Anthony Albanese must be having a good old chortle. Having Donald Trump in office is unarguably great for Labor. The US president hovers on the horizon as a perpetual threat to Australia. He does the political job for Labor that Tampa did for the Liberals. He is the living, grotesque proof of how bad conservative politics can be. And no matter what they do, the Liberals and Nationals cannot outrun him, separately or together.
It doesn’t matter that Peter Dutton has gone. Australia’s conservatives are hogtied to Trump. For the prime minister, it is a delicious coming together of political cycles that Labor’s next term overlaps completely with Trump’s term in office. God knows how long Trump will hang around the White House beyond that. Labor will hope it’s forever.
Friend or faux
And so it is that last week brought yet another US assault on its Down Under buddies, a development giving more fodder for Albanese to work with. It kicked off with 50% tariffs on Australian steel — now doubled following on from February’s 25% “Liberation Day” tariffs. It then shifted seamlessly to a US demand that Australia commit astronomical amounts of money to defence, a demand delivered by the (ahem) colourful US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
These good cop-bad cop double-whammies from the US are disconcerting. They are hostile acts, delivered with menace, but apparently from a friend. The sheer out-of-control unpredictability of the new United States has created immense opportunities for Albanese. He has started to take them.
First he refused to play ball with the demand that Australia increase defence spending to 3.5% of GDP. His response was that “we will determine our defence policy” (a phrasing which, intentionally or not, carries echoes of John Howard’s mantra that “we will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come”).
Tummy tickles
Second-term Albanese can do this. He can channel the anger and distrust which has built up about the US. This year Australia has shovelled close to a billion dollars to the US to help it build shipyards for nuclear submarines, only to be hit by tariffs and a demand for yet more money.
At the same time Albanese delivered a slap to Defence Minister Richard Marles, whose first, second, third and fourth instinct is to roll over to have his tummy tickled by the US, as long as he gets to wear the admiral’s uniform. Marles is a divisive character. On the world stage he’s the perfect sycophant to the US, but at home he plays the factional hardman, revelling in the power which comes from being deputy to the prime minister. This week the admiral was put back in his box.
Holy crap
It’s not hard to see why Albanese might be signalling a pivot away from the US. Trump might be the most powerful and nasty of the charlatans in his administration, but he’s not the only one. In the way of these things, the charlatan-in-chief has appointed others in his image. Hegseth is just one. He came to the administration via the revolving door of the Fox News network. Lately he has broken cover as yet another in the list of evangelical Christians appointed to high office. Last week he held a prayer meeting at the Pentagon, conducted by his personal pastor Brooks Potteiger, from his church in Tennessee, the Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship.
It is the full American catastrophe in one scene. Potteiger holds the most extreme of Christian nationalist views. These include that Trump had been “sovereignly appointed” by God. He recently sermonised:
“If our Lord is sovereign, even over the sparrows’ fallings, you can be assured that he is sovereign over everything else that falls in this world, including Tomahawk and Minuteman missiles, including strategy meetings and war room debriefings. Jesus has the final say over all of it.”
For his part, Hegseth is the total hypocritical package, the thrice-married, serial womaniser and drunkard who is holier than thou. A retired US army lieutenant colonel said of him:
“Hegseth continues to propagate Christian white nationalism, while undermining the separation of church and state and the norms of civil-military relations.”
Time of his life
How can these people be taken seriously? Trump’s America is as popular as a boatload of asylum seekers. That’s not going to change.
In terms of policy and politics, Albanese has a chance to do something really smart. He can draw on the enormous talent in his expanded caucus and seek new defence arrangements, beyond the flawed AUKUS monster he helped create.
Perhaps we should spend more on defence, but not with AUKUS. Ditch that ASAP. We should also be spending a lot more on foreign aid, especially in our region. Better still, tell Woodside to go suck eggs, and whack a great whopping tax on all gas we export to pay our foreign aid budget. Now there’s a plan!
I totally agree
We could always tax the US companies properly here to pay for more weapons and hospitals and schools….clearly the yanks wont object because tghy wsnt us to up our military spending…
Spot on. Why are we so afraid to do what Norway and Qatar do ie collect decent taxes for our resources.
Ditto!
Exactly.
Hear Hear
So true. Albanese used the Woodside deal to wedge the libs on nuclear. Clever politics yes, but smart for the country, partly but not for the planet overall and imagine if he had done a deal to lock in east coast gas at a very low price… what an opportunity missed…. I still think he is a tinkerer, example being that he should be fixing the inequity of the super system not just playing the ‘tax the rich’ audience. There is no excuse for taxing unrealised gains and there is no excuse for nonindexation (for anything)
Sounds about right!
