Keith Windschuttle observes that it is fortunate that Peter Dutton survived the election debacle, because he is the "most mature and reliable guardian of Australia's defence security in the Parliament". Windschuttle believes that it will be Australia's dire misfortune if the "remnants" of the Liberal party don't elect him as Leader of the Opposition". ('China, Dutton and the common destiny of man', 22/5/22).

A week before the election, we had a PLA warship off the coast of the WA that came within 50 nautical miles of Exmouth and the Naval Communications Station there. The ship entered Australia's Economic Exclusive Zone - ignoring international protocols to advise Australia of its presence.

'No laws broken', said Morrison, and moved on with politicking; he and Albanese barely showed interest in the event. It "probably would have gone unnoticed" in the campaign, had it not been for Peter Dutton.

While the new Labor government might think that it's all about women's problems, gender, an aboriginal voice to Parliament, climate change and X emissions reduction by 2030, try:

"By 2030, the American-dominated unipolar world of the post Cold War end from 1989 to 2019, the Pax Americana, will break down in a contest between China and America for superiority".

China cannot achieve its goal of "rejuvenation" unless it is dominant in East Asia; the US cannot maintain its status if it loses dominance in that region.

The whole world will be involved, a result being decided not just by war, but by which of the two powers can exercise "the most effective form of governance in the twenty-first century". The Chinese model, based on "humane authority, sovereign state equality, and non-hegemony" will outperform Western democracy as the "world's most attractive political system", according to Yan Xuetong, author of 'Leadership and the Rise of Great Powers'.

The idea is for a Chinese-led global system called, 'The Community of Common Destiny for Mankind'

Thanks for the thread ttbn

CM,

You are welcome. It's a subject that most Australians don't want to know about: the ostrich syndrome. If they ignore it, it will go away.

Another China problem for the new government to deal with is the Solomon Islands, without a defence minister of Dutton's calibre. The gentleman rumoured to be set for that job in a Labor government has publicly said that signing a deal with China is none of our business; it is all OK.

But, is it OK? Chinese writings, according to Windschuttle, indicate that China expects to extend its influence throughout the "whole of Oceania". That’s our region.

China regards the Pacific Islands within Australia's sphere of influence as "strategic stepping stones for its overall plans". The agreement already signed with Solomon Islands is "only the first of many that China plans to make". (The National Centre for Oceanic Study, at the Sun Yat-Sen university in Guangzhou).

Apparently this is deemed necessary for the security of the PLA naval fleet!

Hi there TTBN...

I don't generally attempt to lodge my opinion(s) on here lately, preferring instead to leave it to others. The reality that Labour has had such a resounding win last Saturday, fills me with utter trepidation, for the future of this once great Nation of ours. The only tiny glimmer of hope, rests entirely on the solitary shoulders of one individual; Mr Peter DUTTON, a pragmatist after my own heart.

It's for that reason I applaud your introductory statement to us al TTBN. Moreover, we all better take notice, as the next global conflict will positively be our last. Many folk on here have never experienced war. I have, and it's horrific. Accordingly, the best way to prosecute a war is total avoidance, through thorough preparation. A practice that has not been part of our military vocabulary since the events of South Vietnam.

Thanks, o sung wu. It will never cease to amaze me how people can chunter on about relatively inconsequential matters that won't matter a damn if China realises its ambitions.

Actually, it was not such a resounding Labour victory.
Only one in three Australians voted for Labour.Might be less for Liberal.
The figures are available but I can not be bothered to go
and look them all up. If someone does it I will read them with interest.

Both Libs & Labs got lower percents than last time.

What absurdly closed minds to the facts.

It was this lot who handed the Port of Darwin over to the Chinese, whose former ministers ended up in high paying jobs for the Chinese like the ex foreign minister Downer on the board of Hawawei.

This was a crowd that signed a trade deal with China which has allowed them to staff mines with virtually all Chinese workers and to build an airfield in WA capable of landing fighter jets.

