Once upon a time Radio Australia broadcast into PNG and the Pacific as a method of "soft diplomacy" and maintaining an ongoing presence in those areas.

However cutbacks to the ABC closed down that service and we subsequently surrendered the license for those radio frequencies which were immediately snapped up by China. I wonder how they will be used?

It was another example of short-sighted thinking for the sake of saving a few dollars.

Good point about the turd and Siberia Armchair Critic but I prefer Antarctica.

Fiji's PM's joy at Wong's visit centred around the good old climate 'emergency' lark. He is probably looking forward to Australian taxpayers money for the emergency that doesn't exist, and his island that is not sinking.

"There is only one scenario worse, that’s America moving in".

Sheesh!

I disagree that our next challenge is defending press freedom anywhere, but rather the cost to us of energy! As a front and centre issue!

Everything we make or use or are serviced by has an upward cascading energy component much of which includes a wholesale component, replete with tax liabilities and a retail component with even further tax liabilities.

I mean a loaf of bread is impacted to a greater or lessor degree by 40 different taxes! Fuel and PAYE?PAYG tax during the planting and harvesting the wheat. Sales tax on the machinery and trucks etc. Payroll tax during milling and baking etc.-etc.

Our tax system needs a complete overhaul as does what we charge ourselves for our coal, gas or sweet light crude. The latter only needing a simple sand filter and the addition of 4.7% methanol to become a superior source of transport diesel.

At the moment we export our sweet light crude and import the leavings of other refineries and then have to crack the (almost tar) hydrocarbon to extract a vastly inferior diesel!

Other countries which export their coal etc., have a domestic price and a quota and another for the export market?

And our coal, gas and oil is mined by foreigners who charge us export market prices? I say we should hold their export licenses until they charge us cost of production and transport here at home!

After all, it is our coal, gas and oil! And comes out of our ground! Governments need to do more than simply roll over and beg for a tummy rub! Growing a spine would be a useful start!
Alan B.

People who rubbish America should explain how, if the U.S-led world order is so terrible, what would a CCP-led world order be like? How would it be better?

Because, that’s our choice now: the US or the CCP. And there is no point in saying we can do both, because we are not talking about the country China, or Chinese people. We simply will never be able to get along with the Chinese Communist Party, the most evil version of the most evil system ever.