Marles is so far up the collective Yankee posterior, only his ankles are showing. Anything the Yanks do or say is totally smelling of roses. He refuses to criticise or argue against anything coming out of Washington. He is the perfect Yank lackey.
Methinks that he is angling to be US Ambassador when his time in Australian politics is done.
I write out of bemusement regarding my article on why we have not heeded David Attenborough, and myriad others, warning that we are destroying our planetary life support system. My claim is that our vaunted global capitalist system is a machine for consuming the world that has been left to run on automatic. This got one thoughtful letter in response (thank you Ray Peck). It is not the first time I have written about this, in P&I and other places. The message seems to get very little traction. Given that it is about saving our civilisation I find this deeply puzzling.
I trust my reasoning and writing enough to discount my message being obviously wrong. Is it that it doesn’t feel right, so it is cast aside? Is it that the implication is too big, that we have to take on the whole global system? (Political shifts can happen quickly – witness PHON’s rise in the polls). Is it that it doesn’t fit others’ diagnoses so it is ignored? If my claim seems not fully justified, why is it not at least debated? I expect the MSM to ignore it, but places like P&I? Weird.
Historically under international law a ceasefire is defined as a temporary or permanent agreement between warring parties to stop fighting and suspend aggressive military action. In contrast, however a Zionist Ceasefire is when Israel agrees to a ceasefire – except Israel retains a right to temporary or permanent aggressive military action and blame others for its ongoing aggression e.g. the ongoing bombing, shelling and occupation of Gaza since the 25 October 2025 ceasefire and Lebanon since its ceasefire on 16 April 2026. According to Israel it never breaks a ceasefire. A Zionist Ceasefire is when Hamas or Hezbollah are required to stop military responses to continuing Israel aggression. With Iran, Israel is, however, constrained by Trump to date – a restraint he chooses not to seriously exercise for the Gaza and Lebanese ceasefires. The mass media continues to report the Zionist Ceasefire as authentic ceasefires and, therefore, is complicity with the Israel Zionist agenda.
A correspondent writes that P&I should “Stop with your fact-free opinions.” Then he writes another letter saying, without a fact to back it up, that “Israel has not and never will commit genocide.” Unfortunately, every day on our phones we see evidence to the contrary of that assertion. A new day, a new atrocity.
Most of us are familiar with the schoolyard wail, “I’m going to kill you.” We know there are no weapons or intent behind the words for that to literally happen. Just a heartfelt wish for the tormentor to stop tormenting. Thus, in today’s grown-up world, Johnny-come-lately Hamas has no weapons sufficient to wipe out Israel. Barely enough to be an annoying mosquito. Only the passionate wish to live in peace.
Israel, however … There are too many expressions to list of intent to wipe Palestinians from Palestine. Your correspondent can choose to ignore those. But we’ve seen for a century, before and after 1948, Palestinian farms, homes, villages, towns, cities, schools, hospitals, roads, water and sewage infrastructure, PEOPLE! – all destroyed in order to create Israel. Genocide before our eyes.
Say what you like, but actions speak louder than words. Nowhere more so than in Palestine.
John Whiteing in his attacks on the truths set out by John commits his own porkies as a rebuttal. He states that HAMAS issued genocidal threats against the Jews. In their 2017 policy document Hamas in article 16 says: “Hamas does not wage a struggle against the Jews because they are Jewish but wages a struggle against the Zionists who occupy Palestine”. The document goes on to reject the persecution of any human being or the infringement of their rights on national or religious grounds, placing the blame for antisemitism on European history rather than Arab heritage.
He further suggests that John carelessly uses the term genocide to describe what Israel has been doing to the Palestinians for nearly a century. The facts are that the UN General Assembly bodies (Independent UN Commission of Inquiry and UN Special Rapporteurs), the international Association of Genocide scholars including Israeli ones and the world’s most prestigious Human Rights groups have all concluded that Israel is committing a genocide.
Further Whiteing suggests that the paltry PR attempts by a small resistance movement can outweigh the tens of billions spent by the US and Israel in hiding the genocide.
Not convincing really!!
The article by Derek Woolner and David Glynne Jones puts in context the idea that a few largely second hand and short shelf life nuclear powered attack class submarines will have any definable significance for the defence of Australia.
“Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things.” Henry David Thoreau’s quote could well apply to politicians and Admirals with more need for stature than their talents suggest is deserved.
