"As for their threat to us? we could respond by making all Chinese land or housing purchases illegal and retrospectively! That'll show them we are not a land of jellyback investors like Clive trying to get rich/wax fat off of Chinese cheap money or labour"

Sorry Alan B, but this will only backfire and create further tensions.
The last time Scomo tried to stand up and act tough like the big man.
- China smacked him down like a little girl, and our whole nation suffered.

You would all do well to understand that the US wants our greatest trading partner to the their enemy.

If you think we should shoot ourselves in the foot like Europe has by playing fire with it's reliance on Russian energy, or the world to suffer from a lack of wheat.

If you think Aussies relying on Chinese goods wouldn't kick both Labor and Liberal out if either they took away their cheap goods, think again.

We're in a stage of the game now, where just like in the Ukraine, all citizens of all countries will suffer, but not the politicians and bureaucrats who caused the mess.

I have a feeling this whole thing is a part of Klaus Schwab and other elites plans.
Can't create a new society without destroying the old ones first.

"We will get the parliament we deserve."
Not exactly, if you control the input, you control the output.
So if they dumb-down our nation, then dumbed-down we will act, and vote.
- Then we will get what we deserve, (or what they decide for us) but that won't correlate with what any of us actually wants.

The ship came within 50 nautical miles of the WA coast near Exmouth.

Both the defence minister and the opposition spokesman are taking the matter seriously.

It is unusual for a foreign warship to be caught hugging our coastline without prior notice.

But, of course, they haven't consulted the two defence experts, Alan B and hasbeen, who seem to know more about intelligence gathering than is safe. They seem to know more that the Chinese, who wasted all that time, purposefully, veering off course to within 50 miles of Exmouth, thinking it was worth their while to collect intelligence that hasbeen could have told them that they could have got elsewhere

Hey ttbn,
I'll meet you half-way.
Even if laws weren't broken (and 50kms does seem a little close)

It's definitely provocative.
But maybe it was meant to be provocative?

Maybe they're sending a message to us.
"Are you absolutely sure you wanna go down this path"
If we keep saying "Yes" then they will keep doing more provocative things.

The US might want to go to war with Russia and China.
But how can this situation possibly benefit us in any way?
Can anyone answer this question for me?

Is standing up for human rights, Uyghurs, and messing with Taiwan really worth a nuke detonated on our soil?

I wish we could just stay out of it, but instead we're getting dragged into it.
We're supposed to be our own sovereign country, not a US lapdog.
Our submarine deal won't even get us one until 2040, unless we lease them.
WWIII's gunna be all over by then, and if we take sides our bases will get nuked too.
Submarines won't do a damn thing to save our country from invasion, if that's what China decides to do.
All they are going to do is be used to further the US military objectives against our biggest trading partner.

Maybe can all the people who want to go to war with Russia and China move to one side of the country?
And all the people who don't want to get nuked or lose their cheap Chinese goods and pay a huge premium for fuel go to the other side of the country?

At least half of us might then live to tell the tale of western stupidity.

Yes A.C. We need to lease a couple of nuclear subs armed with reprisal nuclear missiles, which should be the new Mach five plus missiles.

Mach five plus would mean they'd hit their intended target before the counter measures could be launched!

And these subs used as training vessels, so when we do receive the new subs, we'll have crews to man them!

So, if we could respond with a nation destroying reprisal? Few would do more than threaten to let lose hell or impose trade embargos! A trade embargo against Russia has to include oil and gas to be effective! And means we and the west need to transition to nuclear power and maximized electrified transport options, like yesterday!

To be effective as an independent sovereign nation, we need a big stick in a velvet glove! And hope we are never placed in a position (M.A.D.) of having to use it!
Alan B.

Regarding the Chinese snooper ship, as they were detected before
arriving near the coms bases I doubt they would have been able to
gather any information.
If the base was transmitting anything the ship would have received
an overpowering noise level. An old jamming technique.
There are even aircraft so equipped, they are called "Growlers".
However the coms base would have stopped operations until the ship
left. Not sure what new they could have heard that could not have
picked up in Beijing anyway. Its known activity is for submarine
communications on very low frequencies.
I presume it was just a niggling exercise to be hard to get on with.
After all the Central Kingdom is entitled to come here and look at
anything they desire, just ask them what is required of vassel states.

"I presume it was just a niggling exercise to be hard to get on with."

Yes, that's what I think it was, niggling.

Hello Australia! [Chinese sailors waving]
We've come to visit, won't you welcome us?
Just enough to stir Dutton up into a frenzy, they're probably all laughing right now.