Michael Shoebridge of the independent think tank Strategic Analysis Australia has written an article, ‘Australia's defence: Trump will notice our grand words aren't matched by actions’.

More interesting is the subtitle, ‘Australia can't have a capable conventional military of the size we plan & 8 nuclear submarines all for 2.4% GDP’.

While only speculating on the Trump government and what it will look like, we do know about Trump's attitude to defence budgets and what he expects from America's closest allies: he “hates free riders on US military spending and US military power”.

During his last Presidency, President Trump put the hard word on Europe, NATO and South Korea. 2% of GDP on defence was acceptable back then, but not now with the obvious threats to world peace.

Australia is bumping along with just under 2% now, with the ‘intention’ of 2.3% in ten years time. We are already heavily reliant on the US for our physical security; and we are still “stuck in a world where we (used to have) at least ten years warning of danger.

We are not recruiting, and we allow those already in the forces to be insulted and demonised for doing their jobs.

When Trump looks at Australia in a region where CCP power and aggression is increasing, he could easily put us among the “free riders” he is so contemptuous of.

He will certainly have military advisers who will recognise Australia's slackness, ineptitude on defence, and the pathetic amount we spend on trying to do what politicians imagine will happen.

Shoebridge suggests that whoever wins the coming election will need to commit to spending 3% of GDP in the next three years, along with the work to match the urgency of our strategic environment - instead of the magic thinking and self-congratulation of Albanese.

ttps://strategicanalysis.org/australias-defence-trump-will-notice-our-grand-words-arent-matched-by-actions/.

Just imagine how many small land-based missile stations could be set up along the coast for the money spent on submarines ?
No need to go out & rescue anyone when malfunctions happen etc etc. Every Govt makes the same mistake listening to Experts on practical matters.
Sense simply doesn't get a chance in anything anymore !

"We are already heavily reliant on the US for our physical security"
- US coalition couldn't event beat the Houthis.

Stop kidding yourself.
Americas not what it once was.

Indyvidual,

Yes. Think Israel's ‘wall of iron’.

AC,

Australia couldn't manage a unit to help the US out with the Houthis. That won't be forgotten. But, the US wasn't all that interested in the Houthis, a minor irritation. They are just a tribe of Arabs really. But - lesson for Australia - they actually produce many of their own weapons. Some Arabs are very adept armourers. Little villages used to produce good replicas of Lee Enfield rifles and other then modern firearms many years ago, and kill British soldiers with them.

But, back to your opinion of America: the US is still a very formidable power, and it will be more so under Donald Trump. You are the one kidding yourself.

Warmongering in the name of "defence" is the catch cry of the belligerent. Again another one of the Usual Suspects is at it with his "Australia Must Spend More on Defense" nonsense. We have no hope of militarily defending ourselves from a powerful aggressor, be it China, or America of which we are presently a captive and have been post WWII. I support a non-aligned policy for Australia, and our best weapon for "defence" is diplomacy.

Already being said by US officials.

AUKUS: what value does it generate for the US?
Tariffs: why should Australia be exempt?

No threats. But serious questions that Albanese might have to answer PDQ.

The problem is that the ttbns in the country are acting like prostitutes trying to beg for and ensure the U.S protection.

This is how America gets away with all the bad things it does.
No-one will call the U.S. out if they are all begging for the U.S. protection.

"AUKUS: what value does it generate for the US?"
Exactly.
We should say, no we don't want your military bases or U.S troops stationed here, we don't want Pine Gap here, we don't want the U.S. naval base in WA and we don't want your old shiddy overprised nuclear subs which wont have nukes and won't be ours anyway.

Please send refund, and you have 28 days to get out.
I'm certain they would change their tune, and if not - good.

Australia should be non-aligned, we don't want the U.S. overpriced useless weapons, or a war with China and we should probably develop our own drone and missile defense to make any attempted invasion too costly..

We tell them, 'If you start a war that inadvertantly destroys our economy, like you have done to others, then we jump ship'.
- A war with China that destroys our economy is a war against us.

'The whores of Babylon'.

no we don't want your military bases or U.S troops stationed here,
Armchair critic,
Under the proviso that you say the same about Mosques !

