Yes, it’s an election year.

No, Julie, in comparison with the previous regime, the current Government has done well on national security.

Don’t imagine we have forgotten the ineptitude of the Howard Government in which you served.

We recall you slashed aid to Indonesia at the depths of its recession by $22 million in the 1996 budget, then by another $11 million in 1997, costing many thousands of lives.

Your administration offended Indonesia through other inept actions, including the infamous 1998 letter from PM Howard to President Habibie on East Timor, regarded as triggering the 1999 massacres.

Your inept foreign minister falsely accused Indonesian police of complicity in the 2004 bombing of Australia’s embassy which killed 10 and injured hundreds. Later Mr Downer lamely claimed that if he hadn’t repeated a baseless rumour he might have been criticised.

Your Government dealt so ineptly with the Solomon Islands that the Australian ambassador was expelled in 2006.

Your administration damaged relations with Papua New Guinea to the point where PM Michael Somare threatened in 2006 to recall your high commissioner and suspend official visits.

Your record on forcing asylum seekers into offshore detention centres is no better than Ms Gillard’s.

Your colleagues announced that refugees at sea on a sinking boat had thrown their children overboard when they knew they hadn’t.

Your Government diverted overseas aid funds to detention centres, embassy buildings, security and promoting trade.

Your Government paid $300 million of aid money illegally to Saddam Hussein through the Australian Wheat Board.

You reduced real overseas aid, after rorts, from 0.34 per cent of GNI to an all-time low of 0.19 per cent during a period of record surpluses.

Along with the US, you illegally invaded Iraq on the false pretext that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

You continued to support the illegal invasion after the falsehoods had been exposed, resulting in hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths.

Your colleagues ridiculed the 43 distinguished former defence chiefs, diplomats and departmental heads when they expressed dismay in 2004 at Australia’s foreign policy.

Pot, Kettle, Black, Julie. Have you no shame?

Both the Coalition and the Labor Party have a credibility gap as far as the electorate is concerned.

Trying to work out which is worst is a task beyond me. How did politics in Australia come to this?

If the trend continues, we'll end up like the USA where corporations own the politicians and control their actions and the President runs the country and uses assassination squads to get rid of any opposition.

The current Government and Opposition here should be thrown out on their ears and not allowed to contest the election later this year.

We desperately need some new talent, some new inspiration, and, for a change, some nobility and maturity.

While we pay peanuts for the responsability involved, you are going to have to pick from what we have.
Nobility, i think you are in the wrong country.
How did AU politics come to this; not sure what bit you are talking about. Lets take Abbott, tea party tactics, no to any and everything, can't read documents but gives opinions, Not one question about the welfare of AU, foot in mouth sindrome is the norm; no policy, no idea. Yet he is putting himself forward as a statesman, a leader. No wonder you are disalusioned with our politics. Best just to ignore Abbott, as irrelevant.
We may not have had an opposition for the last 4 years.
This year they will probably try and show they are interested, maybe

Dear Ms Bishop,

I thought that your piece was accurate and well reasoned.

We have an incompetent, unmitigated liar for P.M. who couldn't run a proverbial chook raffle.

Best regards

Halduell,

As I recall it was one of those nations which came to being after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Chek

The ' strategy' really was a powder puff generated by spin... What else is new with Gillard? The woman is not only an amoral politician, but I really believe she is a bit thick.
(I mean the woman does not even recognise her own overt racism).

Where is the recognition that, when America is independent of fossil fuels from the Middle East, It will no longer need the financial burden of a fleet in the region, a fleet protecting the supplies of Australia, Malaysia, India and most substantially that of China.

I guess it will then require China to develop and maintain a carrier fleet to replace the Americans.

Hmmm. Could be some Defence policy considerations there but, Foreign policy is not really here thing is it?

Julie, you mucked up the title to this post, it should read "Credibility void on national security".