Australia - you're standing in it
We are being punished for being Australian .We are being punished for not being Chinese.
Read the list of demands.
“ An unfriendly or antagonistic report on China by media “ ......What the fck !?!? They are demanding we hobble our media so that it’s uncritical of China. This was always coming only the timeline has changed. China truly believes it’s entitled to bend our society to its will. This doesn’t even have anything to do with the USA. The USA is the only reason it’s taken this long for the evil face of China to be revealed.
“well we are being punished as being the South Pacific sheriff of the USA.
It'll be interesting to see whether Biden's foreign policy is a circuit breaker.”
If only the US had its focus on the Pacific, ie it’s own backyard, for the last 2 decades instead of its Middle East follies the world would be in a much better place right now and that goes for Australia as its sycophantic arse licking alliance partner.
One of the 14 demands from China is that we abandon : “The latest legislation to scrutinise agreements with a foreign government targeting towards China and aiming to torpedo the Victorian B and R .”
Seriously....Australia is not allowed to scrutinise aka decide whether the B and R is even in our best interests ? This is proper mafia shit. This is why Australian exports are being ILLEGALLY sanctioned.
“ Make them an offer they can’t refuse....”
Fck....this proxy condoning of China’s rat fcked attitude has to stop and that’s what is going on whenever someone tries to victim blame Australia for the current shitfight.
It’s not Scomo . It’s not Payne. It’s not Australia . It’s not the USA.
It’s China to blame. They are demanding we abandon our free will or they will try to destroy us economically.....for a start.
"IFck....this proxy condoning of China’s rat fcked attitude has to stop and that’s what is going on whenever someone tries to victim blame Australia for the current shitfight."
"It's China to blame."
Jeez, has anyone said anything to the contrary?
History shows armed conflict ain't unusual, war is a recurring theme, and for that to happen there's gotta be an aggressor and a party who justly feels wronged. This is not an unusual state of affairs.
Thankfully there's also a written history in how those past events played out, available for reflection and guidance because humans are pretty damn predictable - what has happened before will happen again...unless we choose to act differently.
So we justly feel wronged, and China is being the aggressor, but unfortunately they also hold all the strategic advantages, which shouldn't need to be mentioned here but equally should never be understated - we're an ant fighting an elephant, an elephant that is still growing.
Hubris and misdirected anger will cause us unnecessary pain.
Sure, now is the time to try and extricate ourselves from a toxic relationship, but never forget the lessons of history. Cooler heads and all that.
China has fuck all to lose, they'll find other trading partners without skipping a beat, they'll drum up nationalism and dig in deeper, while we're the ones that'll suffer in a trade war or, heaven forbid, a real one.
If you think that's selling Australia short I suggest you go read some books.
"Wasn't just good diplomacy the Finns had. When it came to fight, they had this bloke"
Yeah velocityjohnno but the Russians had this bloke :)
Yep....here’s Vic Local saying it this morning.
“Scomo’s "outrage" at the meme was for the domestic audience and, our exporters have to suck up the consequences.“
The exporters are not being punished for anything Scomo has said or done . It’s victim blaming .
Stu , China isn’t being aggressive because of any diplomatic faux pas. They are being aggressive because we haven’t acquiesced to their demand for subservience. You don’t seem to be acknowledging their official list of demands. It’s unambiguous. It states in black and white that if we don’t roll over and cede to their political ideology then we are blacklisted at best.
Seems like the rest of the world isn’t misunderstanding the situation.
https://www.theage.com.au/world/europe/will-not-be-bullied-citizens-arou...
well we are about to find out if all that subservience to the USA in terms of cultivating the alliance has been worth it.
now, more than ever, we need USA to be the biggest bully in the playground.
"You don’t seem to be acknowledging their official list of demands. It’s unambiguous. It states in black and white that if we don’t roll over and cede to their political ideology then we are blacklisted at best."
*Deep breath*
No, it actually doesn't state that.
It may be written, yes, a literal interpretation could deduce that, but the aim is not to "cede to their ideology" but to intimidate us. No other Western country has been handed a list.
Right now, China holds all the cards and all we can do is send messages and signals - so they better fucking be the right ones.
If people think a trade war will start and end with wine they're off their rocker. Go look at the labels on your clothes, where most of our iron ore is shipped, who buys our coal, where raw materials for finished products are manufactured, telecommunication and computer equipment too. If all that is halted we're in for an almighty economic shock.