But the more important point is that if we take a realistic look at the developing geopolitical world several things are beyond any reasonable doubt. The first that the US is intent on crippling China as a threat to their dominance of the world, and Australia’s willingness to be lickspittle. Secondly is the unassailable advantage China has achieved in industrial production and technological brilliance by careful long term planning and application. The third can be deduced from those two in that even with Australia and other US acolytes, we will never match China’s capacity to out build us. Thus our puerile attempts to contain them are doomed to failure.
Here is a suggestion from Churchill: “To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war”
A perceptive and well argued article by Robert that sets out the ideological causes of US decline. It suggests a way out that is entirely rational, but the current US is so enmeshed in a political and economic ideology promoted for the last century by its financial elites that rationality simply cannot compete.
Were it suddenly and entirely unexpectedly to re-discover rationality it could remain an important power, but will be incapable even then of returning to its current position of dominance. The world has moved on since this particular conceit has become holy writ in the US, and incidentally in most of its satraps.
The fundamental problem it faces is that the modern age of technology that it was largely responsible for creating needs a different and more ordered world with far longer time horizons than western democracies are capable of providing. Achieving long term goals in the technological era requires long term stability in policy, planning and funding that western style democracies have been unable to provide. Other models of societal organisation that we have looked down upon as inferior have proven to be more closely fitted to the needs of this new age.
Will we adapt? Unlikely!!
Ross Gittins, who has seen it all, comments sagely on the rise of One Nation and encourages the Messrs. Albanese and Chalmers to hold on with courage.
However it is the media devoured by voters which will carry more weight than sound economics or common sense. It is the ‘rage being monetised cold-bloodily by social media'(‘Angertainment’ by Ed Coper) Where politicians and influencers use algorithms which enhance anger and rage, as does One Nation, which will validate those angry feelings and grab voters.
I note Paddy Gourley’s view on Pete Hegseth, who now says a journalist’s questions about new war crime strikes on Iran are disingenuous. Trump and Hegseth have just restarted the war they launched three months ago, murdering then 55 of Iran’s key people, calling Iran’s self-defence “aggression”. US Professor Jeffrey Sachs has called for US forces to be withdrawn, and Donald Trump to go. There is a precedent. After the disastrous WWII Norway campaign, UK MP Leo Amery, partly channeling Oliver Cromwell, said to PM Neville Chamberlain “You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go.”
The whole Middle East should be nuclear weapons free, not just Iran. Israel needs to rethink its basis that Jews are chosen people. Perhaps a new state comprising the current Israel and current Palestine in which all citizens are equal. Iran needs to rethink casting criminal law in religious terms, and capital punishment. It makes sense for Iran or the Gulf countries working collectively to levy a charge on shipping for environmental management of the Persian Gulf.
We have come to expect that government projects have blow outs / the contractor’s business model relies on blow outs .
We are told that private developments get finished ON TIME and ON BUDGET.
This suggest me that government jobs:
1. Don’t know what they want, haven’t done sufficient development of the specification. “Variations rule”
2. Do not know how to write, oversee a contract.
3. Politics and politicians interfere in the running of the contract.
This article illustrates that the old dictum that failing to understand the lessons of history predicates repeating it.
In this case, students of military history will immediately recognise the same path that produced the ‘Dreadnought’ race that was – while not as much a tangible cause as geopolitical shifts of the time – still part of the combative ambience that created the First World War.
‘My ship is bigger/more lethal etc. than yours’ became what we now call a trope – a competition of no effect on the outcomes or the progress of the subsequent warfare. The prosaic artillery exchanges were the main battles that decided the end result. The race of the Dreadnought was a ‘mine is bigger than yours’ competition between profoundly incompetent military panjandrums to acquire more toys for the boys.
There was no analysis of what shape the forecast war between nations would take; no comprehension of what actual battle requirements would be.
Now we have repetition of that obdurance coming from not just the clueless Minister but also the intellectually constipated military itself.
There has been zero discovery of a coherent strategy for Australia having AUKUS submarines.
Not good enough, Minister Marles and the Military.
Julian Cribb tackles another environmental disaster – desertification – from a gendered perspective: “Empowering women to manage the world’s lands is one of the few truly pragmatic steps that humanity can take to save our civilisation from devouring its own future.”