It was this lot that was so far up Trump's backside that they trashed our trade relationship with China with little to gain except for Morrison getting a pat on the head, including Morrison taking the lead on pushing for the inquiry on the origin of covid.

Then when an election was lined up they ramp up the rhetoric thereby further damaging relations with intemperate language.

Australia deserves some one with a bit of maturity to deal with the Chinese and so far Albo is looking the goods with measured but firm responses.

So how about you lot sit back and see how the adults handle it now.

o sung wu,
I very much agree that we should avoid war thorough thorough preparation. But if you agree with ttbn's drivel then I strongly disagree with you about what that means. Militarism is at best inefficient, but probably also ineffective as China will always have more military spending power than we do.

Rather than making futile attempts to prevent China asserting its influence, we should be making much greater efforts to prevent China's influence from being malevolent.

ttbn's concern about dealing with the Solomon Islands,"without a defence minister of Dutton's calibre" would be laughable if it wasn't so serious. What happened in the Solomon Islands has proved Dutton's calibre to be small bore.

Political Analyst, Joe Siracusa, says that America will be very wary of Penny Wong at the next Quad meeting. Labor’s foreign policy has a 'subtle' and 'nuanced' feel about it. I take that to be a polite way of saying it's hard to know what Labor really thinks and means on foreign policy.

But, credit where credit is due; our new government has sent the boat from Sri Lanka back.

Dear Aidan,

Yes who can forget these three flogs joking about rising sea levels in the Pacific.

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2015/sep/11/peter-dutton-overheard-joke-rising-sea-levels-tony-abbott-video

That really wouldn't have gone down well with any of the island nations of the region.

As McGowan says the bloke just isn't that smart either.

I also think there are some questions about his wealth levels too that hopefully an ICAC might look into. His willingness to do immigration deals for mates needs scrutiny as well.

Very glad to see his hands off any levers of power.

G'day STEELEREDUX, how's life treating you my friend?

You know ol' mate, I know you're one smart cookie, far cleverer than me. But sometimes I wonder why it is your seem to have the intellect of a friggin' brick. Worrying more about which political party did what to whom?

Fact: China, is our greatest military threat, at this time. And with the largest land army on the face of the globe. If, they were to attack Taiwan, or any nation in the Asian area, it would result in a world war, dragging in the US with that elderly gentleman Mr Joseph BIDEN (ret) Cmdr. in Chief, at it's head. The Chinese army would literally sweep down our continent, destroying all resistance, in its path, and there'd be nothing to stop them.

And that crazed intellectual Pygmy, Vladimir PUTRID, would likely press that little red button as he promised, if anyone dared to interfere with his plunder of the Ukraine. And here we sit with a Defence force numbering less than 60k able bodied men and woman, to defend our nation NOT the population, but our natural resources.

If we don't immediately commence to significantly increase our defence capacity by compulsory National Service together with a massive recruiting drive - then my good mate we're f ked completely. Forget the submarines, we needed them yesterday. I'm dunno?
I'm a dum bum , so how is it, me and few others can see it. Why not the majority?

Invoking the return of The Yellow Peril and sabre rattling was a failed political strategy, like that report of Sri Lankan police putting people on refugee boats timed to arrive during the election campaign.

One of their vessels sailing far off our coast was deemed "aggressive" but apparently Australia participating in naval war games near their seas was not.

The failure of diplomatic relations with China was the result of Morrison going out early on a limb to please his American masters by demanding an investigation onto the origin of the Wuhan virus, rather than waiting some sort of combined international response. Then as some of our markets with China dried up the USA stepped in and grabbed them. Clever stuff.

Hopefully some degree of sanity will eventually return.

Dear o sung wu,

I'm going fine mate, I hope things are flying okay for you at the moment too.

Really I'm not all that smart so I'm going to quote from a far brainer bloke than I.

