With a politic of self-serving ego trippers and panic merchants, what other outcome than where we are at the moment could be expected?

The days of a Country guided by Statesmen are long gone.

The days of a Country guided by Statesmen are long gone.
diver dan,
Yes, unfortunately because the kind of citizens needed to vote in Statesmen have been lured away by lack of discipline & greed & stupidity !
The lure of the drugs was too much to resist for the small-brained !

Individual.

There was a time when this Country was unified by a common and recognisable culture; gone West with the Statesmen.

"The days of a Country guided by Statesmen are long gone."

I think what you meant to actually say was:
The days of western countries guided by Statesmen are long gone.

Graham, how many of these anti Labor blurbs will you be posting over the next few weeks? You are mostly preaching to the converted, a few right wing rusted on old blokes, who will agree with all your anti Labor propaganda. They've never voted Labor in their life, so who cares.

What can Australia do about a Chinese research vessel in international waters? Apply that 19th century gun boat mentality, and send a boat full of old fellas to confront them, and let those "Yellow Fellas" feel the thrust of Aussie cold steel? What a joke, why do you conservatives always resort to warmongerings and fear politics as your answer to all the woes in this world.

What's the big deal with the Chinese exercising down here ? Australians have already sold most of this country & their souls to the Chinese anyway !