IT seems governments nowadays can segue from one steadfast policy to another and media gizzard whisperers act like nothing happened, however ridiculous the switcheroo. Winston Smith knew the phenomenon well: “There was, of course, no admission that any change had taken place. Merely it became known – with extreme suddenness and everywhere at once – that Eastasia and not Eurasia was the enemy.” I almost feel embarrassed for the editorialists at The Australian who railed against the then Opposition Leader and his deputy during the longer campaign prior to May’s election. In February, the national daily came very close to suggesting that Anthony Albanese – a man with a “ringing endorsement” from the Chinese Communist Party (via the Global Times) – was actually a Manchurian Candidate. As for Richard Marles and Penny Wong, they were dishonestly “squealing” about the Morrison government’s politicisation of foreign and defence policy. But that was fifteen minutes ago. Wong is now applauded by her former critics for so elegantly curtsying to China and The Australian – tritely comparing Zelensky to Churchill – editorialises (on Christmas Eve) about the importance of the “free world” fighting Russia forever. It’s not that we ‘now know’ the following three things are true; they were obviously true all along.
First, Scott Morrison and then Defence Minister Peter Dutton were indeed absurdly hyping conflict with China to put voters off the Labor Opposition. Because Morrison was so abjectly indifferent to the terror endured by Australians during the country’s ironically China-style lockdowns, it followed that he had no idea voters were fed up with scaremongering and hypothetical catastrophe. A Prime Minister disinclined to stop Victorians being shot at wasn’t of any use to Taiwan – quixotic AUKUS submarines or no. Second, because News Corp and Sky exaggerated Albanese’s Castro-radicalism on foreign policy, when he became Prime Minister and dutifully went to all the scheduled confabs, ratified all the accords and formalised new ones placed in front of him – Biden-like – to sign, the Bolts and the Sheridans were forced to playact delight and praise his “surprising” orthodoxy. From that point, thirdly, détente with Beijing was inevitable. It looks like an Albo rout for the annals but ScoMo would have finessed the same deal eventually. Thanks to him, we need the money. What’s a concentration camp or two between friends when $20 billion of trade hangs in the balance? Most Australians probably think the Uyghurs are the French Wiggles anyway. With extreme suddenness and everywhere at once, as Orwell’s Smith was made to say, both major parties and commentators throughout the land agreed that China is not the enemy.
Is it too much to observe the 1980s are calling, they want their foreign policy back?
Very, very good! 😁
Happy Christmas C.L.
It seems like only five minutes ago (but actually it was during the mad peak of BLM worship and rioting after George Floyd’s death) that the British left in particular were demonizing Churchill as a “colonialist,” “racist,” and even worse, “fascist.”
Even elected officials and members of the intelligentsia were falling over themselves in their haste and efforts to topple or remove his statues.
Churchill was a labour mp before he became a conservative, its only a matter of time before they try to rewrite his history again.
Happy Christmas to you too, Calli. 🙂
Excellent point, Lee.
Winston Churchill statue daubed with ‘was a racist’ graffiti during Black Lives Matter protests.
Bill Bishop sends out a regular China email. Kevin Rudd regularly regurgitates it and tries to pass it off as his own content (similar to Keith Suter trying to pass off Stratfor’s content as his own work).
Each month Bishop has a summary of world leader mentioned in China’s Peoples Daily. During November, they wrote about 25 world leaders and higher profile political figures. There were zero mentions of any Australians during November (according to Bishop’s summary).
Australian news apart from The Oz overlooked the curious timing of the meeting of outgoing Russian ambassador and Medvedev across the compound meeting Xi as well. I dunno, timing is everything and knowing Asians are we too thick to the subtleties being messaged here?
Merry Christmas as well CL while I’m here.
Does that mean the Churchill bust is back in the oval office?
Merry Christmas CL.
Buccy wrong as usual. he was a conservative MP then a liberal MP and returned to the conservatives. He was inspirational during the war but not after it when he fell asleep at cabinet meetings. He was racist when commenting on proposed self rule in India when on the backbench.
The previous government lost the plot on china and the ALP and several past security people such as Dennis Richardson said so. That is why it had no impact.