AC,

You are very naive. Think back to the situation during Trump's last presidency. It was Trump's aim then, as now, to stop wars and deter bullies.

According to General Jack Keane, former vice chief of staff, military, and still advising the Whitehouse, Trump's election has already forced enemies of America and the Free World to rethink and reassess what they would be up against. They probably believed the lying mainstream media and the pollsters, and went into shock just as the pathetic termites in the West itself have after Trumps exceptional win.

We are still in a “pre-war era”; but it will be better with Trump on our side.

Hi Indy,
If you think I'm going to defend the right of Mosques to exist, you'll be waiting a while.
Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Not my mental asylum and not my mental patients.

My job is to defend my interests and what I see as my country's interests (and my countries interests are itself an extension of my own interests, but I accept 25 million others also have their own ideas and are also playing the same game)

Hi ttbn,
"You are very naive. Think back to the situation during Trump's last presidency. It was Trump's aim then, as now, to stop wars and deter bullies."
How so?
- Trump 1.0 stacked his administration with warmongers and Zionists, and Trump 2.0 isn't much different, but this was to be expected.

He was big on sanctions, conducted political assassinations, and dug the country further into debt.
He thinks he's going to convince foreign companies to come back to the U.S. after the U.S uses threats, bullying, sanctions and freezing nations central bank assets as well as targetting individual citizens.
He's dreaming if he things foreign companies will come back to the U.S with these risks.

U.S. is circling the drain, and Trumps not going to save it.

warmongers and Zionists
Armchair Critic,
How about a more factual assessment such as defenders of their country ?
The jewish remind me of the discrimination the Indos copped ! Any human can only absorb so much before they have no other option !

Indy,

You are all for national service for the young today, but when you had the chance to "serve" you ran and hid, when between the ages of 18 and 35 you could have enlisted. At what age did you become an Australian citizen, bet it was before you turned 35.

With my Seniors National Service you and ttbn will make a couple of fine candidates for the Regiment.

"The jewish remind me of the discrimination the Indos copped ! Any human can only absorb so much before they have no other option !"

No other option except what?

Colonise Palestine or colonise the entire West?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Allies_Foundation

'Parliamentary groups affiliated with the Israel Allies Foundation include the Congressional Israel Allies Caucus in the United States House of Representatives, the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus in the Israeli parliament, and similar groups in Uruguay, the Philippines, South Korea, Brazil, South Africa, Japan, Australia, Finland, Italy, Canada, Costa Rica, and Malawi. As of 2021, IAF supported 50 pro-Israel parliamentary groups worldwide. IAF takes politicians and heads of pro-Israel organizations on paid-for tours of Israel.'

I can just imagine how the Jewish Australian mainstream media would react if Australian politicians were being given paid trips to China.

Mossad motto: 'By way of deception you shall engage in war'.

I'm sick of all this shite.
It seems one major Australian party has been captured by a foreign entity.
Coalition does not even represent Australians anymore in my book.
They may as well be an Israeli / Jewish party.

Christians who put Jewish interests ahead of Australian interests are now the nations enemy.

Judeo-Christian values are a lie!

No other option except what?
Armchair Critic,
Do unto them as they do to you !

Albanese is currently running around playing pretend statesman and telling anyone who'll listen how important free trade is, especially to Australia. This is in response to the Trump tariff proposals.

And free trade is indeed vitally important to Australia. We would be a very different place if we lived in a world where free trade wasn't the norm. A vital, indispensable aspect to free trade is the freedom of the seas that currently applies. History shows that this is not the norm. Only relatively short periods of history (the Athenian thalassocracy, Pax Romana and the last two centuries) have seen free movement of people and goods on the open seas.

The US took over from Britain to ensure and police this movement of goods free from national or piratical interference. The entire Australian economic system relies on it. We therefore rely on the continued western policing of the oceans over which our exports (and imports) travel.

So we have to support the US hegemony for our own economic survival. We've seen a small example of what happens when the US decides to not police the oceans in the Red Sea and the effect that's had on Asian-European trade.

To do our part in supporting the western project we need to be seen to be making all efforts to carry our weight. That means spending on defence and spending on helping the extra-territorial defence of western interests. We need the US to be engaged. And they'll only remain engaged while they feel they aren't being taken advantage of.

