By Denis Bright
The LNP certainly knows how to frame its commitments to its self-proclaimed promises of a better life under neoliberalism in the shadows of global military industrial complexes.
Australian Election 2022 was a little different to earlier national campaigns because of the unpopularity of the Morrison Government and the appreciation shown in WA for that state’s management of the COVID-crisis.
This assisted in bringing nine out of fifteen WA seats into Labor hands. Near Perth metro seats like Moore and Canning withstood the effects of the swing to Labor and returned LNP members with reduced majorities.
In the normally safe LNP electorate of Canning, Andrew Hastie won almost every booth on preferences from minor far-right parties.
Mass coastal urbanisation did not restore Labor’s fortunes in post-1998 elections.
Labor won Canning won throughout the Hawke-Keating eras but not during the Cold War elections when voters were distracted by the need for a US Communication Base at North West Cape or for more vigilance about the presence of Russian vessels on the high seas in the Indian Ocean.
Diversionary LNP campaigning is alive and well again in contemporary Canning.
Labor’s successful result in WA carried Prime Minister Albanese to majority government in 2022. Virtually cutting off WA from the nation during the COVID-crisis was a big reward for the Labor Movement at both state and federal levels of politics.
With the return of normalcy, the old politics has been revived with an emphasis on assumptions about the related roles of neoliberalism and perpetual defence commitments in Australian politics in the interests of political stability at home and global hegemony for the US Global Alliance abroad.
These themes certainly emerge in the media releases from the LNP’s Defence Spokesperson Andrew Hastie. Readers might take a good look at the macro-themes of his web site:
As Shadow Defence Minister, Andrew Hastie is a real apologist for President-Trump elect as shown by the content of his interview with Andrew Greene from ABC News (15 November 2024):
I think we need to focus on the core task of war fighting. That’s the ADF’s mission is to defend Australia and to be the best war fighting enterprise it can possibly be. I don’t want to get involved in all this political correctness, which I think has done great damage to morale over the last 10 years or so. And to understand Pete Hegseth (US Secretary of Defense Elect)
I’ve actually read his book, ‘The War on Warriors’. If we want to understand where the next Secretary of Defense of the United States is going – it’s certainly not going down the path of political correctness. He wants America to be stronger, he wants to shake up the defense force, and of course, we have a critical relationship through AUKUS and so we need to do our bit. I think the task for us here is self-examination, not hyperventilation, about who President-elect Trump picks to be part of his Cabinet.
Leading Australia into more troubled waters is always at the expense of our trading and investment partnerships with China if Peter Dutton is to be Prime Minister in 2025 and greater demands on Australia’s commitment from the Second Trump Administration.
Money saved on freedom of navigation jaunts in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait would soon deliver a new public hospital for the Peel Region as advocated by Andrew Hastie in parliament on 21 November 2024.
Sending naval flotillas through troubled waters near China costs millions in operational expenses.
If there is any doubt about freedom of navigation, our naval crews could try out the public ferries and air services across the Taiwan Strait which are operated by transport providers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Ironically, a decade ago, Prime Minister Abbott was making arrangements for Chinese troops to join joint defence exercises in the NT (NT News 12 Aporil 2014).
All this changed from the inauguration of the first Trump administration.
Australian leaders who engage in sabre-rattling with China should also note the healthy trading relationships between Taiwan and China as summarised by Trading Economics. Mainstream media has over-simplified this pragmatic relationship between China and Taiwan.
Taiwan’s main export partners are Mainland China and Hong Kong, which account for 40% of its total exports. Taiwan’s main export products include electronics, information and communication products, base metals, plastics and rubber, and machinery. Taiwan imports mostly parts of electronic products (18.2% of total), mineral products (15.2%), machinery (12.4%), chemicals (10.8%) and base metals (7.3%). Main import partners are Mainland China & Hong Kong (19.6% of total), Japan (17.6%), Europe (12.6%), USA (12.4%), ASEAN countries (11.8%) and Middle East (7.7%).
Corporate soft media has also attempted to control the personal perceptions of sections of humanity through constant interaction with digital technology by mobile phones and computer screens. The big corporates in News Corp with control of Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, Harper Collins, Walt Disney, Discovery, Comcast and ViacomCBS Comcast are the big digital news networks and popular entertainment companies in most developed companies.
The impact of social media has grown exponentially through Meta Platforms, Inc (X) (formerly Facebook, Inc.), Alphabet Inc., ByteDance Ltd., Pinterest, Reddit, Inc., and Microsoft Corporation wield immense influence over the digital realm. As Elon Musk as White House Secretary for Efficiency elect, retains control over X’s policies, algorithms and content moderation.
The Albanese Government has acted in an attempt to protect some of the lifestyle components of our national sovereignty through The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 (Prime Minister’s Office 29 November 2024).
The minimum age will apply to ‘age-restricted social media platforms’ as defined in the Bill, which includes Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, X and others. This legislation was carried by 101 votes to 13 in the House of Representatives with the combined support of both Labor and LNP members, apart from the LNP member for Bass in Tasmania.