Most people supported the lockdowns more so since they worked. Since the new variants are so easily transmissible lockdowns do not work as China shows.
most Australian government when they talk to the Chinese government talk about human rights. Why would they change?
Does our looming détente with China indicate a Victorian Belt and Road initiative (sorry – funding/bribe) is close to becoming a reality?
Merry Christmas C.L. and all your staff, and a happy New Year to all readers.
Insanity and denialism.
Just saying it does not make it so.
No poll was ever taken.
It’s called tyranny for a reason.
And even if 99.9 % of people supported lock downs it does not make it the right thing to do.
That’s why they didn’t.
But if you want to hide under a bed, go for it.
The minute you force others to act as insane as that, be they a minority or majority, you are a criminal.
lockdowns saved lives a lot of them. No vaccines means a lot of deaths many more since covid crowds out all other health problems sso for example having a heart attack would have been deadly given our hospital system would have blown up. It was close to blowing up in NSW and we had a lockdown.
Once most people had been vaccinated the number of deaths and hospitalisations fell dramatically.
The problem China has at present is their vaccines aren’t much good and they are too proud to ask for superior western vaccines.
The only insane thing here is how many people wanted to kill people through covid by doing essentially doing nothing.
“… how many people wanted to kill people through covid by doing essentially nothing”
Perhaps this refers to sons and daughters who left their elderly fathers/mothers in aged care institutions, when the early warnings sounded.
A small number were brought home.
Non Mentis
several past security people such as Dennis Richardson said so. That is why it had no impact.
I am old enough to remember when leftards had slogans like:
“You can’t trust the gummint” and “You can’t trust anyone over 30.”
Now they believe anything people over 30 in gummint say.
News flash!
Labor criticises a LNP government!
Non Mentis
lockdowns saved lives a lot of them.
How many lives? Prove it.
It was close to blowing up in NSW and we had a lockdown.
Prove it, without relying on the self-interested proclamations of gummint health bureaucrats whose reputations rely on their claims being accepted.
Hi there, No Whatever, You are partly right, but governments, politicians and their lackeys were the ones who did nothing. Lockdowns saved politicians, not lives.
The injection, which the CDC and WHO redefined “Vaccine” also saved politicians, not lives.
And about the hospitals close to blowing up, did you notice that not one ever did actually shut down. Politicans are good at “Keep ’em frightened”, like you. Boo!
Everyone knows governments screw up everything they touch, so they sent everyone home and did absolutely less than nothing to save anyone, presumably because the virus would get confused and disappointed, shrug its shoulders and go away.
But, with not a single effort to throw even the kitchen sink at it, doctors afraid to recommend even Aspro, destroying businesses and lives, and all through it, continuing to steal other peoples money to pay for their stay at home do nothing bureaucrats, the politicians succeeded by doing nothing beyond their wildest dreams.
So here we are three years down the track when no pandemic has ever lasted more than a season, and three quarters of covid deaths in Australia are in fully vaccinated Aged Care facilities.
Got that “fully vaccinated Aged Care” and the national average of death is still 82+ years old.
Let’s not forget that not a single politician in the world has put their name behind authorising the “experimental” approval of the “vaccine”.
Do you think maybe politicians know more than they are telling us??
Lockdowns destroyed millions of years of seasonal viral and bacterial evolutions.
Once lockdowns stopped, the viruses resumed their work, and all the other viruses rejoiced in the break in their evolutionary cycle. The widespread re-emergence of RSV is instructive in this.
And the USA, supposedly the most advanced country in the world, had the world’s highest death rate.
China still thinks Covid was created to destroy them, and they would also know the actual numbers for the “vaccine”.
The “Vaccine” has caused thousands of variants so far, with millions to come.
The Chinese know that ultimately if a human iteration of “Mareks Disease” breaks out, nothing will save the politicans, and millions more.
Obviously, China didn’t get the memo when Biden got Trump’s job, and the jab went overnight from being a killer to a miracle.
Even more importantly is that every Democrat instantly believed what they were told to believe about something that just one day earlier, they would never take.
This is the unsurmountable truth about the killer jab. No facts, no fact check, just believe. Do you believe Trampy.