We can't, as Matt Canavan blithely said yesterday, just find other trading partners. Sure, perhaps we will eventually, and here's hoping China doesn't sanction country's trading with us, but it will take a long time to source and nurture and they'll never replicate the volume and scope of China's recent trade.
So until those things are in place we need, for our own sake, to de-escalate any tensions.
Your interpretation of the list of demands is wrong. The statement from the Chinese official who distributed the document actually was literal and unambiguous. It is not a tactic of intimidation it is a specific list of demands which they expect Australia to accept or be punished.
I repeat , it is not a vague intimidation tactic.
“In a targeted threat to Australia's foreign policy position, the Chinese official said if Australia backed away from policies on the list, it "would be conducive to a better atmosphere".”
Either we cede to their demands or we are punished. China thinks it is beyond the need to generate fear through intimidation. They know the fear already exists and they are now exploiting it.
I think Australians need to realise this because some seem to be unaware of the stage we have reached in the relationship between the two countries. This isn’t negotiating trade deals it’s China dictating terms for our ideological surrender. China is employing economic sanctions to enforce Australia’s political capitulation to the Chinese system of totalitarian rule.
The Wall Street Journal gets it :
“As the Asia scholars Charles Edel and John Lee have noted, the U.S. and Australia face different problems from China’s mercantilism. The U.S. has been hit by China’s technology theft, whereas Australia depends more on China’s consumption of raw materials.
Yet the US shares an interest in helping Canberra resist Beijing’s extortion. China is trying to rewrite the rules of economic development in the Pacific. It wants to condition access to its economy on submission to China’s increasingly authoritarian political system, including limits on criticism from abroad.
If Australia can demand trade and diplomatic relationships based on equality, then so can nations like the Philippines and Indonesia. If it can’t, then China will draw more nations closer to its orbit, and the Pacific balance of power will drift away from the U.S.“
"Your interpretation of the list of demands is wrong."
Nah. Maybe when every other Western country has also been handed a list of grievances I'd believe it.
Till then, it's piss and wind, a bit of primate chest-beating due to Australia's recent rhetoric.
They are pushing their new aggression and demands on Australia first because we are so dependent on their export dollars. More so than any other nation we are susceptible to the leverage they can apply and so they intend to make an example of us.
That’s why we’ve been targeted first and are the first to receive the list of demands. It’s pretty straightforward. Either we denounce our free and open society or they try to destroy us economically.
It’s right there in black and white.
I really think you’re underestimating the CCP. They’ve enforced totalitarian rule over 1.6 billion people. No one is even allowed to dissent or criticise for fear of disappearing. They’ve eradicated any formal political opposition during a literal purge under the guise of fighting corruption. They’ve militarily invaded and claimed the territory of virtually the entire South China Sea.
The CCP doesn’t do chest beating. It takes what it wants when it feels confident of doing so. Xi isn’t Trump. Trump talks hard whilst Xi has people removed from the face of the Earth.
I think a lot of the public’s inability to understand the China situation stems from the four years of media bullshit about Trump being a strongman and a dictator. It seems to have conditioned some into thinking that a dictator is similar to Trump ie no more than a self entitled , spoilt brat who huffs and puffs and then employs lawfare to exert control.
A true dictator/ strongman like Xi doesn’t use courts or bend rules. They ignore the rules and take what they want by force if necessary. This is who we are dealing with. A hardcore mafioso who has already taken the common waters of several nations by military might and who now has decided the time has come to curtail the pesky self governance of the recalcitrant little vassal state who provides tribute of resources.
"They are pushing their new aggression and demands on Australia first because we are so dependent on their export dollars."
The timing was all just a coincidence then?
Nah, call me Robert McNamara but that wasn't a list of demands, per se, it had an ulterior motive and it's up to us to discern what it is.
You've been watching too many cartoons if you think China is going to, or indeed is even able to, enforce Totalitarian rule over the whole Western hemisphere.
For sure.
It must’ve been cartoons which made me think that the US tried to impose their ideology on the rest of the world too. Or the English . Or the Romans etc etc
Do you mean the one of mutual co-operation? That enabled countries who opted in to prosper?
Sounds like totalitarianism to me!
Speaking of cartoons...
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/operation-iraqi...
Or Vietnam.
Or South America .
