This faraway conflict has cost Australians nearly $2 billion in 'donations'. Australia has inflicted a couple of thousand sanctions on Russia. A new Russian embassy site has been refused.

Why? What the hell has it got to do with Australia, when the current government is shaky, to say the least, on the matter of the Chinese threat to a democratic country, Taiwan, much closer to Australia?

A RESPONSE to ttbn:

The suggestion that Ukraine is a "faraway conflict" with nothing to do with Australia demonstrates a remarkably narrow understanding of international security.

Russia's invasion is not simply a European territorial dispute. It is an attempt by a nuclear-armed authoritarian power to destroy a sovereign democracy through military aggression. If that succeeds, it sends a dangerous message to every smaller nation: international borders, sovereignty and national independence can be violated by whoever possesses the greatest military power.

And that brings us directly to Taiwan. Why would Australia defend Taiwan's right to exist as a sovereign democracy while remaining indifferent to Ukraine's struggle to preserve its own independence? The two situations are fundamentally connected.

The $1.9 billion committed to Ukraine is not simply "donations". It includes military equipment, humanitarian assistance, energy security and economic support. It is an investment in defending the international order upon which Australia's own security depends.

Furthermore, Australia has a direct historical connection: 38 Australian residents were among the 298 people murdered when Russia-backed forces destroyed MH17 over Ukraine in 2014.

Supporting Ukraine is not neglecting Australia. It is recognising that aggression, if rewarded, does not remain confined to distant continents.

The question is not what Ukraine has to do with Australia. It is what happens to Australia's security when the international community allows military aggression to succeed.