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.