The daft notion that we can go it alone utterly misunderstands history and the present. Theoretically we could make an adversary wary of directly attacking the Australian continent. But that's it. We can't in any scenario this side of 2100AD consider being able to independently protect our vital sea-lanes.

That's why we've supported Britain when it ruled the waves and why we will continue to support the US while-ever it deigns to police the world's oceans.

Yes. We are heavily reliant on freedom of sea routes and, therefore, the US. Without the US, Australia is easy pickings for our enemies. And, we need to start manufacturing essentials again. JD Vance said before thd election that it was stupid for the US to rely on trade and imports from their biggest threat, China. The same applies to here.

Calls for increased spending on militarism as one old fella believes in, is daft! Saying Australia should double military spending, that's about another $45 billion, I ask where is the money coming from, cuts to non productive over bloated aged welfare would seem an obvious starting point. And what should Australia spend these extra billons on? A couple of battle ships.

Trumpsters cry foul over China, its trade with the 'Big Kahuna', Dangerous Doctor Donald, thinks America's lack of competitiveness, skill and innovation compared to China and others can been solved with a tariff war. Such a war would see the already failing American economy slide into recession, if not another outright American inspired world depression.

"The US took over from Britain to ensure and police this movement of goods free from national or piratical interference. The entire Australian economic system relies on it. We therefore rely on the continued western policing of the oceans over which our exports (and imports) travel.

So we have to support the US hegemony for our own economic survival. We've seen a small example of what happens when the US decides to not police the oceans in the Red Sea and the effect that's had on Asian-European trade."

You're a bit of a numpty aren't you.
Our economic survival does not rely on the policeman, when the policeman wants to curtain that trade, for their own hegemony.

Do you even know about U.S war plans to confront China?
If you did - numpty - you'd know that U.S. war plans INTEND to blockade Chinas sea trade.

So if you think you know something, well it turns out you're just a clueless moron.

Let me dig up the details for you numpty, not that I expect you will invest any time learning something, because most likely you won't.

US War on China is a War on the Entire World
http://youtu.be/nHYSkm9Jl-g

Hello Anybody Home? Think McFly Think
http://youtu.be/JhJGOYJo9mM

"And, we need to start manufacturing essentials again."
- You expect me to buy a $70 Australian made toaster when it's no better than the $12 Chinese made one from Kmart or Big W?
Maybe the government can subsidise the toaster factory to the tune of a billion dollars to ensure these important (but pointless) jobs?

You expect Aussies to pay 3 or 4 times the price to secure an Aussie job in a cost of living crisis, you're dreaming.
Aussies will fight you for the $12 Chinese made toaster.

'Race to the bottom'

- And the yanks aren't going to sell you a cheaper toaster either, FYI.

I challenge you to identify just one single item that Australians can manufacture more cheaply than the Chinese?
- And what's your plan - make Aussies pay more for that product?

Let's take EV's and solar panels for example.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/05/14/fact-sheet-president-biden-takes-action-to-protect-american-workers-and-businesses-from-chinas-unfair-trade-practices/

"The tariff rate on electric vehicles under Section 301 will increase from 25% to 100% in 2024.

With extensive subsidies and non-market practices leading to substantial risks of overcapacity, China’s exports of EVs grew by 70% from 2022 to 2023—jeopardizing productive investments elsewhere. A 100% tariff rate on EVs will protect American manufacturers from China’s unfair trade practices.

The tariff rate on solar cells (whether or not assembled into modules) will increase from 25% to 50% in 2024.

The tariff increase will protect against China’s policy-driven overcapacity that depresses prices and inhibits the development of solar capacity outside of China. China has used unfair practices to dominate upwards of 80 to 90% of certain parts of the global solar supply chain, and is trying to maintain that status quo. Chinese policies and nonmarket practices are flooding global markets with artificially cheap solar modules and panels, undermining investment in solar manufacturing outside of China."

Chinese PV giant sets new world record for solar cell efficiency amid China’s push for green devt
http://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202311/1301156.shtml#:~:text=China%27s%20solar%20energy%20giant%20LONGi,to%20its%20green%20development%20push.

