocket
To your list of other potential trouble zones on Russia’s borders if Putin looks weak, you could ass Transnistria in Moldova. The small Russian garrison is practically marooned in a narrow strip of a now independent country (Moldova) who would love to remove them.”
================
Socrates and Sprocket, since ‘Transnistria’ is in fact legally part of Moldova, wouldn’t Moldova have a sovereign right to invite any nation’s military it likes into its own country to help it deal with terrorist opponents to the rule of Chişinău law? Why not an invitation to Ukraine to send some units from Kherson Oblast over to Transnistria to help Moldova’s armed forces deal with the separatists and Russians in ‘Transnistria’? There is probably a little bit of kit there which Moldova would be happy to let Ukraine take back with them when they’re done, so everyone’s a winner. Come to think of it, maybe the Russian troops there themselves might be looking for a new nation to be loyal to …
nath @ Sunday, June 25, 2023 at 7:43 pm:
“The question remains, who is Russia’s greatest love machine.”
======================
Nath, I’ve left you your fun for this one – I chopped off the band’s name from the pic …
I love Boney M. Best music to reluctantly clean the house to, or do the dishes.
Not a chance. The difference between what it takes to shoot down a helicopter (slow, low-altitude, unstealthy, generally close range) and a fixed wing aircraft (fast, high altitude, potentially stealthy, usually long range) is vast. And aside from that there would also be drones, cruise missiles, and other long-range precision munitions that could have been quickly deployed at virtually zero risk and for just replacement cost. It would/should have been so easy that there’s got to be some interesting reason why it didn’t happen. Conserving munitions for Ukraine wouldn’t be it.
‘Enough Already says:
Sunday, June 25, 2023 at 7:30 pm
The main movement on the front yesterday was along a roughly 5km wide front about 4.4 km south of the town of Mala Tokmachka in Zaporizhzhia. It is small, but continues to be in Ukraine’s favour, from the latest map on https://deepstatemap.live/en#14/47.4850/35.8844 .
Ukraine has taken full control of a roughly 1.4 sq km sized, broad southwards-pointing triangle, 4 km east-west and 700m north-south, of contested territory between Novodanylivka and Novopokrovka. It is centred upon a ridge of elevated land about 50m elevation higher than a contested gully to its south and west which it overlooks.
Russia has lost full control of a roughly 2.0 sq km area of the same shape and orientation as the Ukrainian-seized land above, but 5 km east-west and 800m north-south, located parallel to the Ukrainian line about 1.15 km south. This area is now contested, and contains a lower ridge between two parallel gullies, about 20m elevation lower than the ridge now controlled by Ukraine, 30m elevation higher than the northern gully immediately overlooked by Ukrainian units, and 50m elevation higher than the southern gully still controlled by Russian units.
Consequence: Russia’s front has now been backed into the lowest, southernmost gully in this section of the front, about 50m elevation lower than a contested ridge right in front of them, and about 80m elevation lower than the position Ukraine controls, about 1.2km north of them.
Assessment: Ukrainian tactical success.
It is through hard graft like this that Ukraine will loosen the sauce bottle for their main push. Not flashy showboating like what Prigozhin put on yesterday.’
—————————
What worries me about a km here and 50 metres there is this:
Several months ago I put it that Russia has reverted to defence in depth – a borrowing from WW2 doctrine and probably first effectively carried out in the battle of Kursk. This involves multiple lateral lines of trenches anchored by strong points. Many of the strongpoints will be overlooking, and surveilling, massive minefields. Defence in depth is backed by huge numbers of artillery, all of which has long since been zeroed in. The final line of defence is essentially mobile – a strategic reserve which will be rushed towards any Ukrainian units which fight their way through the defence in depth.
Defence in depth is useful to Russia because they have superior numbers, because sitting in a foxhole and shooting is far easier than manoevre for untrained or poorly trained soldiers, because defence is generally favoured over attack, because defence in depth slows movement and because defenders who do break through will have been shot up and exhausted.
From Cronus’ comments it appears that Ukraine has committed to date only 20% of its available counter offensive brigades. I sincerely hope that they find a weakness in the Russian Front and exploit it decisively very, very soon.
For those who appreciate the place of place in history, Kursk is located on the main road between Kyiv and Voronesh.
[‘Former Labor leader and federal cabinet minister Simon Crean has died, aged 74.
Crean, a key figure in the union movement and the Australian Labor Party over four decades, was visiting Europe for meetings on trade and business and is understood to have died on Sunday.’]
nath:
The Master, of course:
https://youtu.be/Bb3bXgUEMk4
Frednk and anyone else interested,
Regarding the Titan minisub destruction, Adelaide Uni lecturer on sub design Eric Fusil gives a very detailed discussion of the engineering issues in making such a vessel safe.