Or Cuba.
Or The USSR
Mutual cooperation ? Become democratic ( in all honesty it was become neoliberal capitalist ) or we will coerce you economically and failing that we will impose regime change / bomb the shit out of ya !
Outliers to the Washington Consensus, yet strangely, when all those countries or regions you listed (4 out of 190) finally adopted the model they prospered!
Tell me again how global totalitarianism will work?
It’ll be like when the US fired Gough but they’ll be doing it with a gun and not a pink slip.
So they'll simultaneously overthrow 194 countries, some on distant continents, some already in an economic bloc that exceeeds China, others in a sub-continental country approaching China, all in proud sovereign states that won't acquiesce to foreign command and will quickly align themselves to other countries with similar values - hence why it'd have to be simultaneous.
Cartoons, mate.
It's not going to happen. It's not possible. That's not to say China won't be a superpower, just that their political model isn't scalable the way democracy/neoliberalism is.
"The best thing Scummo could’ve done publicly is pretend he doesn’t even know who the minister who posted the picture is. Pretend that the minister is so unimportant that the photo was insignificant and could not possibly offend. Then move on. Too late now.
China is the thin skinned bully in the yard at the moment prodding for a reaction."
I kinda agree with this, it would've hurt individual power players more, along with the 'save face' thinking... but I think bigger things are afoot that require bigger signalling....
"Exactly soggy dog. Scumo's "outrage" at the meme was for the domestic audience and, our exporters have to suck up the consequences.
And given the photos and reports about our troops in Afghanistan, we've kind of lost the high moral ground when it comes to China's human rights abuses."
like fuck we did
china's human rights abuses are large scale, state sanctioned, and way more abhorent. and give it up on the trade deals bullshit, it's over, there's no going back... time to adjust, the chinese tourist / student gravy train is over. if some two bit businesses need a new business plan, then so be it...
twiggy too!
whilst it may be beneficial domestically for scumo to say this shit, he is also sending wider signals, and not just to the chinese...
scumo started his signalling well over six months ago, almost at the beginning of the pandemic. he gave a pretty significant speech pointing out the bloody obvious, that we're heading into pretty uncertain times...
but he also sent a warning to the oz population, that we're heading into a period of significant change and that most of the oz population have no idea whatsoever what's potentially coming. he likened it to the second world war - like all leaders did - where there were many very hollow comparisons of the pandemic to war times, hollow conparisons that didn't really eventuate, and sacrafices called of the public that snowflake generation didn't really end up needing to fulfill, but what he was really doing back then was giving the oz population a wake up call, a warning that things will never be the same. it was a pretty explicit warning to the oz public, that they need to wake up from their slumber of privelage and good times. he no doubt hoped that stuff wouldn't turn full nasty, and that his worst fears wouldn't eventuate, but he was preparing oz population for this time, .... a time when china may turn full nasty... because he had a plan, well, was haphazardly desperately making one...
like always, the public only gets 1/10 of the story, but the decisions for this time were made way back then. the contingency plan put in place. the way forward mapped out...
it's just that most of the media missed it's significance, and therefore the vast vast majority of the oz population totally missed it. it's unfortunate that it had to come to this, but it ain't of our doing...
enough with the china apologist-ism ffs!
it's done! over! kaput! habis! ...the end of the end of history is here...
Pure strawman here :
“So they'll simultaneously overthrow 194 countries, some on distant continents, some already in an economic bloc that exceeeds China, others in a sub-continental country approaching China, all in proud sovereign states that won't acquiesce to foreign command and will quickly align themselves to other countries with similar values - hence why it'd have to be simultaneous“
The English empire was built over hundreds of years and never enveloped every nation on Earth yet the fact of their empire was undeniable. Nor did they need to invade and occupy. They bought and captured the elite whilst beholding the population with a carrot and stick approach. Often enough the subject nations were allowed to engage in the illusion of independence as long as they existed within the framework of the English empire and tribute was forthcoming. English language was never imposed upon the general populace and local governance was allowed . But there was never any doubt as to whether they were part of the Empire or not.
China wants to pursue the same dream. It’s not the stuff of cartoons it’s the stuff of history books.
We are about 1/5 of the way to being a vassal state and a tributary to the burgeoning Chinese empire already and it’s only been a decade or so into the process.