BYD’s $10,000 Seagull EV was the top-selling car in China last month
http://electrek.co/2024/09/18/byds-10k-seagull-ev-top-selling-car-china-last-month/

The west cannot compete, all you're doing is forcing your own consumers to pay more for inferior products.

Think about if your a small business, and you have to front up a 100% tariff on your business vehicle just to play, you're not winning - you're disadvantaged and sinking deeper into the quicksand.

Australia has to rely on the US - if they will have us!

We are going backwards because, unlike the US, we don't have political options. We have two Left-wing parties. Sure, there are a few conservatives in the Liberal Party; but the majority are as wet as water. The current leader of the opposition is weak and unappealing; the best idea he can come up with is nuclear power in the name of stupid Net Zero, totally ignoring the fossil fuels that used to provide us with cheap power and industry. He opposes the M.A.D Bill, but will bring in his own version if elected, and he supports digital ID, and removing parental control over what their kids see. He is anti-family and loves Big Government as much as Albanese does. He likes Big Australia, just like Albanese does, so the lack of housing, infrastructure, health care and all the things we used to have would still be missing under a Coalition government.

Dutton is different from Albanese only in hair. He has the personality of a strainer post; and all the attributes that have had the Communist dictator, Xi, announce what a good leader Albanese is, and how all Western leaders should be like him. How low we have come when our PM is praised by a Communist thug!

God help us. Our uniparty politicians won't. On second thoughts, God helps those who try to help themselves, and Australians are not doing that with the their Liberal-Labor-Greens voting laziness.

If the M.A.D Bill is not stopped by the Senate, it will be another rift between Australia and America. Trump has said that he won't be kind to countries that are not pro-free speech.

Hanging on to Net Zero will be another no-no. Interestingly, Net Zero and unreliable wind and solar received a right old thrashing at Cop29 in Azerbaijan among the fewer people who continue to attend the farce.

And, something about the stupidity of off-shore windmills you are unlikely to hear on the MSM: I heard a remark on independent media last night suggesting that these things along the coast will, and do, interfere with equipment warning of incoming missiles. I don't know any more than that; whether it is right or wrong; but it should be made public and talked about. Perhaps Bowen might have a view that he could share with us. Bowen hasn't been heard from much lately, as his ridiculous “transition” to unreliables gets sillier and sillier.

It's getting dangerously close to the stage where it won't be worth defending !

I would like to know what "military experience" our pair of Dad's Army rejects have to offer. ttbn do you have any military experience? Indy admitted he failed to do his bit when he had the chance. Like many Old Farts these guys are all for someone else to do the fighting for them while they sit in their comfy chairs, safe in the The old folks home for the mentally decrepit.

AC,

In another thread on these pages, AC proudly thought he's served an ace by linking to a video called "All wars are bankers wars". As usual AC had totally fallen for the ravings of some internet bozo. I proved that the video was based on made up quotes from Churchill and others and had zero basis in fact. AC responded by slinking away, tail suitably tucked between his legs.

And comes over to this thread seeking rectification by throwing childish names around with abandon. And then hilariously shows us another video from a proven internet fantasist.... Brian Joseph Thomas Berletic. Another video without any discernible facts, just piles upon piles of uneducated assertions.

This Berletic fellow is well known in internet circles since he used to blog and post under the name Tony Cartalucci. That was until his Cartalucci nom de guerre had made so many errors and been found out so often that continuing to use it was untenable. I did point this out to AC years back, but I guess it went over his head.

Berletic has no known expertise, no track record and precious few facts. But he has gathered a loyal following of similarly slack-jawed simpletons and presumably makes a viable living from getting his moronic videos monetised.

Showing that they understand history and the present in the same way as my budgie understands Newton's 3rd law, AC and Paul assume that re-arming in response to China's threats and massive arms build up is the same thing as preparing to go to war.

"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum." Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus.

If you want peace, prepare for war. Apart from Vegetius, the phrase has been used by all sorts of people down through centuries including Machiavelli, the wonderful Giorgia Meloni, and John Wicks.

Preparation for war isn't about wanting war. Its about deterring an obviously aggressive and expansionist nation like China by showing that their aggression and expansionism will be met with force.

