Whilst one has much sympathy for the relatives and friends of those murdered on Flight MH17, one cannot help but wonder at the motives of the PM and his followers.

1,193 people died on our roads in 2013; will there be a Memorial Service for them?

So far the PM has been silent on these 1,193 Australians.

Really Mise ?
Are you that insensitive that you do not understand ?

I understand only too well but I wonder why nothing is said about all the road deaths, some have said, elsewhere, that the 27 were murdered and the 1,193 were accidental, but does that really make a difference?

I see the present situation as political posturing and one notes that the pollies are now whining because Russia has responded to Australia's sanctions against her with sanctions against Australia.

The depths of Australia's remorse will be measured in our response to this move by Russia, and the dollars involved.

It is certainly interesting to watch the posturing of our politicians on the "world stage", Is Mise.

>>...one notes that the pollies are now whining because Russia has responded to Australia's sanctions against her with sanctions against Australia<<

Says Ms Bishop: "it is disappointing that Russia has acted in a retaliatory manner". One can only wonder at the qualifications of a Foreign Minister who hadn't taken into consideration the possibility that sanctions can work both ways.

It would have been refreshing - but beyond the requisite qualities of statesmanship - to have heard "retaliation was to be expected, of course, but it is the right thing to do. Sorry, farmers, suck it up, and find somewhere else to sell your stuff for a while."

We have to face the fact that we are governed by a bunch of neophytes on the world stage, who wield the collective international clout of the proverbial wet lettuce.

I do not believe the sanctions against Russia was merely on MH17 but on the fact that Russia is supporting terrorist activity in Ukraine. One of which is the shooting down of innocent international travelers that had nothing to do with the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. Sanctions were put in place before MH17.

What did Abbott and Bishop expect? The Australian hostility to Russia and their role as a US lapdog was evident by Abbott's immediate condemnation and rhetoric that the Russians were to blame for the downing of the plane by supporting the rebels. This despite lack of proof that it was the rebels not the Ukrainians; it happened in a war zone where Ukrainian advice was that planes should avoid but they may have directed the plane that way anyway and it was clearly an accident. On the ground the rebels could not see the lane and even if it is proven that the Ukrainian fighter that was close to the plane shot down MH 17 it could still be a case of mistaken identity because the Malaysian plane looked similar to Putin's plane. The aggressive war of words from the West and increased sanctions cannot be expected to go unopposed by any powerful country. This is an excuse for a power play by those who fear the development of a new and powerful Russia and China and their alliances and development of the BRICS. It is notable that New Zealand who have kept quiet can still export their goods to Russia.

Of course they knew Russia would retaliate.
The sanctions were originally because Russia "invaded" the Ukraine by
proxy with no insignature uniformed soldiers.
When the MH17 ws shot down by a rebel controlled launcher it increased
the tension significantly.
I feel certain no Russian politician or high ranked officer would
have given such an order.
Where the Russians are guilty was to pass such sophisticated equipment
onto under trained operators that could not tell the difference between
commercial aircraft flying one after the other along the same path and
aircraft that they might have had a real interest.
The traffic on that airway was about 400 a day, both ways I presume.

That they withdrew the launchers immediately tells its own story.
Some would have us say do it again sir !
When it comes to trade vulnerabilities no one is more vulnerable than Russia.

Something fishy

“Flight MH-17 Black Boxes To Be Analyzed In ‘Impartial’ London,” and reported that they would be analyzed by the U.S.-allied, anti-Russian, pro-Ukrainian, British Government."

Australian farmers do not need Russian markets, as Asia will buy all our quality goods not taken by Russia. Russia needs Australian goods so it only hurts Russians.

The MH17 had already passed over Ukraine so was hardly a Ukraine Jet fighter following as the explosion detonated in front of the MH17 as evidenced by the shrapnel holes in the cockpit.

Josephus,

When can we expect the Australian sanctions against Indonesia for their genocidal murders of native Papuans?

see: http://freewestpapua.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/murib.jpg

Philip S, being a bit paranoid are we ?
A bit of thought will make you realise that there can be nothing in
the boxes that can expand more than a millisecond or so after the hit.
We all know what happened, the plane disintegrated.
All recording would have stopped immediately.
About all that could be on the cockpit voice recorder would be if they saw it coming.
Thats not likely as pilots don't spend a lot of time looking out the windows.
I doubt if they saw anything as it would have come up underneath the plane.

Josephus, the Russians economy is already in not a good way. Their
GDP is 0.20 %.

Incidentally did I see on ABC news that our expected GDP will be 0.25% ?
If I heard that right we are on the verge of tipping into recession.
The MH17 was still over Ukraine but in a few minutes would have been
over Russia.

About all that the flight recorders will show is a sudden cessation of all functions commensurate with a sudden hit by aa explosive missile.

Pericles>> We have to face the fact that we are governed by a bunch of neophytes on the world stage, who wield the collective international clout of the proverbial wet lettuce.<<

Just one correction P, it is "puppet neophytes" surely.

true