News yesterday that our Collins Class submarines will get fitted with Tomahawks reveals a serious lack of understanding about the tactical use of land attack missiles on submarines. Exposing the blithe war enthusiasts of the Murdoch press, former submariner Rex Patrick explains why Tomahawks on a Collins is a dumb idea.
What’s worse Morrison and Dutton who have proved to be clowns in preparing Australia for war want us to become one of the world’s top arms manufacturers. Dealers in weapons of mass death and destruction while sponsoring ANZAC Day as a National Day of Remembrance.
What is wrong with this picture? Discuss … This week Guardian Australia revealed the memorial had sought a new funding deal from Lockheed Martin despite being inundated with opposition from many veterans, historians and retired memorial staff. So, on what should be a day of quiet reflection – one far removed from the politicians who send young people to die in their wars but never go themselves, far removed from the companies that obscenely profit from combat and from those who’d obscure its callous truths – it pays to think about whether the war memorial remains the appropriate place for national Anzac commemorations. I’m not alone in thinking that the money of weapons manufacturers has sullied the place as a stage for official commemoration of Australian war dead.
The skies opened and the rains fell, hammering communities up and down the east coast. So how good is Australia in another time of tragedy? An FOI reveals that the government was warned about the increased likelihood of floods in November last year, and failed to properly prepare for the disaster, writes Callum Foote.
Source: Government incompetence and lack of planning: it never rains but it pours – Michael West Media
The Aus and NZ governments arrived at the awnser to the question once before and sacked him. It’s time the people did the same again. We couldn’t possibly have 4 more years of Morrison up ending Australia’s reputation. Genuine tourists and students will simply stop coming to see an once admired world. Immigration will be driven by desperation for casual work in the salt mines of this nation. Hunger Games seem to be the vision for this country.
Haven’t we suffered enough? How much more of this incompetence and stupid arrogance do we have to endure before we can finally get a government in this country that works for the benefit of the nation, and not just to the advantage of its tin-pot leader?
The competence a politician has and displays is the Bitcoin of the modern business. If you’re competent enough and present as such, with the typical confidence high-achieving pols have in abundance, your selling price is on the escalator. Just like the roller coaster ride Bitcoin traders know so well, when a political leader falters in competence and starts looking to be out of his or her depth your value takes a dive. Right now Scott Morrison is like Bitcoin. He spent 2020 on the rise – hitting unprecedented highs over time – but then slumped in the early months of 2021.
Source: From character to competence, ‘Scotty from Marketing’ is in a world of pain
This week, the PM shunned the media and took to social media to defend his Government’s bungled vaccine rollout.
For Australia, lessons can be learned from Japan. New Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga used his first overseas trip to visit Indonesia and Vietnam. Suga signed a defence export deal with Hanoi and provided a $670 million low-interest loan to Jakarta. Suga also deepened security relations with Australia through a defence pact. Suga is making clear and systematic moves to diversify relations and contain Chinese expansion, yet is doing so without the belligerent bluster and crude diplomatic noise found in Morrison’s public displays. Japan has ongoing disputes with China over the South China Sea and tensions remain over Japan’s security arrangements with the United States, yet the two maintain productive and mutually beneficial trade and diplomatic relations. Former Prime Minister and specialist in Sino-Australia relations, Kevin Rudd, has described Japan’s approach as “do more, talk less”. For attention-hungry Morrison, such a strategy is inconceivable.
The global context of China’s assault on Australian trade and diplomacy
Melbourne’s train and tram inspectors will be checking to make sure those trying to enter the country have a valid travel pass this week, while their counterparts in the Australian Border Force patrol for visas at Flinders Street Station.
It’s all part of a innovative job swap scheme introduced to give officers the chance to branch out from their normal routine.
Arnold Walsh, a Pubic Transport Victoria inspector from Melbourne’s west would usually spend Monday mornings checking Myki and concession cards at the southern exit of Flinders Street Station. But today he’s 200km North of Darwin on a 60-foot patrol vessel. “It’s a new experience, that’s for sure. We’ve booked a lot of people for not having a valid ticket for today’s train travel, so it’s certainly been worthwhile,” he said.
Walsh says there are some similarities between the two beats. “We’ve heard all the usual range of excuses. ‘The ticket machine wasn’t working’. ‘I didn’t have any change on me’. ‘I’m fleeing a war zone’. But as we always say, you’ve got to touch on and touch off for every journey. No excuses”.
Back at Flinders Street, Border Force officer Kevin Hume is also keeping busy. “Thirty people stopped, thirty people without a visa,” he says, juggling an automatic weapon in one hand, and a ticket validator machine in the other.
The job swap – a joint initiative between the Australian Border Force and Public Transport Victoria – is designed to increase job satisfaction and broaden the experience of officers. Border Force officer Kevin Hume says it’s also a chance to share learnings. “I really like the set up of the ticket barriers at Flinders Street Station. That’s something I could see us roll out in the Timor”.
olddogthoughts 