There are too many examples in history of nations deterring war by re-arming (think Reagan in the 1980s) or inviting war by failing to re-arm (think Britain in the 1930s). and that's just the 20th century. I fully expect I could provide examples for every century in the last 2 and a half millenia.

But shrills for the Chinese Communist Party like AC/Paul will always be there trying to stop one side arming while cheering the other sides forces.

If you want peace, prepare for war.

Socialism in Australia has been vastly amplified by the Albanese government. The Coalition might be slightly better, but we do not have a clear choice between left and right, as provided to Americans by Donald Trump.

There has not been a true conservative choice here since John Howard went weird and lost his own seat as well as government. Abbott tried to be conservative, but by then Liberals had gone left, and they replaced him with Labor reject and wealthy socialist, Malcolm Turnbull. It's been all downhill for the Liberals and Australians since.

Mind you, the choice of Turnbull was more lamented than the loss of Abbott, who allowed himself to be talked out of his solemn promise to scrap 18c by the usual Australian political obsession with minorities, multiculturalism and identity politics, plus lefty AG, George Brandis, and his own party that kicked him out anyway.

That, plus Morrison and now Dutton, should be enough for anyone to see that Australia is no longer the sort of country that Trump might want to stand by - apart from our stupid climate policies, disowning of Israel, censorship, and other crap practised by our two left wing parties. Albanese's pawing and fawning with a big sickly grin on his face every time he meets the Communist dictator Xi won't go down well either.

Yes, the media is telling us that Albanese will get along famously with Trump, but that's just an extension of their lies about Trump himself during the election.

Australia's vote in the UN for Palestinian sovereignty won't go down well with Trump. Slaughter Jews, take hostages, and Australia will give you what you want. Plus the fact that we import Palestinians into Australia and permit them to run amok on our streets and support terrorists in contravention of our never-enforced laws.

Pre-election, Albanese lied that our stance on Israel wouldn't change. He has been lying about everything ever since. One of the reasons he wants to censor us. Any contrary things said about him will be misinformation.

They bleat that 155 UN members voted the same way - so the Australian sheep followed. That doesn't make it right. Australia is not the only shite country in the UN, but it is the one we live in and are embarrassed by. We didn't know that the Albanese regime was going to stab Israel in the back before they announced it world-wide. They just went ahead and double-crossed Israel, a supposed ally, and the only democracy in the Middle East. Australia's ‘special relationship’ with Israel has gone,

And Trump should flush the Albanese government like the turds they are.

Well you can always move to Israel ttbn, if they will have you.
If you offer to murder some women and kids, that will surely help your chances.

You lament over the march into insignificance of the LNP.
I lament over one of the two majors acting like a foreign agent, whose foreign interests in Israel seem more important to them than anything in Australia.
LNP are exactly where they deserve to be and you helped them there.
They made it a one-horse race.

While Trump offers a better deal for America, the Albanese government offers only managed decline for us. A tired economy, hardly growing at all, despite record mass immigration. Most new jobs in non-productive bureaucracy. Per capita recession. Receding net wealth. Declining GDP. Increasingly expensive electricity. Threat of censorship and loss of freedoms/democracy. Real wages are declining. Housing and rents too high ($1.1 million for a ‘studio’ apartment that is one room with a few dividers in it). Green tape blocking billion dollar industries. Clinging to Net Zero. Still believing the climate hoax

But, ‘that's not all’, as they say. It's just too much effort to list all of the ways that Australia is being rooted - by Australians and the trash they keep voting for.

The United Nations Committee has voted, and Australia
has voted with 158 other countries including
the United Kingdom, New Zealand, France, Germany, and
Japan, to recognize the permanent sovereignty of
Palestinians to natural resources in the occupied
territories.

It asks Israel to stop confiscating Palestinian homes
and farms and to stop destroying key infrastructure
like water, sewerage pipelines and electricity
networks.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Minister Penny Wong
said:

"While Australia does not agree with everything in the
resolution, this vote reflects international concern
about Israeli actions that impede access to natural
resources and on going settlement activity, land
dispossession, demolitions and settler violence
against Palestinians".

Such acts worked to undermine stability and any prospects
for peace and a two-state solution.

A two-state solution has had bi-partisan support.

Israel and the US voted against this resolution.