With the assistance of my favourite AI robot, I have modified the marketing jingle provided promote some awareness of the changing tides in the Canning electorate as the 2025 federal election approaches during those happy summer days ahead in Coastal Mandurah and Beyond (Image from You Tube):
[textblock style=”4″]
Ode to the Canning Electorate
Southbound from Perth, a vision unfolds,
Coastal beauty, forests bold.
Summer’s fun, a golden sight,
All through forthcoming pre-election nights.
A hectic year in a now marginal seat test,
Differing views, an uncertain quest.
Albanese stands with a smiling steady hand,
Leading the way, to the contested Canning land.
A more united front, a hopeful sign,
A future in uncertain times.
When cost-of-living politics challenges old policy designs,
Social democracy still somewhat defiant in the Canning tides.
[/textblock]
[textblock style=”6″]
Denis Bright (pictured) is a financial member of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA). Denis is committed to consensus-building in these difficult times. Your feedback from readers advances the cause of citizens’ journalism. Full names are not required when making comments. However, a valid email must be submitted if you decide to hit the Replies Button.
[/textblock]
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Middle powers like France and South Korea are encountering a new wave of political in stability as the Trump times approach again. America First Strategies in the name of MAGA Politics are a new resource for Left campaigning worldwide. Even Albanese has joined the Conga Line after being too nuanced since 2022.
Take care !
Have you noticed how the spin merchants for the coalition and Newscorp together with SKY have legitimised Peter Dutton’s venture into building seven nuclear reactors at various points around Australia and, according to news reports the electorate are warming to the idea.
This has been achieved without any costings, no site appraisals, no timeline for construction, installation or commissioning and with no data on how much power these installations will add to the grid and at what cost to the consumer.
It has been a clever scam to date and of course the coal miners are right up there applauding it, knowing full well that they will be the major beneficiaries to this shake down.
PS; there is another online scam running (not Peter Dutton this time) for a free iPhone 15 pro Max, purportedly from Harvey Norman to make room for new stock – watch out, it’s a clever online scam and what they really want is your credit card details to cover the $3 delivery cost.
Wasting money on military games win ruin Australia: The US is demanding too much from Australia in its purchases from military companies in bothBritain and the USA
Albanese took 24 hours to accept the AUKUS nuclear subs deal. What he actually did was he opened the door to giving credibility to a nuclear power industry.
I like the tensions generated by uncertain outcomes like national elections where the contestants are masters of their crafts
ajogrady, we need to be clear on the timeline of the AUKUS deal. It was in September 2021 that the leaders of Australia, UK and USA announced the creation of the trilateral security partnership.
If you recall, the Prime Minister of Australia at that time was Scott Morrison who managed to upset the relationship we had with France by reneging on a submarine deal we had with them at the time.
By the time the labor government was elected in May 2022 AUKUS was a done deal.
Looks like Canning is worth a visit to enjoy the surf, wines, and forests even if visitors give the politics a miss during the holidays
LOL Leila, I used to live in that electorate, not too much surf, except when a boat goes by too fast on the river, wine, available from Dan Murphy’s, forests…. forget it, they were chopped down long ago to make room for the urban spread.
Best wishes to the voters of
Canning.
Will they vote against their own interests again?
ajogrady,Bert
It is already becoming evident that the first phase of AUKUS will not happen under Trump : US shipyards are already saying that they cannot build sufficient submarines to meet their own requirements let alone supplying Australia with Three/five Virginia class craft.
Bert is right, this adventure was entered into by Scott Morrison and for Labor to immediately have scrapped it on coming into office would have made Australia, as a nation, look flakey after stuffing around with Japanese submarines for years under Abbott and the atrocious and costly exercise with the French by Scomo.
Manned submarines, as international conflicts are demonstrating, are obsolete and we would be better off concentrating on drones (both aerial and submaritime drones) for our future defence needs.
Terence, it may well be that Trump will be our escape from this folly.
We really need to address our ‘marriage’ with the US when our economic interests lie more with Asia.
The other concern is how long the US can afford to be the world’s police force. Their expenditure on the military and continued presence in so many bases spread around the world coupled with Trump’s tax and tarrif plans could see the American Empire implode.
TM: In the discussion of nuclear, the big picture overall target of “Net Zero” by 2050 is being ignored.
Fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) accounted for 91% of Australia’s primary energy mix in 2021-22, with renewables accounting for the remaining 9%. Oil accounted for the largest share at 37%, followed by coal (28%) and gas (27%). In the latest figures (22-23), Australia consumed 5,882 Petajoules (Pj) of energy, of which 998 Pj were supplied by electricity and includes 350 Pj from renewables.
Simply focusing on replacement of coal and gas fueled electric power stations doesn’t address the energy needs of all the other consumers of fossil fuels i.e. cars, trucks, boats, aeroplanes, etc.
The nuclear power stations being discussed by the LNP only deals with part of the electricity fossil fuel gap (998 – 350 = 648) when the total gap (5,882 – 350 = 5,532) needs to be supplied by renewables etc., so they are only addressing 12% of the problem.