Quote 1

“The notion of government allowing a 99 year lease of the Port of Darwin to the People's Republic of China, to me is tantamount to lunacy ! To sell our top, primary agricultural land, to them is bad enough, but our most northerly Port, is a monumental strategic error of epic proportions. I suppose one thing is now abundantly clear, Australia and China will never go to war against each other - why should they, they already own us, 'lock, stock 'n barrel' ! What a bloody embarrassment !”

Quote 2

“This current LNP government have completely lost their way, as far as China is concerned ? There's no doubt we should encourage foreign investment into our country, but never ever sell off anything of strategic value, including prime agriculture land, or our best Dairy, cattle or sheep properties. In fact everything we export, whether it's iron ore or something else, we should endeavour to 'value add' to it in some measure, in order to get a greater slice of the cake the other end.

I dislike our untrustworthy Prime Minister immensely, enough said about him ! But I'm equally disappointed with Mr Scott MORRISON as our Treasurer, notwithstanding he performed well as our Immigration Minister. Clearly, he seems well out of his depth in his current Portfolio ?

I really don't know gentlemen, everywhere I look I see ineptitude by our stupid government.”

End quotes.

And I happen to fully agree with that bloke and given the “lunacy” and the “ineptitude” and the recognition that the sale of the Port of Darwin “a monumental strategic error of epic proportions” by a “stupid government” don't you think it might be time to give someone else a go?

By the way in case you don't recognise the quotes that bloke is you.

In 2020, Michael Evans, Military Studies at the Australian Defence College, wrote that, outside of expert circles, "few Australians seem to grasp the implications of the major strategic changes that seem likely to transform our fortunes for the worse. Western liberal globalism is "slipping into the pages of history", and competition between great powers has returned in the form of the rise of a "revisionist China", that is determined to assume global superpower status, and become "the hegemon of Asia".

A Sino-American struggle will "directly and fatefully" involve Australia. The West has unwittingly (or dim-wittedly) sown the seeds of its own destruction by fostering the rise of an illiberal and revisionist China, whose vision of the world is "inimical to democratic norms and values".

o sung wu

Good riposte. It's a pity that SR doesn't have the intellect or experience to get the message.

Joe Biden has announced at the Quad meeting that the US will act if China attacks Taiwan. No more guessing about it. We will have to do what we can to help, because, as Greg Sheridan recently said, despite all the big talk over the last 9 years, our defence depends entirely on America.

Don't hide your light under a bushel, osw; you have experience and nous. Keep posting.

The idea is for an Indo-Pacific version of NATO

Some do not seem to understand that China has a built in acceptance
that just like the countries bordering the Sth China Sea, all other
countries are inferior and are Vassal states of the Central Kingdom.
Sure that is an historical accetance that has bled over into our times.
It can be seen in China's behavior to the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia.
Just because Indonesia and PNG lie between China and us
does not shield us, maybe it did in historical times but not now.

The one bright hope I see in the Pacific is that Chinese police
and/or troops will think they can treat Islanders like Hong Kongers,
but if they do I think the Islanders will kill them all.

Hi there STEELE...

Thank you for your kind words ol' mate - I rarely hear support for any of my belief's and aspirations for our great Nation. Notwithstanding, I believe, most of the good people on this forum, are all fundamentally one. I think the majority of us are on the same page, in terms of the big picture, and how we wish to accomplish an efficient government. It's the mechanism of how those aims should be achieved, in a climate of a bunch of narcissistic mentally challenged politicians.

As an aside - That fool who sold off the strategic port of Darwin, irrespective of his political colours, should be run out of the country, on the business end of an L1A1 SLR!

Second aside - Texas! And 21 souls dead? I thought I saw the end of that crap in South Vietnam.

Hope you're well O Sung Wu.

I suggest some people should stop, take a breath and really wonder about the actual likelihood that China will invade and take over Australia. They are an economic power and not an expansionist military one and they rely on overseas trade for their own economic survival. If they attempted such a thing, the global economic sanctions on Russia would pale into insignificance. Sure they could come and dig our iron ore themselves but then what would they need it for if nobody wants to trade with them?
Do they want their population slipping back into poverty because of forced global isolationism, let alone military conflict?