The United Nations will now be asked to consider the
draft resolution.

Talking about the governments we vote for?

Interesting article in "The Conversation".
The link is given below.

We're told that Albanese went to the 2022 election with a
"new politics". A collaborative style agenda that "sought
to bring all Australians together including business, labour,
Indigenous and non-indigenous together". It was meant as a
strategy of unity rather than division.

Apparently it was a great election strategy but was harder
to implement in government.

"The old Liberal politics of culture wars and denouncing
Labor's policies - were still very much with us".

The emphasis on Labor's lacklustre performance
was regularly emphasized, especially its economic and
climate change policies.

The government argued that "it has been providing extensive
cost of living relief in the form of tax cuts, energy bill
relief, rental assistance, wage increases, cheaper
medicines, and reduced child care costs". It's pointed out
that "the problem is that such government measures are
continually undercut by inflation, price increases, high
interest rates, and the housing affordability and supply
crisis".

"The housing affordability and supply crisis has been
aggravated by decades of poor housing policy that long
predates the Albanese government and Labor's attempts to
address the problems are currently being stymied by a
combination of Coalition and Greens opposition, once
again sandwiching Labor".

From the look of things politics appears to be a divisive
terrain that the current government is finding very
challenging and difficult to negotiate.

There's more at the following:

http://theconversation.com/failure-to-launch-why-the-albanese-government-is-in-trouble-239730

The question boils down to - who do we give the boot to -
those that want a collaborative style of politics or those that
perpetuate culture wars and division?

I guess it's a question of one's values and beliefs.
As we've seen from the recent American election.

old Liberal politics of culture wars and denouncing
Labor's policies - were still very much with us".
Foxy,
Labor policies are not being "denounced' per se, rather attention is being drawn to their general unworkable nature !

Positive move on defence. Japanese troops will be deployed to train with Australian and American troops in the Northern Territory. A tick for the government.

It is good news that Japanese troops are set to train
alongside Australian and US forces in Darwin.

It's a show of cooperation against Chinese military
actions in the Indo-Pacific.

The United States has a longstanding permanent agreement
with Australia to station troops in Darwin, rotating
forces through the capital city We're told that about
2,000 US troops are deployed to the Top-End each year
in a deal struck in 2011 that's in place for 25 years.

A clever person once said - if you want peace prepare
for war. Diplomacy is good - but being prepared
is also good.

Yesterdays enemy is todays friend, and yesterdays friend is today enemy.

So our master tells us!

Hi Foxy,

What is the difference between "defence" and "militarism"? No country will ever claim its engaging in militarism, always euphemistically saying it is engaging in defence. Is America and China, Australia for that matter, engaging in defence with their excessively large military forces. Me thinks not.

Hi Paul,

You're right. Australia is engaging in militarism.
But it's necessary for our defence, especially with
China's actions in the Indo-Pacific.

Spending more on importing smarter teachers would negate the need for increased defence spending !

In 2023 a poll commissioned by the Institute of Public Affairs and Canada’s Fraser Institute, worryingly showed Australia had the second-highest level of support for communism (20 per cent) in the 18-34 age group among those nations polled (Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom). 40 per cent of Australians polled supported socialism as the ideal economic system – and that percentage increases to 53 per cent among 18–34-year-olds. But only 35 per cent of Australian respondents, regardless of age group, understood socialism using its true meaning – that is, the government owning the means of production.

Defence expenditure will need to increase—dramatically, and potentially up to five per cent of GDP.  It is increasingly clear that Australia cannot have both an ADF and nuclear-powered submarines, while managing the challenge of an increasingly precarious strategic environment, without doubling its Defence budget. 

Islamists know that they can rely on the enemy within.

In an interview in June 2024, Mohammed Raad, leader of the Hezbollah segment of the Lebanese government, said: “We are currently  investing in protests and demonstrations in Western countries, especially among college students. We already have Muslim students agitating,  but it is the WESTERN STUDENTS THEMSELVES WHO WILL DESTABILISE THEIR OWN COUNTRIES”.

Plus the well-past student age trio of nut jobs on OLO .