Exactly what do you think the B and R is if not a link for member states within an empire ? You think it’s a non proprietary common trade route for general usage built from the kindness welling up from the heart of the CCP ? lol.
Chapters 5 to 9 : https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1232/1232-h/1232-h.htm#link2HCH0005 ( very short . You’ll knock them over in 5 minutes )
None of this is new or the work of an overactive imagination. I’m not saying it’ll come to pass but I’m saying that I believe this is the intention of the CCP.
No the B&R is a means of exerting influence, of soft power, encouraging favourable trade conditions between said country and China, and ultimately, if it succeeds, wresting central power from America.
It's already in place through parts of northern Africa, and none of the countries have had to "cede to China's ideology" or undergone a totalitarian transition.
B and R isn’t even in existence yet and you’re already claiming it hasn’t worked.
As I said , it’s basically day one for the establishment of the Chinese empire . Xi was only made God king / emperor/ Ruler for life a couple of years ago. Give the poor bloke a chance to get some momentum before you start selling him short. Hasn’t been a bad few years for him though .
SypKan.......Australia does not have the moral right to talk about China's Political abuses etc , while we have "our" camps for refugees , treatment of our indigenous people , now war crimes where Australians murdered civilians we need to get over ourselves , and treat China as our best customer.
We know China , they have a different political system than us , and if we want their business and to also import Chinese goods , treat them like a business , all this political hoooo haa , is just that ,political interference which will affect the customer's buying of Australian products...do you really think that by Scomo thumping his political chest against China , and doing the USA's bidding creates a working relationship with our 1# customer?
Of course Australia has the right get on our high horse and thumb our nose at China , but must expect a downward spiral in our economy , and a significant loss in lifestyle , because the royalties from mining are significant....Qld alone has lost more than $1b in royalties just from coal this year.......car parts/phones/house hold goods the list goes on of Chinese goods we import into Australia.....would we pay double?
Fuck the political bullshit off as its the little guys who will bear the brunt of our politicians Faux pas.....I guess you are aware how Portland and Mt Gambier are now?
Not in existence? It was formalised seven years ago and the groundwork was being laid through the dark continent via debt trap diplomacy in the 1990s - just didn't have a catchy name.
I'll say it again because I think it's worth heeding: the CCP may get favourable trade and whatnot but their politics are not scalable. There'll be no widespread "ceding to China's ideology".
There’ll be no widespread acceptance of the Chinese ideologies of CCP infallibility and the impossibility of dissent but if we don’t curtail our Australian independent private media and our Australian political representatives from making any criticisms about the CCP then they’ll cripple our nation with illegal trade sanctions until we relent .
Wait a minute - it’s the same thing !
I don’t think ( fingers crossed ) that Australia would ever be compliant in accepting their ideology but it’s sure not going to be because China didn’t try it on .
"There’ll be no widespread acceptance of the Chinese ideologies of CCP infallibility and the impossibility of dissent but if we don’t curtail our Australian independent private media and our Australian political representatives from making any criticisms about the CCP then they’ll cripple our nation with illegal trade sanctions until we relent ."
Strawmen multiplying like reindeer in December!
China can barely keep their own population in check - they spend more on domestic security (i.e against their own people) than on external security - leave alone forcing compliance from the rest of the world:
Jeez the government has well and truely f**ked the relationship with China!
I’m too sun cooked to continue Stu. Christ it got hot till the southerly hit 5 minutes ago.
What say we agree to disagree whilst simultaneously conceding that I was right all along ?
Sound fair ?
Was gonna get Confucius, me old china plate, to adjudicate on this one but the beardy old fucker couldn't follow it.
Stu, I'm not sure I follow your position.
what do you think the Chinese CCP is attempting to do vis a vis Australia?
Confucius say man with tool in woman’s mouth not necessarily dentist .
@ FR,
Intimidate us into silence. I would say they're trying to quell Australia's recent criticism of China and set an example for other middling powers who may be tempted to speak out.
Because we went it alone on COVID they can afford to isolate us from the group.
If ScoMo waited and signed up to a unifying statement with other Western powers then the result may be different.
Classic
“ ...... But this only highlights how we can’t rely on Scotty to do the right thing. Scotty isn’t leading the country, he’s selling Brand Australia. His entire MO is smoke, mirrors and bullshit. We need a Churchill and we’ve got a twice fired failed marketing executive “
About 5years ago a friend of mine started talking non stop all about financial conspiracies.