Just before COVID, a small group of Melbourne climate activists (women and men) held our mini version of Fridays for Climate. Most passers-by were supportive or determinedly indifferent, but one was neither. He just yelled “Too many women”.
Around that time, Jane Caro wrote: “As our planet heats up, we desperately need men to realise that it is not unmanly to care deeply about the natural world”. Terms like ‘Mother Earth’, ‘Mother Nature’ have reinforced the view that nurturing is women’s work.
Australia has, since colonisation, been subject to deforestation, livestock overgrazing, excessive farming practices, excessive soil cultivation and wasteful water management.
Mining has also had profound impacts on water systems through overconsumption and contamination. The burgeoning data centre industry will, on estimate, triple our water use by 2030.
Farmer groups, at the coal-face, now work for ambitious climate action.
Women – and men – face uphill battles but work together “to save our civilisation from devouring its own”.
As global citizens, we have been fortunate to witness David Attenborough’s groundbreaking documentary Ocean. Australia has signed the treaty to preserve 30 per cent of our oceans. And yet alongside this, we are signing up to launch more military hardware into our oceans, continue to open areas to deep sea mining and green light fossil fuel drilling of sensitive reef systems along our coastline. One would have to be dimwitted indeed to think that all of this incredibly noisy destructive activity is not putting sea life, especially those acutely sensitive mammals, such as whales, dolphins and turtles under further threat. How desperate and disoriented must a whale be to drive itself onto a beach to escape the defeating noise we humans generate? The right hand must acknowledge what the left hand is doing. Are we really so intent on destroying the chance of future generations to witness and share the planet along with these magnificent creatures? To destroy such life knowingly, I believe, is the definition of evil.
The old saying remains true and the significant word is not dictatorship its benevolent. The feeling that we are all in this together is what, its not the system that is the driving force behind stability it’s the benevolence, its the feeling that even if you’re a little worse of than your neighbour if you work hard you will get there and your neighbour wont get in your way. Will help . .When you’re struggling and you see the multi-million dollar wages and some of the mansions, luxury yachts and cars of others who pay little or no tax that things get angry. As a retired tradie who owns a house and lives comfortably on his super i can tolerate a PM from modest background who has worked his way up to a harbour mansion but I know people who struggle to pay their rent who are angry and considering voting for people who will support them even less. Democracy 2026 isn’t working for them.
Although the recent eclipse of the Liberal-National Coalition (‘the Liberal bloc’ in Kos Samaras’ article) by One Nation in the polls, and its defeat in the Farrer by-election, are extremely gratifying for those of us who believe that ‘what’s bad for the Liberal party is good for Australia’, I wonder if something more isn’t in play. Perhaps it might be karmic justice: after all the Liberal-National Coalition is the one party in history in a Westminster system that has participated in and benefitted from a coup d’état, and has never acknowledged this fact, or apologised for it.
The illegality of ‘Dismissal’ in 1975 does not lie in Kerr’s dismissal of Whitlam as Prime Minister, but in his refusal to acknowledge the vote of no confidence by the House of Representatives in Fraser as Prime Minister. Essentially Kerr succeeded where Charles I failed in 1642 and managed to dissolve Parliament without its consent. It’s a comforting thought that such actions may have consequences, even if they only manifest many years later.
It is depressing watching the US up the pressure on Cuba, but not surprising. That this is happening when the US Secretary of State is a self-styled Cuban refugee is also not surprising. But Cuba does not stand alone in the Caribbean crosshairs. Haiti has been there for years. The link between these two independent nations is that both achieved their independence by militarily overthrowing their western rulers. Haiti threw out the French two centuries ago, and Cuba tossed the US out half a century ago. Former slaves in the first case and descendants of former slaves in the second, and the elites in Europe and North America have never forgiven them. Neither country has ever been allowed a clear path to integration into the larger world order.
To give credit where due, former President Barack Obama did re-establish fledgling diplomatic relations with Havana. Unfortunately, and then along came Donald Trump with his obsession to negate everything Obama touched.
It is not surprising that the Royal Commission‘s primary interest is to reflect and reinforce the Zionist agenda – as it and Federal Labor are captive of the Zionist minority in Australia. The Interim Report is an example of this capture. The interim Report should have included an initial assessment of antisemitism – what it is and what it is not. It should also have included a summary of submissions received – and the differences that they reflect. But, the Royal Commission does not want to encourage debate about the meaning of antisemitism and the broader issue of free speech. But, then, nor do the Zionists and the purpose of the Royal Commission is to support Zionism and suppress debate. The Royal Commission is another shameful decision of Federal Labor to pre-determine an outcome that will satisfy Zionists and Israel and their repudiation of international law and their ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians. It is regrettable that the Royal Commission appears to be a willing accomplice to ethnic cleansing and genocide.