Hi Foxy,

Discounting some smaller countries spending on militarism as a percentage of GDP and in actual dollar terms USA (3.4% $916Bn) China (1.7% $296Bn) in global terms USA 37% and China 12%, along way back to Russia in 3rd place with 4.5% globally. The surprise in military spending is Saudi Arabia spending around $76bn. Australia is about average for the developed nations which are presently under a low level of threat. Surprisingly Australia ranks alongside of South Korea which is under a substantially higher threat level than we are. NZ under a conservative government spends less than 1% of GDP on militarism about $5Bn. I think Australia could do well to model our defence on that of NZ. The best dollars spent on defence are those spent on diplomacy and strategic aid in our region, a compact force to protect our territorial sovereignty comes in second, with spending on "battle ships" a clear last.

Hi Paul,

I agree that there is the urgency of finding a
negotiated non-military solution ASAP. We do need a
return to negotiations. Negotiations are more desirable than
the alternative, the risk of nuclear weapons is
frightening. China and Putin's threats are not the only ones
to worry about.

On the plus side:

The good news is that the Australian Strategic Policy Inst.
is the highest ranked defence and national security think
tank in the country. It was established by the Australian
government in 2001 and is partially funded by the Dept.
of Defence and other sources of revenue.

It was established to provide policy relevant research and
analysis to better inform government decisions and public
understanding of strategic and defence issues and have a
better understanding of what's required.

So far so good.

There's only one thing to say to all this dangerous nonsense, thank you Academia & Labor !

Indyvidual

There are some sensible people in academia and in the Labor Party. A couple of naive/ignorant ratbags on OLO represent only themselves.

sensible people in academia and in the Labor Party.
ttbn,
I don't have the numbers to contradict you but as yet I'll be on the side of caution just from personal experience ! If there are indeed some sensible ones then the evidence suggests that they're not in authority !

Indy,

It is well known that the ignorant of the extreme hate educated people. They blame the educated for their own failings in life, their failure to achieve the same standards that they have. The pathetic cry is "Its all their fault, I have been unjustly treated by educated people, they have exploited me, they have denigrated me, now they must pay!". That seems to be the message I get from YOU, your justification for your own failures in life. That's self evident now, as you rely on aged welfare to support you in your few remaining years.

That seems to be the message I get from YOU
Paul1405,
You're not capable of receiving any message whatsoever. The only thing you're capable of is to perpetually prove to us that you haven't progressed from ignorant teenager into sensible adulthood !
But don't feel singled out, most force-indoctrinated are like that so, you're not alone !
We can only be glad for the handful of properly educated !

"Australia's vote in the UN for Palestinian sovereignty won't go down well with Trump."
- Apparently Western nations support for the ICC decision hasn't gone down well.
Can anyone here care to explain just exactly what Lindsay Graham is saying?
I told you all some time back that the empire was sacrificing it's vassal states.
What does the ICC decision have to do with their economy?
- Please Explain -

http://x.com/HotSpotHotSpot/status/1860206182142726411
Lindsey Graham says we should sanction Canada, Britain, Germany, and France for trying to comply with the ICC and arrest Netanyahu
“We should crush their economy, because we’re next”

Hi AC,

You and I seem to be the only regular posters on OLO who can see America for what it is, the Worlds Bully Boy, power corrupts. The US is not a signatory to the ICC, and for good reason, every American President post WWII would be indicted for war crimes just like Nazi Netanyahu.

Hi Paul,
I told everyone my reasons years ago;
I don't support sanctions or regime changes.
[Though I might be willing to make exception for Israel at this moment in time who are starving the Palestinians and withholding medicine, they're committing collective punishment on the Palestinians, so I'm not sure it would be unfair under these circumstances, it's kids having amputations without anesthetic that irks me.]

Sanctions are collective punishment and regime changes aren't done for the benefit of the people, they're done to benefit foreign nations.

Arresting Netanyahu would be a waste of time anyway, but it might force America to show the world their true colours.
The U.S. would put boots on the ground to free them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Service-Members%27_Protection_Act

>>The Act gives the president power to use "all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release of any U.S. or allied personnel being detained or imprisoned by, on behalf of, or at the request of the International Criminal Court"<<

'Australia Must Spend More On Defence'
- I guess you could also just make a private donation to Blackrock...