He had read these books and researched?????
He was claiming"China is going for world domination by 2024.Something to do with their astrological calendar and the grand solar minimum.New world order with world monetary crypto system.Turn all your cash into gold.Nations economies will be destroyed and that Australia could be the 1st country in Asia/Pacific to collapse!''
I've never been a big believer in all the monetary conspiracies but I am starting to wonder?Over the last few years events have started to support his predictions.
I didn't pay much attention to me mates rants as growing up we had Uncle back in the 80's and 90's carry on about the same stuff.
C.I.A reports China and Russia will collude for world domination.
Financial institutions are corrupt and will collapse,study your history!
Me and my cousins would roll our eyes when Uncle Bill would talk politics and finances...
I take your point about our history and recent atrocities brutus, and I don't mean to trivialise them in any way, but sorry mate, I totally disagree. horses for courses, and, I really mean no offence here, so excuse me, but what happened 200, 100, or even 40 years ago is waaaay different to something that's happening right here and now, in 2020. which is deadset nazi concentration camps no less in the modern context, with all the twisted human guinea pig experiments and exploitations that go with that (ie. live specimen human organ supermarkets), and the outright persecution, sterilisations, and genocide of the uygher population ....eugenics 101...
I find it inconceivable that this can even happen anywhere in 2020, never mind us being complicit in it...
sorry mate I mean no offence, but history will judge this time with the same disgust and disbelief as nazi times, making it worse, is it happened in a more 'developed', more 'evolved' time, ...modern times, with all that that should entail. a time when we should know better, ...it's happening in our time!, ...on 'our watch'! ...sorry mate I'm having no part of that
"...and treat China as our best customer.
We know China , they have a different political system than us , and if we want their business and to also import Chinese goods , treat them like a business , all this political hoooo haa , is just that ,political interference which will affect the customer's buying of Australian products..."
sorry, no no no!
the times of innocence of any purely 'business deal' are done. we cannot turn away. we are facilitating the genocide by our past of looking away over the last 30 years. I would hope you as much as anyone could appreciate the messed up-ness that...
copy that Stu.
I'd go somewhere halfway between your position and Blow-ins.
I think they want something more than intimidation, something more real and concrete in terms of influence, but wholesale adoption by force of their ideology seems a bridge too far for me.
at least with the USA as our main ally.
"something more real and concrete in terms of influence"
I think that's been shown throughout Africa and Asia and into the Pacific.
This includes leveraging political influence in Australian State and Federal politics by whatever means available.
Although this -
"It’ll be like when the US fired Gough but they’ll be doing it with a gun and not a pink slip."
is a big stretch.
Freeride ...China’s last recourse would be to take Australia by force.
Again , from Machiavelli :
“The other and better course is to send colonies to one or two places, which may be as keys to that state, for it is necessary either to do this or else to keep there a great number of cavalry and infantry. A prince does not spend much on colonies, for with little or no expense he can send them out and keep them there, and he offends a minority only of the citizens from whom he takes lands and houses to give them to the new inhabitants; and those whom he offends, remaining poor and scattered, are never able to injure him; whilst the rest being uninjured are easily kept quiet, and at the same time are anxious not to err for fear it should happen to them as it has to those who have been despoiled. In conclusion, I say that these colonies are not costly, they are more faithful, they injure less, and the injured, as has been said, being poor and scattered, cannot hurt. Upon this, one has to remark that men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge.
But in maintaining armed men there in place of colonies one spends much more, having to consume on the garrison all the income from the state, so that the acquisition turns into a loss, and many more are exasperated, because the whole state is injured; through the shifting of the garrison up and down all become acquainted with hardship, and all become hostile, and they are enemies who, whilst beaten on their own ground, are yet able to do hurt. For every reason, therefore, such guards are as useless as a colony is useful.“
The recent attacks on Australia are straight out of the authoritarian playbook, using propaganda and the spread of misinformation to sow discord and division, and to control the flow of information is a classic action of a repressive one party state.
In my opinion the aim of the Chinese list of demands and the social media/media attacks are both designed to intimidate our government, as well as sell a message to a section of the Australian public and indeed the western world.
The propaganda aspect IMO is an attempt to sell the idea that China is being treated unfairly by Australia, the US and the West in general. Recent social unrest and demonstrations in the West, particularly in the US have been noticed and the growing trend of woke ideologies has been capitalised on by the CCP. Their media has been heavy with the current set of grievances espoused by loud chunks of western societies, notably and unsurprisingly the far left.