Only a few years ago we were praising the mutual benefits of our trade with China and complaining about the likelihood of somehow having Sharia Law imposed on us from within and before that we were under threat of being "swamped" by Asians. Stoking fear and hatred might play well politically but reality is something else.

I also do not think China would invade Australia.
Why should they when they think they can just buy it indirectly.
After all the Belt and Roads has been very successful in Africa and
parts of Asia.
They were quite peeved when the Fed Govt cancelled Victoria's joining
the B&R deal. They seemed to think that all states might buy the deal.

Rache,

That China has about 2 million Uighurs in concentration camps with shoot to kill orders and that they have captured territory in the south china sea and loaded it with weapons in spite of promising not to do so should demonstrate that china not only can be trusted one inch, but are happy to use their military to further their cause.

An invasion is not the only action China could take a blockade would also be devastating.

We seem to have some Neville Chamberlains here.

Tony Windsor has summed things up very well on
Twitter:

"We wish Penny Wong well on her endeavours to establish
meaningful relations in the Pacific. She will need to
move beyond the mindset of - Downer, Abbott, and Morrison
of superiority and tokenism. If anyone can do it. She can!"

Tony Whinger is still whining over being tossed out of office after betraying his electorate.

Penny Wrong the Asian as FM? There's tokenism if I've ever seen it.

shadowminister,

Yeah, you want things to go on same as before.
We get it. However what you don't understand is that the people have spoken. It's called - democracy - remember?

cont'd ...

shadowminister,

Keep on barking like a dog
It's what bad dogs do
They also sniff each other's bums
And eat each other's poo.

Fox's are sly.

Voters have spoken.

The barking dogs are been kicked out of the house.
Unless they change their habits they won't get back
in.

Alexander Downer confirmed this on Q and A last night.

While all this childish BS about barking dogs is going on, the CCP is doggedly spreading its message - and soon its presence - in our region. It is good to see that the Labor government has sent its Foreign Minister out to do what Foreign Ministers are supposed to do; which is more than the Coalition did with their useless blob.

The Albanese government has got off on the right foot. And all this innuendo that conservatives are in a snit because the Coalition lost is pure bloody ignorance. The change of government is the very thing that serious conservatives wanted: it is the only way to to get the Liberal party back on track.

ttbn,

To get the Liberal Party back on track - they need to
listen to voters and consider their party's core
values as well as come up with solid policies and plan
to address the many problems that face Australia. This
election they failed in their primary objective and
they deserved to be replaced.

The government started a long election campaign having
no real policies and even fewer plans. They had been caught
out so many times when they could have displayed forward
thinking and planning. Robert Ellis writes in The Spectator
Australia - it's no use telling an electorate that -
"We have done better than others," or that opponents would
be worse unless they have some concrete plans in all sorts
of areas including education, defence, economy, energy and these
are disseminated by the whole team.

The old tactics no longer work as Alexander Downer's mindset
proved on Q and A last night. The party does not need dinosaurs
like him to hold them back. The UAP is another example where
one hundred million dollars was spent in their advertising
campaigns with the end result being - not one single seat
acquired.

I was so excited to learn of Penny Wong's visit to
Fiji as Foreign Minister. I listened to her speech
which was awesome. I wished her well on her endeavours
to establish meaningful relations in the Pacific - which
it appears she did. She moved beyond the mindset of
Downer, Abbott, and Morrison's superiority and
tokenism. If anyone could do it. She could. And did!
Thank You Penny Wong!

It's the Chinese who are worried about a naval blockage - hence the military buildup in their region to protect their seaways until they finalise overland international rail routes (also vulnerable).

All of their goods travel via that surface route and there are about 400 US military bases around China in what one of their generals called "a perfect noose" plus we have participated in military naval war games nearby so they are entitled to feel nervous.

