In all the posts here no one has considered just what is China's attitude
to the countries to which they offer aid.
First, they consider that all other countries are not sovereign countries.
A couple of months ago President Xi made that clear when he chastised
the US and pointed out that the US is not a sovereign country.
In their eyes China is the only sovereign country.
All other states are vassal countries to China.
You can see this in action in the Sth China Sea and in their use of
lasers aimed at US and other aircraft from their base at Dbjbouti
in Somalia.
Another view is their actions in Vietnamese waters where they abrogated
Vietnamese rights to areas of the sea that are Vietnamese economic zones.
As Vietnam is a vassal state of China the Chinese drillers can do as they wish.
The abrogation of the economic zones in Indonesian waters is another example
of the "Nine Dotted Line".
Another area to watch are strategic straits like Malacca and Sunda.
So why are you concerned that China will take over assets built with
Chinese money, after all that was the idea all along.
We will find out our ranking when we try to repossess some of our, err
sorry, Chinese farmland in Australia.
It is all being done to reimpose the Central Kingdom control.

individual,

You sound like you're in love with Soot 'Beam up me Scotty' Morrison.

I think the Morrison government is doing a good job and providing the right signals on the economy, but only the future will tell with regard to how the hard reforms play out.

This will also depend on society itself debating and shaping the policy ideas.

But the govt's response to the coronavirus, which has been clearly superior to our closest allies, shows that we still have a great capacity to respond well to challenges

This will also depend on society itself debating and shaping the policy ideas.
Chris Lewis,
That is the great worry, considering some of the self-centred attitudes on display on the forum !
I can't help thinking that now is the right time to start thinking about the reintroduction of a National Service with only optional or voluntary military participation which would lead into better future employment opportunities.
The improvement to our society would be immense !

individual,

i think most Australians can agree to good ideas.

while some on the left may cringe at any reform that does not involve more govt or more handouts, most Australians do adapt as seen by support for the GST and mutual obligation. This means that further tax reform and even national service schemes can never be ruled out.

i am optimistic, but not sure how much different sectional groups are willing to share pain, including policy elites and politicians.

One must live in hope.

where are the ideas from the left on OLO?

i am struggling. all i can contemplate is more of the same from the Morrison govt, as was case prior to coronavirus, in that the times suit a centre-right government.

All i can hope for is that decent public education and health exists, and that more is done for public housing.

Besides that, i support declining real wages and higher productivity as a means for Australia to maintain its standard of living by increasing investment attractiveness for more industry.

sounds all over the place, but i will not be offering feel good messages because there are none.