There is an even deeper issue as discussed by Peter Van Onselen in The Hollow State – Power Without Purpose in Australian Politics ( 2025) – an Australia of competing government managers that are devoid of values. He argues that the hollow state is dominated by tactics over strategy, image over integrity and short-term wins over long-term outcomes. The ALP and LNP are increasingly unable and unwilling to provide a believable vision and narrative and the consequence of this is that in despair increasing numbers of voters are tempted to support Reform in the UK and One Nation in Australia.
The accusation of genocide raises a serious issue. Genocide requires intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. Hamas openly declared genocidal intentions toward Israelis and Jews before and after October 7. Whether Israel’s military campaign meets the legal threshold for genocide is a matter for courts and legal analysis, not slogans and social media activism. The term should be used with care, not as a political weapon. John Menadue should be ashamed of himself for falling into the trap laid by Hamas propaganda.
John Menadue would do well to heed Daniel Moynihan, the US Ambassador to the UN 1975-1976 who said:
“Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts.”
Teals, community independents, and, probably Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party…
Teals and other moderate independents…
Community independents, including the Teals,…
The emergence of the Teals and community independents…
could get registered under the title Community Independents…
Using ‘Teals’ and ‘Community Independents’ as he does indicates that Mr Waterford, like so many in the community – even those favourably disposed, has not really got to grips with who and what Community Independents really are. It is so frustrating having to explain over and over again what a Community Independent is. Including that ‘Teal’ is NOT what they call themselves. That’s a lazy descriptor bestowed by lazy journalists. CIs in fact come in a rainbow of colours.
It’s not difficult to get it right. It only requires a tiny effort to learn how and why CIs are no ordinary politicians. May I suggest Mr Waterford (and others) google “community independents project” to find out a whole lot more.
If electoral funding laws are bad (as they are), they should be struck down rather than seeking a workaround. Hopefully Rex Patrick and Zoe Daniel will succeed in the High Court as the similar Victorian case did.
Because people see Community Independents as a party is no reason to become one. People who can’t understand that CIs are what they say on the label, voting independently, sometimes differently, on an issue by issue basis, are even less likely to understand a party where MPs don’t vote the same.
The PM showed naked spite when he reduced CI staffing levels. Problem solve by moving staffing level approvals to an independent body with service to constituents, inner city or remote rural, being the overriding criteria.
CIs are different to other politicians in that they come “from the community” after a thorough discernment process. These are not individuals who decide they want to be politicians ‘then’ gather a team around them. I suggest current community volunteers are most unlikely to put their hands up to be part of a party administration system.
Community is local with the ability to think nationally. Party is national and struggles to think locally. Don’t do it!
We have here a tale of two countries with submarines reaching the end of their effective life and need of replacing or refurbishing. One country has solved their problem problem by selling their submarines to the other country and the other country has compounded their problem because they now have two lots of submarines reaching the end of effective life and in need of replacing.
Boy have i got a deal for you or there is one born every day.
I joined the Greens because of their climate and environment policies and am not disappointed in that respect. Nevertheless, I am frustrated at their failure to rise above 10-12 per cent of the vote, particularly in light of the rise of One Nation which have appalling policies on climate and environment.
Geoff Davies rightly offers two politicians that they might emulate: Bernie Sanders and David Pocock. Both seem to understand the needs of the people and come up with reasonable solutions. Perhaps the Greens should also explore Modern Monetary Theory as the UK Greens have done.
Interestingly, Davies argues for 70,000 net overseas migration. Perhaps this would be the one policy that would win people over. It would not just lower demand on housing and thus improve its affordability but also take the heat out of population growth generally and allow other infrastructure to catch up. As well as housing, much of the cost-of-living crisis relates to energy and transport costs. Electrification and renewables are the answers here but people on ordinary wages have to be helped to overcome the initial capital outlays. Bold policies on that would help create a more level playing field – and help the climate.