Oreshnik probably renders all western missile defence obsolete.
It means 'hazelnut', if you look at the flowers of the hazelnut tree you'll know why.
I'm sure China has the same types of weapons.

Let me explain to you all how stupid war is.
If China sends just 1 single drone into our airspace, which probably only costs them a small amount to manufacture, Australia's NASAMS will fire 2 AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles at at total cost of AUD $3,347,818.04

For every drone that needs to be shot down, you may as well just bulldoze 3 or 4 houses.

Hi AC,

Australia has just chipped in $3 billion with no guarantees, to try and help prop up the failing and inefficient American ship building industry. There is now no chance that the Americans will be able to deliver any of those old rust bucket second hand nuk subs Australia wants into the future, the Yanks will need them themselves as they can't build more than one new nuk sub per year. To supply Australia with second hand junk, the Yanks need to build at least two nuk subs per year.

Imagine, you want to buy a "new car" from Dodgy American Motors. You go down to look at their range, they've got nothing. The sales guy tells ya, how about you chip in $20k today, and that will help Dodgy American Motors to possibly build a new car in a years time, but it wont be for you, if ya lucky they might pension off some old rust buckets they have, and maybe sell on at a new car price to you. Hows that for a fabulous deal?

According to Strategic Analysis Australia we are in the incredible position where the current Government’s and Defence organisation’s plan to spend $765 billion in taxpayer dollars on our military over this next ten years will give us a weaker military than the force we have today, until sometime close to 2040.

Because of a worsening strategic outlook, we need to get stronger and more self-sufficient. At the moment we rely heavily on the US for armaments. Our own very small manufacturing is not up to the job.

The incoming government next year will need to:

. Have at least one type of armed drone produced in Australia
. Bring non-traditional manufacturers into defence production
. Manufacturer and stockpile ammunition. We already sell artillery shells overseas

For things that we can't do ourselves e.g B-21 Stealth bombers and more troops in our north, we have to rely on the US - we can't build aircraft, and we can't recruit soldiers, sailors or airmen of our own. Pathetic!

Most of all, we need to get over Albanese’s stupid idea that Communist China is a friend not the enemy that it is, and get back to making our own stuff, and trading with countries other than China.

Sixteen years ago, the Sydney Morning Herald published an article ‘Rip arm off Asia, says expert’.

The expert, Ross Babbage, at the time described as a ‘former defence official’ and adviser to Defence Minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, wrote that the ADF would need to “walk among the giants” - Indonesia, China and India - and some of the giants “may not be friendly”.

Measures could include “400 advanced combat aircraft, 30 submarines, missile defence and an ability to conduct cyber-attack”.

That obviously didn't go down well: Australia is no more capable of defending itself as it was back then.

Trumps going to try to reindustrialise the U.S by making the cost of foreign goods so expensive Americans choose U.S. manufactured goods instead, but it's not going to work.

“You Will Pay!” - U.S. Threatens China, Mexico & Canada Economies: What Next?
http://youtu.be/d1otmS1jm3M

Australia's New Missile Defence System Will Blow You Away
http://youtu.be/jK7H7TD6pOc

Not sure I agree with the sentiments of the youtube content creator above, (only just found the channel yesterday and only watched a few minutes) but he does seem to have some good knowledge of what we have.

The West is going to put boots on the ground in Ukraine I think, who knows where it will end. They still think they can somehow outsmart Russia, history says things don't often turn out the way they planned in recent times.

One of the problems inherent in purchasing foreign made weapons, is that you also end up relying on that foreign country for maintenance and spare parts for those systems, which means that weapons recipients have a tendency to align themselves somewhat with the foreign policy of their weapons providers.

Ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson openly admits UK is in a proxy war with Russia.
http://youtu.be/lcRs6-gWWb0

Doomsday clock needs to be changed from 90 seconds to midnight to 60 seconds till midnight.
We are closer to nuclear war now than any other time in history.
Schools should be putting fear into kids with duck and cover rather promoting woke crap.

West plotting to ‘occupy’ Ukraine – Russian intel
http://www.rt.com/russia/608376-svr-west-kiev-troops/

Australia should form its very own 'Dads Army', ttbn would make a terrific Captain Mainwaring.