The carbon fibre does not suffer fatigue in the way metal does, but there are other problems in composite structures that mix dissimilar materials. Looks like a big problem was that OceanGate skirted around voluntary safety standards for submersibles.
https://theconversation.com/an-expert-explains-what-safety-features-a-submersible-should-have-208187
Someone with some material knowledge discussing Oceangate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaOVYkWgpcM
Thanks Socrates.
It looks like it was a disaster waiting to happen.
Frednk
Yes very much so. Lots of corners cut despite the big budget.
Vale Simon Crean. A Labor leader who stuck to his principles, but had no luck against John Howard, a man who did not feel similarly constrained.
Kursk was somewhat different because of the huge numbers tanks and anti-tank guns involved.
Russian anti-tank crews were expected to die where they fought.
Former federal Labor leader Simon Crean dies aged 74
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/former-federal-labor-leader-simon-crean-dies-aged-74-20230625-p5djcc.html
There are many files involving Simon Crean in Malcolm Farnsworth’s useful Australian Politics site.
https://australianpolitics.com/tag/simon-crean
One place to start, his 2003 speech on why Australia should not be involved in the Iraq war.
https://australianpolitics.com/2003/03/20/why-labor-does-not-support-the-war-crean.html
[‘Putin’s primary focus will now be to secure his political standing – and survival.
“As for Prigozhin, he will need to reflect on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s famous admonition, “when you strike at a king, you must kill him”,” says Weschler’] – news.com
I think Ralph was right.
I admired Crean for his stand on the war in Iraq.
I vividly recall lying on the couch in the Red Cross Blood Centre giving my monthly donation and watching him declare own TV Gillard had to go and thinking “oh shit”.
It was downhill all the way from then
Mavis says:
Sunday, June 25, 2023 at 8:22 pm
[‘Putin’s primary focus will now be to secure his political standing – and survival.
“As for Prigozhin, he will need to reflect on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s famous admonition, “when you strike at a king, you must kill him”,” says Weschler’] – news.com
___________________
I think Omar Little from The Wire said it better when he intoned ‘When you come at the King, you best not miss’.
Rossmcg
“ I admired Crean for his stand on the war in Iraq.”
+1 it was the only time I took part in a protest march while I was a public servant. Iraq was a predictable failure.
I accidentally bumped into Simon once when we’d both stepped out of a conference.
I asked him to tell me how my local member voted on a certain issue.
Not only did he remember, but he put out a media release!
Crean was leader when I was in my mid-teens, right around the time that politics went from being that very boring soap opera my parents watched each night to something I became increasingly interested in. The Iraq War had a lot to do with both my transformation into a political tragic and my identification with the left side of politics.
Like others, I always had a lot of respect for his steadfast opposition to what then seemed a fairly popular military engagement. While he wasn’t a success as party leader, he did always strike me as being a thoroughly decent man. As for the bewildering events of early 2013, well, my opinions on that are probably best left for another time.
RIP.
Simon Crean never really got a good shot at being OL. Stephen Conroy undermined him at every turn, aided no doubt by the polls. But the constant leaking and destabilization by Conroy could not be abated.
sprocket at 12.15 and 6.18 pm, ar at 7.27 and 7.58 pm
Prigozhin’s convoy was not a charade. The choreography was too poor for that. But it was a surprise to Putin’s advisers. See:
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2023/06/24/they-thought-the-risk-was-nil
The last two paras from that report are:
‘The speakers [within the Kremlin] agree that the very fact that the administration would have allowed an armed coup to develop unhampered as far as it did will strike a blow to Putin’s reputation, even if his security apparatus is ultimately able to suppress the insurgents. “Signals like this just before the 2024 presidential campaign are not that great, to be honest,” says one of them.
Another thing the insiders agree on is that, even if contained, the armed insurrection will lead to a new repressive clampdown in the country. “They’ll tighten the screws even if they stop Prigozhin quickly. And if they don’t, then all the more so,” a source predicts.’
The description of Prigozhin’s seizure of the Southern Command HQ in Rostov-on-Don and the convoy toward Moscow as a “coup” is overstated. It was a mutiny, but not an organised attempt to seize the centres of power. That was always beyond Prigozhin’s reach.
Why was the convoy not attacked? Because that would have looked worse for Putin. A few lorries were placed across the motorway, and part of it was dug up as an obstruction. That was enough to stop the convoy. It’s unclear what the convoy would or could have done even if it had reached Moscow.
The outcome: “Putin didn’t lose; that doesn’t mean he won.” More specifically, he didn’t lose very badly but he surely lost face, and part of the remaining bit of his reputation within the elite.
Of course, Putin will pretend that loss of apparent control, however fleeting, was a victory, as he does with all his setbacks. Hence the significance of the last para of the report above re tightening screws.