Just a quick not re the ‘divide’ between baby boomers and the rest of Australia. Just to say, I have never owned a home, I still protest social inequalities, fight for animal rights and the climate. I have a BA, Dip Ed, BEd, MEd, Grad Cert Applied Linguistics, and various TAFE qualifications. I am on a government pension, am 75, female, and never have I ever felt discriminated against, but that is due to family attitudes and my own optimism. These days I don’t have much of that left, I have to say, as the changes in our society are, generally speaking, moving towards the lowest denominator. When I was younger, i.e. in my 20s or so, I couldn’t believe it when I was told that people are self-destructive, and that the pendulum, swinging to left at that time, would ever swing to the right. How wrong I was. After a life time of teaching, I am so discouraged that perhaps any student of mine would ever think One Nation was a good thing. I truly thought I had taught them to think clearly, be motivated and interested in the world around them, and to THINK FOR THEMSELVES! Oh, how things have changed.
The premise of this article is true but the “My old man’s a dustman” (Lonnie Donegan) image (Google it) falls a lot short and shows who is working what shift, who is up early to see the bloke in the air conditioned dual control garbage truck pick up the wheelie bins. No more the two blokes in singlets and shorts and a rolly in their mouth running behind the truck hefting galv bins into the truck – they are not only the ones NOT waste deep in garbage but they are the unemployed, the unemployable whose jobs have disappeared. But wait, the sewer is still to be seamlessly whisked away and teated the pumps still have to be repaired cleared of chokes of tampon strings, wet wipes, condoms, nickers and nappies, the fat burgers still have to be cleared from pump stations. How loud we scream when one house has a blockage and i haven’t yet got to the treatment process when to varying degrees the liquid is purified and the solids are eventually farmed away. We once ran school tours of WWT plants but were stopped for OHSW reasons – unsafe to see, but not to work in.
Mike elegantly lays bare the pretensions of Marles and the gap between those pretensions and his minimal capacities. I can not resist another quote from The Pirates of Penzance “With Cat-Like Tread, Upon Our Prey We Steal”, to summarise the US approach to us in this matter. As in so many other examples of US theft of other countries resources and wealth they act like the pirates in the opera, with a pretty transparent desire for such duplicitous theft. Marles is their perfect dupe in that respect as he proves his martial pretensions are the perfect target for the Dodgy Brother US. Australian taxpayers are, and will, suffer such vast theft for decades to come if this boondoggle is allowed to proceed!
As with all generations past and present there is a spread of inequality from the wealthiest to the homeless. Its how it has been from Noah’s time to now and short of a dinosaur event it will always be.
As for the baby boomers disruptive period (a precedent from their grandparents in the twenties) it did not last past their youthfulness as they soon realised what was more important to them. Also due to their parents bedroom antics there was plenty of them. Now all they needed to do was infiltrate the government departments and have a field day with not much kick back as the politicians where on the same page and other baby boomers where reaping the benefits befitting their status. No baby boomer can dissolve any culpable of the times, they all had a say in the process and any result that transpired.
Fast forward to today we have a government that is scratching at the surface of the excesses of the past and with the old baby boomers still protesting between wheezing.
Anyone allow Doc to transport themselves to the year 2100 and return to tell us what will be?
I am fond of John Queripel’s postings, however to suggest that Oz Boomers or the NZ version for that matter were ever radical is pretty much false memory.
Like John, I was there at the time having worked in a NT copper mine to pay for university where my circle of friends were pro NLF but only to the same extent that they were pro Beatles, Stones, Joe Cocker and the Byrds. The majority of university students still came from the middle class and, as is often the case, followed the family tradition, voting for continuing the war in Vietnam twice. The “working class”, in large part were complicit in that.
Historically, the Right Wing controlled the means of communication and like the sheeple anywhere, our lot preferred not to think about politics or about anything that suggested complexity. En masse the OZ community lacked much class consciousness, education was poor for the most part with just the beginning of an increase in finishing a secondary education and most who did finish were glad to move onto a life which involved no tertiary follow up – as a nation, encouraged by media, we were anti Intellectual and still are.
Seymour Hersh repeats a common misconception among journalists, namely that, to make a nuclear weapon, uranium must be enriched to 90% in the isotope Uranium-235. As a former physicist, I must point out that a nuclear bomb could be made from uranium enriched to 60% or even less. However, the bomb would be larger than one based on 90% enrichment, probably too large to fit into a missile. Nevertheless, it could be delivered by ship or possibly by semitrailer. This letter is not revealing a military secret.