The themes of racism, injustice, colonialism, anti right and anti western sentiments have become a staple of the CCP’s message especially via social media where this message hits an often sympathetic audience.
I think they are trying to drum up support/sympathy from left leaning members of the public particularly the younger and dare I say it woke generations who will be more sympathetic to a Communist party than older generations will, thus sowing division abroad on the issue of how to deal with China’s belligerence and expansionism.
For a repressive regime whose ruling party is becoming increasing fragile, I think they are trying to offset international criticism by sowing dissent amongst the population whose governments are critical of the regime.
The main reasons the CCP is targeting Australia IMO is because; we are small, to test the Australia-US alliance, and because our government and media have been calling The Chinese government for what it is.
The fact that this dramatically escalated after we joined the list of signatures advocating an investigation on Covid virus in China makes them look as though they have something to hide due to their hyper sensitivity.
The list of demands China has ordered us to implement in our country has rightfully been deemed unacceptable. We have been explicit in our criticism of the repressive authoritarian dictatorship that is the CCP so it is seeking to punish and make an example out of us while dividing us from within by attacking our justifiably damaged national pride. Twisting the knife.
I agree that picking fights you cannot win is never a sound idea, but by strengthening our already strong alliances we could perhaps stand up to this international bully with success.
Scomo’s, and much of the media’s reaction has just proved the success of this provocation and we have played into their hands, we need to be more measured in our responses to this provocation. But we absolutely need to stand up to this bullying and let them know that they will not be able to influence our decision making with the repressive acts, oppression, propaganda, censorship and the adaptation of truth that they employ to stay in power in their own country.
Don’t bite the hand that feeds. What if the hand has stopped feeding and has started strangling you?
To say that China is just reacting to Australia’s recent admittedly imperfect rhetoric does nothing to address the multitude of valid reasons why we have been critical of them in the first place. We shouldn’t invite conflict, but we should absolutely stand up for the ideals and freedom that many Australian men and women sacrificed their lives to protect.
The main lesson I think this highlights for Australia is that our security depends on fostering and maintaining military alliances strong enough to give us security against enemies that are vastly stronger in both size and resources than we are.
Niall Ferguson from a year ago with a blunt assessment of the Australia-China relationship. Scary but worth it.
What a difference a year makes !
From throwing the nation under a bus* for a majority to morphing into the Uber Patriot ......wonder where he’s hiding her these days ?
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/12/scott-morrison-at...
*” You’re all racists I say ! “
How good's nationalism and pretending Australia is a big dog in international affairs?
Remember when Western Nations could be relied on to keep some sort of rules-based global order?
China can now bully us at will.
Europe has spent the last decade desperately trying to keep right wing barbarians from getting power. Russia has been a global trouble maker hell bent of creating division. Brazil is basically being run by a criminal. Good old Trump's America First policy involved kissing dictator's arses and pissing off allies. The UK massively weakened the European Union with their Brexit idiocy. And then there's good old Australia who's human rights record and global engagement has been woeful for decades.
Democracies across the world are typically ruled by small men with small ideas. And some people still wonder why China has filled the geo-political void. Unless we get our shit together real quick, China's greatest concern is not who can challenge their power base, but pushing things too far.
Go team Australia.
You only forgot to mention one thing in your list VL, this is all entirely Scomo's fault...
.
COVID is a blessing in disguise for Australia. We’ve largely dodged its bullet, and our biggest threat this century* has had the floodlights flicked on them
*just going to leave climate change out
Well said Vic.
Whatever Fitz. I just pointed the finger at a range of people / countries that have gone the US / Brazil / UK First approach. Scumo is just one of many inward looking leaders who basically abandoned the International development field to China. Howard started the rot and we've basically pissed on virtually all international agreements unless it was giving the USA a big old gobby and swallow. We picked a fight with da big panda and our only real defenders are plucky little NZ.
And the marketing man is next to fucking useless in any crisis.
I think we have a few more defenders than just NZ.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-02/china-australia-wine-tariffs-ipac...
And I'm not defending Scomo as I despise him, but your ALP buddies sure jumped into bed with the Panda particularly that grub KRudd.
The "I can't believe it's not politics" thread.