The melodramatic media story about the small Chinese naval flotilla exercising with “live” ammunition off the Australian and New Zealand coasts has run solid for more than a week. I’m beginning to suspect the Chinese military may have a sense of humour. Here the political snafu, led by the ABC, has been fixated by the Continue reading »
Defence and Security
Air Vice Marshal John Blackburn RAAF (retired) noted in his 2014 report on fuel security that Australia only had sufficient stores to supply service stations and hospital pharmacies for three days, retail pharmacies and chilled/frozen goods transport for seven and dried goods for eight. The social and economic consequences of such a collapse in our Continue reading »
Never has there been a greater need for Australia to turn away from its military alliance with the United States and forge an independent and peaceful foreign policy. This would necessarily mean an alternative self-reliant defence policy and the forging of friendly and mutually beneficial relations with the fraternity of non-aligned/neutral nations. Even before the Continue reading »
The AUKUS agreement aims to increase US, UK and Australian submarine capability in the Indo Pacific and the deterrence impact they offer. The current plan will fail for four fundamental reasons. Between now and 2032 the US Navy will drop from 49 nuclear powered attack submarines (SSN) to 32-35; the US will not have sufficient Continue reading »
Last Tuesday night (2 am AEDT – 10 am US EST), the Doomsday Clock yet again moved its hands closer than ever towards midnight. ‘Midnight’ in this context means an event sequence that would destroy what we call ‘civilisation’, and probably involve the deaths of all or most humans as well as cataclysmic impacts on Continue reading »
The US is exploiting a privileged position in our society with formalised access to powerful means for shaping Australians’ attitudes to security. It purports to be ally and friend, but where’s the respect? We should talk about a malignant influence on Australia’s security which has long been harboured unquestioned – so-called independent think tanks. Unquestioned Continue reading »
The 2000 residents of Diego Garcia were forcibly removed to make way for a giant US military base. A repost from May 30, 2024 Will the same happen to the 593 Australian residents on the Cocos Islands that lies south of Sumatra in the Indian ocean? The Australian Government has committed over $600 million to the military Continue reading »
The sweetest words in the English language: I told you so. A repost from Mar, 16, 2024 French submarines, the first of which were scheduled for delivery in 2034 under a $90bn program with France’s Naval Group – before the contract was ripped up by the Morrison government – were lethal and affordable. Now we Continue reading »
The Albanese government with their policy is likely to turn Australia into the 51st state of the United States, writes former Prime Minister of Australia, Paul Keating. A repost from Aug, 09, 2024 Introduction: Defence Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong have been in the US for talks with the Secretaries of Defence Continue reading »
There’s no question that they did it: on 27 November last year, in the middle of Hatt Road, two people, Carmen Robinson and Alexandra (Tommy) Walker, locked themselves onto a barrel filled with concrete, blocking traffic on the way into the Pine Gap military base. Supported by some 30 others, they made their action public, Continue reading »