The Moscow Mayor, Sobanyin, stated publicly that “the situation is difficult” (BBC report 1.24 am).
He would most probably have known the likely outcome. Hence his statement was part of preparing the public for further repression.
The other reason for such repression is the response of the onlookers in Rostov in cheering the Wagner thugs. Why did they cheer? Not because of Wagner’s crimes in Ukraine, but most probably because the onlookers saw an apparent challenge to Putin’s regime, however fanciful it really was.
”
Mavissays:
Sunday, June 25, 2023 at 7:59 pm
[‘Former Labor leader and federal cabinet minister Simon Crean has died, aged 74.
Crean, a key figure in the union movement and the Australian Labor Party over four decades, was visiting Europe for meetings on trade and business and is understood to have died on Sunday.’]
”
I am eternally grateful to Simon Crean for convincing Federal Labor caucus to oppose Iraq war 2 even after enthusiastic support from Kevin Rudd for that war.
I am convinced that quite a few on PB would have supported Iraq war 2 if Federal Labor supported that although they now say they opposed it.
sprocket_ says:
Sunday, June 25, 2023 at 6:18 pm
The view from a Ukrainian military reservist..
From both external and internal perspectives, Putin’s image has weakened, reminiscent of the Japanese emperor during the Sengoku period. Similar to a symbolic figure, the emperor held nominal power while warring samurai clans vied for control over Japan.
Though Putin still wields undeniable power, it is evident that he has lost control over the situation, resulting in a significant crack in his perceived ability to exert authority and manage internal affairs. Additionally, Putin had to rely on the intervention of a foreign leader (Belarus) to resolve the internal conflict.
These events highlight the potential use of military force against Putin’s government as a means to coerce acceptance of terms, although the details of the arrangement between Prigozhin and Putin-Lukashenko remain undisclosed. If a replacement occurs within the top military command, it would only reinforce such behavior.
Furthermore, this upheaval exposes the inherent weakness within the system itself. Numerous senior officers responsible for decision-making chose to abstain from issuing orders or making decisive moves, opting to wait for the outcome.
The relatively swift movement of Wagner forces from Ukraine to Moscow within a span of less than a day, coupled with the chaotic attempts to destroy bridges and hastily dig ditches near Moscow, have laid bare the unpreparedness of the system to face a genuine threat.
It has been intriguing to witness the involvement of various groups, including the Club of Angered Patriots led by Strelkov, the Rusich neo-Nazi military unit, and the Kadyrovites, aligning themselves with different factions within the conflict. This development reveals a landscape that hints at the potential for a future civil war
https://twitter.com/Tatarigami_UA/status/1672682134341861376
——————————————-
I concur with this assessment, if for no other reason that it accords with my posts early this morning.
Ven @ #1439 Sunday, June 25th, 2023 – 8:46 pm
Ven,
How presumptuous of you.
You don’t speak for me. I’m not as flaky as that.
I, for one, haven’t supported a war, after WW2, until Russia invaded Ukraine.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-23/pwc-scandal-multinationals-public-transparency-laws-wound-back/102516398
Switzerland ran a referendum on the OECD minimum tax, Australia on a voice?
Oh dear.
Vale Simon Crean. I followed his career from his ACTU days. I thought him a man of principles who was a much maligned stalwart of the ALP. Hopefully now he will receive the respect he deserved.
Prigozhin’s troops may have been sent to Belarus, but surely his words (there are no Ukrainian Nazis, the war was about oligarchs and strutting Military heads) will surely reverberate across Russia for sometime yet.
And the words will be more damaging to Putin than weapons.
The bomber’s role in the knifing of Simon Crean should not be ignored- he was certainly seen as the successor until some of the NSW Right picked one of their own.
Family dynasties in politics aren’t always a bad thing.
Vale a principled man. Simon Crean.
Torchbearer says:
Sunday, June 25, 2023 at 9:16 pm
Prigozhin’s troops may have been sent to Belarus, but surely his words (there are no Ukrainian Nazis, the war was about oligarchs and strutting Military heads) will surely reverberate across Russia for sometime yet.
And the words will be more damaging to Putin than weapons.
————————————-
I’m aware that Prighozin has apparently been despatched unceremoniously to Belarus but is there any confirmation that his troops and equipment have joined him (this seems anomalous to Putin’s intent)?
Who knows….those details seem sketchy…..I was being a bit flippant in that comment.
Cronus @ #1447 Sunday, June 25th, 2023 – 9:23 pm
I tried to say earlier today that I was of the understanding from the brokered deal, that Putin got the Wagner troops and I guess Prighozin got his life.
It just goes to show that if something gets repeated enough, people will believe it.
Unfortunately Federal Labor followed family dynasties during John Howard period until NSW right disastrously selected one of their own and reverted back to that experiment until John Howard became so poisonous with his his Work Choices legislation.