The question comes down to one of simplicity, who should Australia trust, China or the US.

On about a par with each other.

Australia has no hope of outspending or out-gunning China for influence, and the US has minimal interests this far South.
Same old story, we are effectively on our own.

Start from the bottom end, expelling Chinese from Australia, but that will never happen since anything Chinese is sacrosanct, and has been that way for the past forty years, it’s impossible to change that locked-in association in a hurry.

How much of the Chinese intrusion into the Southern Hemisphere, (which is now painfully obvious that it’s well advanced), will Uncle Sam tolerate? It’s out of our hands isn’t it?

Dan

Our ability to thrust back at China and her investments are limited. Nor can we engage in a bidding war to buy PNG loyalty. We once had territorial control of PNG but gave it away before that nation was ready to self govern. What has emerged is a cargo cult administration trying to play us off against the Chinese.

The Chinese are there now and engaged for their own reasons logs, oil gas and gold! As for fish? Well, their appetite for other folk's legal fishing grounds has no apparent limit!

What should we do? Well it cannot be trying to match or better Chinese grants! We could help build a hydro, but would that not assist the Chinese and power their mineral smelters/timber exports/fish canning production?

Yes we should be alarmed and need to arm ourselves we reprisal weapons that the Chinese would respect, namely nuclear tipped, Mach five plus missiles.

And an industrial capacity that should and could match the Chinese. And only doable with MSR thorium, nuclear energy. And energy prices that are as low as 1 cent PKWH. This would allow quite massive automation of all manner of high tech manufacture and high tech manufacturers beating a path to our door!

Particularly if matched with real tax reform, say as a 15% flat and unavoidable tax. Collected from all income/profits earned here in Australia.

PNG has made a deal with the devil and cannot expect Australia to pull its irons from the fire! It invited the Chinese in and needs to uninvite them out! No ifs, buts or maybes!

As for the purchase of off the shelf nuclear subs? We should but without signaling the Chinese in advance just for some hidebound and asinine political reason? TBC.
Alan B.

Everything the CCP is doing in the region is "aimed at Australia". They are slowly but surely cutting us off from the only ally capable of defending us. While they have been doing this, the Morrison government has been caught like rabbits in the headlights, doing nothing. Now we have a socialist government who will continue to do nothing: they might even pal up with the CCP. The main thing on Labor’s minds is helping to wreck the country with a republic and the racist voice to parliament. The way things are going, we might end up part of a certain 'people's republic'.

The dissolution of sovereignty for PNG and the Pacific Islands is implied by most CCP agreements, and the Communists are out to pick our cherry, too.

With 9 years of a government taking little notice of what China has been doing - quite openly - and now with a socialist government with some members who think Communists should be treated with "respect", the dozy Australian population is in for something a lot more unpleasant than McDonalds replacing lettuce with cabbage.

Censorship is alive and well on Microsoft. I tried to comment on nuclear energy after jumping through all their ID hoops only to be rejected because they claim I'm under 18! I am 78 and their information cannot be correct unless some tech savvy kid has stolen my ID!

Simply put. Australia has no choice now but to transition to nuclear energy!

And we need to stop the antinuclear brigade from filling the media with their BS. Like the one that it takes 20 years to build. On the public record is info that saw a reactor built for Iceland, completed in 6 months and commissioned inside a year.

Then there is the BS about waste. Waste in MSR technology is just unspent fuel! And we could earn annual millions or even billions storing other folks unspent fuel, i.e., nuclear waste.

Even then spent fuel rods can be sliced wafer thin and then covered with manmade diamonds that safely convert radioactive emission to electricity! And could continue to do so for literally thousands of years! No rads just almost endless electricity!

People that know SFA has spent years filling the media with their ignorant fearmongering!

The most dangerous waste can be used inside appropriate shields to preserve fresh cryovaced food for possible centuries?

I have at times earned a living as an assayer, a lab tech, a chemical engineer and a science assistant for a power generating authority. And have spent more than 15 years researching thorium as a fuel. I'm across the science. Thorium delivers everything fusion promised but never delivered.

Just 8 grams of thorium contains enough recoverable energy to power your house and car for a century without refueling!

It's time the science free zone that's the nations parliament stopped listening to advice that was appropriate over 70 years ago! And listened to voices that are cogent in the 21st century! And that's not Dutton dressed as lamb.
Alan B.

What we can't afford is having that dill Dutton airing sensitive and classified information about Australia's capability in defence. That is exactly what this fool is doing by writing opinion pieces for his backers in the Murdoch gutter press. When you're kicked out of office like Dutton was, an unwritten law is you don't disclose sensitive information you learned while in office, the government should put Dutton on a dangerous persons list, not to be briefed on sensitive matters. He can't be trusted!

Nailed it in one, Paul. Better the world should suspect Dutton is a fool than he open his mouth and remove all doubt!
Alan B.