Agree with most of this and note when Britian was a manufacturing economy it was one of the strongest economies in the world and enabled it to hold off the Germans as a virtual stalemate, that is, until the Yanks entered the conflict.

And they prevailed like no other because of their industrial base and home-grown energy supplies/ oil, Texas crude etc.

We cannot defend ourselves and relying on big brother is not always the best strategy.

We need a self-sufficient, self-reliant manufacturing sector and only doable if we transition to nuclear energy as MSR thorium.

That being so, get out from under the heel of the price gouging, tax avoiding, profit repatriating energy barons.

No way Hosa say the politicians, we're earning too much mola from the current energy sector/coal, gas.
Alan B.

The lack of engagement gets worse as the threats from within and without increase. The obsession with sport - watching a few people doing things, never really involved in anything themselves - is childish, lazy and pathetic.

Some commentators still feel obliged to chirp that Australia is a great country. It is not. A country is only as good, or as 'great', as its people; Australia is sorely lacking in that respect: divided by race and culture.

The Covid panic and the meekly accepted abuse by the political class - lockdowns, vaccination bullying, RUBBER BULLETS!; the climate hysteria that is ruining us economically, and now apartheid via the Voice. None of this has been sufficient to stir the majority of Australians to act.

Australians deserve everything that is coming for them.

"There is therefore a need for a great and powerful friend."
Only if you think a war against us is imminent.

"Australia is the only country in the 20th century to fight alongside the US in every war in which the US was involved."
This is a large part of the problem, we should not be joined at the hip to a corrupt nation that cares more about liberal interventions and overthrows than it does it's own domestic policies and the interests of its citizens.

Tucker Carlson explains the problem quite well.
http://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1668747661028081664

Australia should take more of a neutral stance foreign policy stance instead of a US vassal state stance like the G7 nations for example, and take a position closer to the SCO (Previously The Shanghai Five), in which for example they "oppose intervention in other countries' internal affairs on the reason of 'humanitarianism' and 'protecting human rights;' and support the efforts of one another in safeguarding the five countries' national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and social stability."

We should stay away from trade sanctions, we should be more interested in trading for the single purpose of building up our own nation, not necessarily trying to undermine other countries with the idea of making the world a better place with a global group mentality.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't advocate fair treatment for all people, we should, but we shouldn't necessarily impose western ideas of democracy and inclusivity (including climate change agendas, gay and trans celebrations, women's empowerment i.e femenist, ethnic and gender quotas over merit) on other nations, we're not even all in agreement on these deliberately divisive issues at home.

We shouldn't necessarily focus on global initiatives where it negatively impacts our own citizens;
The world is changing, and we should accept reality and embrace the multipolar world, there's no need to go to war with China, who are our largest trading partner.

Finally we should stop importing people, because our kids and grandkids won't even be able to buy their own homes, and if this is where we're headed then what's the point of anything?