The opportunity to walk away from AUKUS has presented itself. AUKUS was set up by Morrison to wedge Labor. Everything that grub touches ends up a mess that others have to clean up.
Well said,Dr Ed. ditching AUKUS plus a ‘great whopping tax’ on gas +Woodside would also release a lot of money to invest ,in education in infrastructure in R&D in health in housing and many other areas of benefit to Aussie battlers.
Well said, Ed. Any defence spending must be with non-US suppliers. US military out of NT. Mothball Pine Gap, and so on. Trump’s crew are all fruitcakes. The new FEMA head didn’t know there’s such a thing as hurricane season FFS!
The Yanks need Pine Gap and the Northwest Cape facilities to eavesdrop on Asian communications and direct their fleets and subs in this hemisphere. We should just hit Trump for, say, $20 billion a year rent for each. Drop AUKUS and build our own drones, long range missiles and plenty of small fast catamaran drone platforms to launch defence missiles, drone torpedoes and aerial drones from. Tax Woodside, Rio Tinto, BHP, Twiggy, Palmer, Gina and all the big resource exporters instead of whacking more tax on Australians and get a guaranteed gas supply at cost for the nation.
You’ve got it! And let’s make Australia even greater through trade with Indonesia, India China, Japan, and the smaller countries of our region. Stand as alone as an independent non-aligned Republic. Tax the miners to make Australia wealthy not just the foreign shareholders.
I agree!
Great plan. Let’s get going on appropriately taxing our exported natural resources, and investing in education, research, aid for the region and alternatives to AUKUS which sensibly serve us and our region, not other country’s foreign policies.
Hear hear! 😃
F*** yeah!
We are in deficit so it makes sense to tax the people’s resource beneficiaries.
100%
Well said
Now there IS a plan, indeed!!!
In reply to Dr Ed Wensing. I have never read of more truthful Statements printed, and ones I truly support and believe to the course of actions we need to take to put this Country on a better course. Our PM and Deputy PM have it all wrong, both with AUKUS and the Gas Cartels to our Nation’s detriment. Murray Watt has done as he has been told, (as predicted he would) with no credit to him also. The two leaders show favouritism to donors but no courage or Integrity as true LEADERS. The AUKUS deal was a shocking mistake, that just once again show our two main Heads of Country, FOLLOWERS and NOT LEADERS for our prosperity or progress. We would benefit greatly from their replacement because nothing will change whilst they hold the Positions they do.
Excellent advice and I sincerely hope that the prime minister does follow it.
It is the opportunity of a lifetime. I will look forward reward to it being implemented.
Americans are not stupid, they have mid-terms coming up long before Albo needs to go back to the polls. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Republicans lose both the House and the Senate at that time. You’re right that Albo’s strongest suit is he’s less shitty than Trump. But that may be inconsequential three years from now when Trump is likely to be a blow hard lame duck president.
It’s time for Albo and Marles to do an about face on AUKUS before they piss any more of our money away on a fantasy. As the Ukranians have just proven, expensive conventional weapons are likely to be worthless burnt out assets sooner rather than later.
If they don’t change their ways soon they will be yesterday’s men before you can say “I used to fight Tories”.
You’re assuming 1. that there will be elections, 2. that Trump et al and the republicans will pay any attention to their results if they do occur. They have the apparatus of power, fully armed, and are clearly prepared to use it.
I agree. Given the trashing of the infrastructure including legal courts and even the Constitution there is no guarantee of free and fair future elections.
That is under the assumption that the US gets to vote in the midterms. The christofascists don’t want them to.
You lost me at ‘Americans are not stupid’.
Great comment
no more stupid than Australians who voted no in the voice referendum after being sold a line of bullshit by Dutton and Price
So totally on point: what we are witnessing is the pinnacle of false advertising, on the back of decades of the type of over-consumerism that tells us just how well false advertising works. This is the work that started in glossy magazines and radio, jumped effortlessly onto our TV screens, then slid into our in-boxes fueled by frighteningly well-targeted algorithms to appeal relentlessly to dark fears and base instincts. The Voice referendum was not lost to the red neck racists of this nation (although Lord knows we do have those here too), or to the limp-lettuce Yes campaign (although Lord also knows how weak that was), but mostly due to vast swathes of ill-informed, under-educated and easily influenced people reacting out of what they perceived to be self-preservation, to vile messaging that spoke to those same dark fears and base instincts. It takes concerted effort and a degree of re-education to rise above those fears and that instinct. Most people won’t bother. The MAGA mindset is no different to the mindset that sunk The Voice. It would be good to see Albanese insure against this inevitable groupthink with some decent policy that can’t easily be unwound.