It was the US blockade of Japan that provoked Pearl Harbour.

Hey Rache,
China's problem is with the way the West talks out both sides of it's mouth on the Taiwan issue.
Officially - their position is supposed to be supporting the One China policy,
- That Taiwan will again become a part of China someday under peaceful reunification.
Unofficially, they are doing everything to ensure this never happens.

http://thehill.com/policy/international/581683-biden-restates-commitment-to-one-china-policy-on-taiwan-in-call-with-xi/

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/25/biden-defend-taiwan-china-invasion

Rache said- It was the US blockade of Japan that provoked Pearl Harbour.

Answer- I tend to think it was Perry's Black Ships a century before that caused Pearl Harbour.

Rache,

The US did not blockade Japan, it simply refused to sell them oil until Japan stopped attacking its neighbours. As Japan in 1940 got 90% of its oil from the US this made things difficult for them.

Dutton will lead the Liberal party because he is the only capable one left; and Chalmers is already whining about what the Liberals left him to deal with as a softener for the revelation of Labor’s inability to keep their economic promises and their braggadocio throughout the campaign.

Labor has already trashed their assurance that boat arrivals will never settle in Australia; now we are about to see their shitehouse economic bungling in action. Who knows how long it will take them to pal up with the Chinese Communist Party to get money for their wild plans.

Good to see that the CCP has had to shelve its plans to sign a a region-wide trade and security deal with Pacific Islands, not all of which are as keen as SI to jump into bed with the Chinese Communist Party. More breathing space for Australia to pull its finger out. SI is probably a lost cause - despite all the money and aid we have provided them with - because their PM hates Australia. However, it it said that the SI people like Australia more than they like their PM, so a change of government might do the trick.

Hey ttbn,
I don't think it's shelved.
I think more likely ASEAN nations are are trying to stay neutral to both sides
- or possibly even holding back to play both sides, I would.
If they had've agreed they'd all be targets of government overthrow by the US.
Might as well see what the West is willing to offer before becoming their enemy.

Hey Shadowminister,

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

"The Eight-Action plan
The McCollum memo contained an eight-part plan to counter rising Japanese power over East Asia, introduced with this short, explicit paragraph:

It is not believed that in the present state of political opinion the United States government is capable of declaring war against Japan without more ado; and it is barely possible that vigorous action on our part might lead the Japanese to modify their attitude. Therefore the following course of action is suggested:

A. Make an arrangement with Britain for the use of British bases in the Pacific, particularly Singapore
B. Make an arrangement with the Netherlands for the use of base facilities and acquisition of supplies in the Dutch East Indies
C. Give all possible aid to the Chinese government of Chiang-Kai-Shek
D. Send a division of long range heavy cruisers to the Orient, Philippines, or Singapore
E. Send two divisions of submarines to the Orient
F. Keep the main strength of the U.S. fleet now in the Pacific[,] in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands
G. Insist that the Dutch refuse to grant Japanese demands for undue economic concessions, particularly oil
H. Completely embargo all U.S. trade with Japan, in collaboration with a similar embargo imposed by the British Empire

If by these means Japan could be led to commit an overt act of war, so much the better.
At all events we must be fully prepared to accept the threat of war."

If the US can't start wars on it's own, it creates the conditions for the other side to act first.
What should we think about this kind of attitude given the situation with Russia and Ukraine right now?
Hmmm...

The only thing the US has to offer the world is WAR.

Peter Dutton was a Qld copper who entered politics and is now worth $300 million. Obviously not above doing backhanded deals for mates while in the job either.

The collective stench of corruption, the legal version or otherwise, that prevailed over the Coalition was obviously felt by the voting public.

I am really looking forward to a Federal ICAC and a serious spotlight placed on the leading figures of the last government. My hope is it extends right back to the Post of Darwin sale.

SR,

That is plain defamation unless you can show that Dutton gave out backhanders.

