A sinking feeling over submarines
SERIOUSLY, where to start?
This week’s smorgasbord of craziness isn’t due to the howling mango winds but a sprinkling of nuts, an absence of diplomacy, and a political agenda so obvious we might as well call it, “an election must be held before May, 2022”.
Until recently, we had a civil relationship with China, the land of a billion and a half people, who happily bought up swathes of properties, manufacturing and major exports like iron ore, gas, coal, education and the Port of Darwin, as industry leaders and politicians cheerily yelled, “sold!”
It was a lopsided arrangement to be sure, but as long as someone’s making money, we’re apparently OK with it.
Then Covid hit, and last April, our Foreign Minister Marise
Payne inexplicably decided to get tough with our top trading partner by suggesting an independent international investigation into the source of the virus, not looking at any country in particular, who could she mean?
As diplomats around the globe picked their collective jaws off the floor, our PM, Scott Morrison, inflamed the situation by suggesting the World Health Organisation needed a “weapons inspector” level of investigation.
Anyone with a passing knowledge of China knows about “face”, and that humiliating a major trading partner probably wasn’t the smartest idea, which unsurprisingly resulted in immediate trade sanctions for Aussie barley, wine, timber, lobsters and coal.
Fast forward 18 months, and here we are, our undiplomatic corps have once again inflamed the superpower to the north, and
France, and by association, the European Union – a trifecta!
You may recall that the French submarine deal was proposed by Malcolm Turnbull and championed by the then Industry Minister, Christopher Pyne; who campaigned the subs would be built in his seat of Adelaide.
Surprise! There was an election, and Pyne was promoted to Defence Minister. He broke parliamentary rules by skipping out early to take up a job in, you guessed it, the defence industry; but was cleared of wrongdoing, by his own party, so yeah.
The deal to secure a ministerial
seat with French subs had served its purpose, so out with the old, and in with a flashy new partner, AUKUS, in a deal so badly handled we now have the French-led EU adding Australia to its Burn Book. Mon dieu!
Of course, the announcement of the nuclear subs that the PM insists on pronouncing as “nucular” is just that, an announcement, and with a delivery date of 2040, we’ll be subless, while relying on the stillbeing-refurbished Collins Class subs for decades to come.
In reality, the United States probably just needed somewhere to store all its war-gear and enjoy
R’N’R breaks when it inevitably faces off with China, our biggest trading partner, in the South China Sea.
So while our PM’S “Diplomacy Tour” has hitched our wagon to a nation that relies on wars to keep its forces occupied and its defence contractors reeling in the squillions, could he at least stop wearing our flag as a receptacle for germs and spittle?
Anyway, if we end up going to war, let’s hope there are no lockdowns, curfews or blackouts, because the Kelly, Canavan and Christensen “Freedumb” folk won’t have a bar of it.
Hydrogen is not viable at Lansdown let alone Townsville unless the Haughton Pipeline Stage 2 is finalised. Jenny Hill, why is it taking so long? JR, 4810
Looks like it’s getting too hot in the Oval Office for Joe Biden already, is this the second coming of Donald Trump? CARL FRIES, PIMLICO
Whoa, hold on. Since when has state or federal funding been a cause for the “commercial in confidence” veil to be drawn over projects? The Mayor seems to be trying to hide something about the Haughton Pipeline from the community again. Remember the election promise that water would flow from the last project, what happened there? NOISY MYNAH, TOWNSVILLE
Can anyone tell me what a Hydrogen Hub even looks like? There is a lot of hot air around this and no substance. I don’t think we even know what we are complaining about. MAX, CRANBROOK
The Department of Environment and Science has made a living from cruelling the primary industries across Qld with their less than truthful Science on the GBR. And why wouldn’t they as they have built
How is Qld still stone-cold last in the vaccination race? We haven’t even got an outbreak or lockdown stretching our system – so why aren’t we number 1? It’s embarrassing listening to the Premier whining about opening up and wanting 90 per cent that may never be achieved.
an empire of superannuation with this crap. Science has proved time and time again that farmers are not damaging the reef. This department should be held financially accountable. SAM, 4850
Phil Thompson jumped out of bed and started urgently looking into that hydrogen stuff after reading
0416 905 531
yesterday’s Bulletin, maybe today he’ll read about Townsville suburbs at risk from sea level rise and start doing something about global warming? In the words of Harry Bruce, “Don’t hold your breath”. STEVE, BELGIAN GARDENS
We are dealing with two pandemics in Queensland, the Covid and the
criminal. Obviously the Covid problem is everyone else’s fault but hers and she flatly refuses to address the crime pandemic. Pity there’s not an election next year, because at least then she would be forced to address the crime pandemic that has taken over at Townsville. SUE, KIRWAN
Thank you Terry Gillman for your letter re the former heritage listed Criterion Hotel and yes the old Empire/ Republican Hotel was in poorer condition than the Criterion Hotel before restoration. Congratulations once again to Brodie Jankovic and his vision in preserving this iconic building. When an old building is restored it also preserves the streetscape something most developers don’t understand or care about. By retaining the Queens Hotel on one corner and the Criterion on the other you are preserving the streetscape (the soul of The Strand). The unfortunate situation with removing a heritage building from a register whether local or state is via a majority vote, to include a building on a register you have to show why it is worthy of preservation. Save the Cri. JOHN, 4820
JOHN, WULGURU