It was a huge mistake to leave Richard Marles in his current role. He will continue to take a weak and subservient role towards Trump, failing utterly to understand the changes taking place in the international order. Marles needs to pay close attention to the words of Jeffrey Sachs.
The fool Marles might be back in his box,but Albanese needs to nail it shut,and replace him with Ed Husic, a most capable minister,foolishly shunted off by the machinations of Marles.What could be more fitting?
Very nice thought. And a step forward for the Ed for PM forces
Totally agree! Husic is the kind of Labor politician we need to see more of (and see less of Marles). I was really furious when he was demoted.
I agree MerryMog.
I say again; “No doubt at all,The Inited States of America is our friend and all. BUT! If we go to bed with them harbour no doubt of what will happen!
Spot on Dr Ed! Look at the $$Billions Qatar & Norway get from their natural gas and compare it to the paltry pittance Australia gets from theirs – and it’s OUR Gas!
You can thank that little man in an Ozzie tracksuit for that deal. Typical better economic managers, those nincompoops!
Dr Wensing for Prime Minister!
But the list of Christian fascists in positions of power goes on. Read Noem, Bondi, Patel, JD Vance, etc. As if that’s not enough, the lot of them are nincompoop administrators.
If there is ever a dictionary entry for ‘fascist kakistocracy’, the only illustration necessary is a photo of the Trump cabinet!
Ed, I like your AUKUS comment. I also like your suggestion about spending more on foreign aid. I think your best one is the comment to Woodside and whacking a great tax on all gas exports so we can use the outcome on our foreign aid where people are suffering the most from that fallout.
Mark, your comment about Americans not being stupid depends on which comments you read. I recently read where the educated amongst us, and you don’t have to be Einstein, are saying that the Americans are now the most stupid of all peoples. This comment refers to the results of their school students, and their exam results, and that is the saddest of all findings. If they did less pontificating and more listening they might learn a lot.
And, Harry I agree with you, bring back Ed Husic to the front bench. This has nothing to do with his religion or philosophical leanings and Marles has been found out.
All good stuff, except I wonder why we still use like ‘consevative’ or ‘Right’ or ‘left’ to position players on the political spectrum. They were always pretty notional labels but to call Trump ‘conservative’ really clangs with me. He is a disruptor – rather like those cagefighters when compared with Marquess of Queensberry rules.
Agreed
Does Albo pay attention to what we think?
They don’t pay attention to the rank and file members.
No. Albo does not trawl through comments in news articles. However, these comments are not just cathartic release for frustrated punters.
There needs to be a counter dialogue (reasoned, acerbic, pithy, long-winded and, even, poorly argued) to develop and signal other views.
With time and resources short, even the most open and malleable of decision makers are seriously pressed for time. Getting a another serious perspective out there is valid, and possibly important.
But his staff would be
Marles could join the Liberal Party.
When he stepped up all those years ago, he thought he WAS joining the Libs…but he is a product of Geelong Grammar after all.
Australia has signed up to AUKUs, has US bases on our territory and has a strong trading partnership with China except in weaponry which appears to be mostly USA manufactured. Whose interests are being promoted by Hegseth where Australia’s role in the region is completely ignored while a figure which bears no relation to purchasing decisions is floated. What if Australia does spend much more on Japanese, Korean or European weaponry – would that suit? Albanese is correct to say Australia will determine our defence priorities particularly when modern battles seem to require a mix of old and new technology.
Australia should be a leader in the Asia/Pacific and heavily engaged with ASEAN nations. Iknow that Albo is ‘mates’ with the Indonesian Pres. but we need to be much closer in so many areas. Indonesia would be a good leg-up into ASEAN membership. It’s amazing how perspicacious Keating really was about our place in the region, and we are still floundering around.
So let’s push Albo to set up a sovereign wealth fund by charging for every bit of gas, coal and oil removed from Australia. Say goodbye to AUKUS and start to invest in high tech and defence industries here.
We love being bullied around too much by multi nationals, Catherine.
The day a PM stands up to big business, is a day that I, and you, unfortunately, won’t see, be it a year or a hundred years.
First, I agree with most of the sentiments expressed above in the context of our defence relationship and Marles’ subservience to the US but given the capriciousness of Trump and the ignorance of his Defence Secretary one wonders what the response might be to, say, demands that the US pay for its bases and use of our defence facilities?
They are just mad enough to call it a hostile act and send in their forces to ‘protect their national interests’. Far-fetched? Possibly and not a reason to not try it on but…