Dutton has clearly more integrity and has achieved more than all the greens put together, especially the lard arse bank teller and bum Bandit.

Dutton was cop for 10 years only. He was also in business, employing 40 staff. I don’t know what he is worth. Unless there is proof that he came by his assets any way but honestly, only a idiot would suggest otherwise - which is what one of OLO's idiots has just done.

shadowminister you blind to the truth bonzo, can't take a trick nowadays mate can you.

As to backhanded deals does this qualify?

"A series of emails has revealed the scramble made by Peter Dutton's office and senior bureaucrats to have two au pairs who were due to be deported released from Immigration detention.

The Department of Home Affairs has released 169 pages of documents relating to Mr Dutton's au pair interventions over the granting of tourist visas to the nannies.

The redacted documents paint a picture of a bureaucracy and staffers trying to get approvals for the au pairs to stay in the country as a flurry of emails is exchanged between key players right up until the last minute.

They reveal that in the case of the Italian au pair employed by Mr Dutton's former Queensland police colleague, senior officials were called upon late into the evening to make sure the young woman did not spend the night in immigration detention."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-19/emails-show-role-peter-dutton-played-in-au-pair-visas/10282822

SR you cretin,

None of that indicates that he bribed anyone.

I see Albozo using his influence to keep illegal immigrants that broke the law in the country. Did Albozo bribe someone?

shadowminister you flog (this is fun isn't it)'

Doing deals for mate via the improper use of office is by its very definition a backhander. It is you trying to elevate this to a bribe.

There is certainly questions raised by part of the public of how his net worth of $300 million came about.

The bloke left the coppers in 1999. A year later while doing his business degree he set up Dutton Holdings:

"which was registered in 2000; it operated under six different trading and business names. The company bought, renovated, and converted buildings into childcare centres, and in 2002 it sold three childcare centres to the now defunct ABC Learning. ABC Learning continued[when?] to pay rent of A$100,000 to Dutton Holdings. Dutton Holdings continues to trade under the name Dutton Building & Development."
Wikipedia

The thing is he was elected to his seat in 2001 was in the ministry by 2004 yet had the time to run his business holdings with such aplomb that he is now worth $300 million?

If he wants to be PM one day then there needs to be a detailed account of how this wealth was accumulated before he can set those minds at ease.

Armchair Critic- "If by these means Japan could be led to commit an overt act of war, so much the better. At all events we must be fully prepared to accept the threat of war."

Answer- I suspect that the US Democrats are not doing the correct thing in Ukraine now- and that the Democrats, CCP, other players on the Marxist left, and other opportunistic groups are on the same side in a complex "both sides against the middle" strategy. But I also believe that the "The Eight-Action plan- McCollum memo" that you showed was the right thing to do- and ultimately one of the more humane strategies.

SR you fwit, (easier than shooting fish in barrel)

The definition of a backhander is:

a secret and illegal payment; a bribe.
"a fortune had been paid in backhanders to local officials"

You absolutely accused Dutton of bribery with no justification whatsoever. Either you are a liar or an illiterate dullard.

So intervening when a couple of young tourists is going to be deported and blacklisted for babysitting is corruption?

By your definition, the entire labor government is corrupt for granting the Bilo family a visa.

Hey Canem Malem,
I always thought the Germans had the best war machine.
The best tanks, subs, guns like MP40 and uniforms and such.
- And I also think German language sounds the coolest when they're loosing their temper.

I also think the Japanese had the most awesome looking Battleships
Maybe Kongo and Yamato class, pretty awesome looking ships.

I wasn't alive back then, I know Japan was building ships larger than it was supposed to be. Other than that I don't really recall off hand how much danger they really posed before the war or how much of the Pacific they were taking over.

I'm not sure that goading them into war or dropping the atomic bombs on them was really justified or not or whether another way such as diplomacy might have existed. I know they were pretty much on the ropes already when they dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The world had been at war for many years, and those atom bombs put an final end to it.

Thanks Armchair Critic.