politics

Created
Tue, 28/02/2023 - 04:55
The Director General of the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), Mike Burgess, is an intelligence professional whose views about threats to national security should be considered carefully, and on their merits. But I am not sure that he deserves the benefit of every doubt. Sarah Kendall, a PhD candidate from the University of Queensland, Continue reading »
Created
Tue, 28/02/2023 - 04:57
It’s clear that Australian sovereignty is being seriously, perhaps fatally, imperilled by the policies of successive Australian governments populated by Austral-Americans.  Defence Minister Richard Marles’ address to parliament on February 9, entitled ‘Securing Our Sovereignty’, deserves a close reading. It was delivered at a time when, in the minister’s own words, “it has never been Continue reading »
Created
Mon, 27/02/2023 - 04:56
The AUKUS deal for nuclear submarines by 2050 indicates that government has little grasp of the likely chaotic state of the world after current trajectories on climate and environmental change have played out for the next 27 years. In turn this engenders insecurity over their knowledge and ability to deliver appropriate policies on these threats. Continue reading »
Created
Mon, 27/02/2023 - 04:59
China called for an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine so that negotiations can begin for peace and rebuilding. It called for respect for sovereign borders – which seemed like advice to Russia to withdraw. But it also called for respect given to security concerns – which seems like acknowledgement that the west should fulfil earlier promises Continue reading »
Created
Mon, 27/02/2023 - 04:54
According to Newsweek, a toxic chemical cloud has reached a radius of 100-miles around East Palestine, the scene of a devastating train crash and chemical burn-off. If true, the people of Cleveland, the State capital 90-miles away, are now at risk of exposure. At the same time, Cleveland residents are reeling from another explosion at Continue reading »
Created
Mon, 27/02/2023 - 04:57
Brian Toohey (Pearls and Irritations, 14 February 2023) makes a number of criticisms of the recent four-part series on national security by Michael Keating and myself that was published in Pearls and Irritations earlier this month. He contends that we have made “assertions that should not go unchallenged”, particularly in regard to our support for Continue reading »