Fred: Thanks for bringing numbers and data into the discussion. These things are usually missing in such discussions. No one seems to notice or even care. Here is a good example of a fact-free, numbers-free rant, which obviously appeals to some people ( I leave you to guess who)
quote:” The latest National Accounts data confirms Labor is sending our economy in the complete wrong direction.
Today’s data shows GDP per capita has gone backwards for seven consecutive quarters. This is the longest household recession on record.
The numbers today confirm Australians’ living standards have fallen off a cliff – the largest fall on record.
Australians’ living standards have fallen 8.7% since the election – the largest fall in the OECD on a per capita basis.
Australia has never experienced a collapse of this size.
The only reason our economy has a faint pulse is because of record migration. There is one person arriving to live in Australia every 44 seconds.
The only plan Labor has is for a big Australia and a big government with big spending.
The Treasurer’s addiction to spending is keeping inflation in Australia higher for longer.
Productivity has fallen off a cliff. It has collapsed 6% since the election.
A family with a typical $750,000 mortgage has had to pay almost $50,000 more on their mortgage since Labor came to government.
Since Labor came to government interest payments have tripled.
Labor’s combination of higher taxes, reckless spending, and big government are keeping prices high and making Australians poorer.
” end quote.
Notice how the numbers have no comparisons with anything. That is called cherry-picking in case you did not know it, but this is the kind of nonsense that the coalition get away with all the time
How can they do it, I ask?
Simple. Everyone is basically numerically challenged. Can’t be bothered to dig out the calculator and exert the brain. Or look for comparisons. A little bit of critical thinking. Too hard!
Regards,
Why does the LNP use fear as an election strategy to attempt to persuade people to vote against their own interests?
Cultural wars are dodgy politics and will always be Trumped by fresh ideas in Australia. Too many LNP leaders want to be sergeant majors to scare the hell out of people.
Fred
Thanks for your numbers : I had read that a ‘back of the envelope’ calculation of the coalition’s nuclear policy would only contribute around 6 percent to the national grid when all seven plants were up and running. Twelve percent looks more encouraging but the point I was making – and I am very much in favour of having the nuclear discussion – is that the coalition need to be more serious in revealing their ‘science based’ policy if it is to make a serious contribution.
The Canning Electorate covers more than the Broadwater at Mandurah. There is plenty of surf along the Old Coast Road, south from Halls Head Beach.
Despite all the logging and mining activity along the Darling Scarp in the old days of the state LNP during the 1970s, there are still swathes of jarrah forests. Canning extends into the fringes of the Darling Scarp.
Albo’s new internet controls will help to protect minors from the vacuous cultural wars being steered by US multinational companies in the name of fake libertarianism and much worse.
Social democracy offers a good policy balance to protect local environments and national sovereignty.
Peter Dutton’s perceived strategic enemies are not the real threats to WA’s integrity.
Multinational cultural wars have created lots of mental illness and family violence.
The mass entertainment created for commercial profit is incompatible with the values of the WA Dreamtime which has defended people for 60,000 years of settlement.
Fortunately, those multinational media cultures are in decline and cloaking under gun violence in the US itself.
Let’s have more commitment to investigative current affairs and quality drama with an Australian signature.
Ah Totaram, reading your comment reminds me of a conversation I had with the then member for Pearce, Christian Porter. On being asked a question regarding the GST proportion Western Australia was getting, his first words were ‘Under Labor’.
This was at a meet and greet at a local cafe, and those words were included in almost every answer he gave.
Now, coming from you, it is ‘under Labor’ that interest rates have risen as much as they have, and in part, that is true, although the RBA started increasing rates while the Morrison government was still in power. I guess we could also say that under Labor, the big banks and the supermarkets have written record profits through price gouging and treating its labour force as robots, screwing their suppliers while the RBA has not considered either inflationary action as anything abnormal.
I question whether the RBA is a force within the conservative political parties, whether the board members are politically involved with the Libs and the Nationals…. it certainly appears so when the real causes for inflation lies in the board rooms of major banks and corporations.
The causes for inflation and the drop in living standards are not caused by the Labor government, but can be sheeted home to the independent RBA when it comes to interest rates and the greed of major corporations who see only profit opportunities through price gouging and other questionable business practices which go largely unreported in the main stream media.
Well said Bert.
The RBA claims to have a purely economic agenda, but that economic agenda has a political leaning built into it.
Therein lies the problem.
After thirteen RBA rate increases (between May 2022 and November 2023) all of which the commercial banks instantly passed on to borrowers (but not so much investors) it would be a cruel irony if the RBA started reducing interest rates after the election which will in all probability be in May and if a coalition government were to be elected it would give the impression that the LNP had saved the economy.
With economic growth currently stalling I personally think that the RBA have overplayed their hand and they are driving the economy into recession and the only way to avoid that is to give the economy a shot in the arm by way of a .5% percent rate reduction which will in turn stimulate investment and growth, productivity will follow.
TM: The LNP do not use modelling as best I can tell, so they will always be plucking numbers out of thin air. Apart from the legislative changes required to enable a “nuclear industry” with a regulatory body, proper discussion to be had on nuclear waste processing, transport and storage, the elephant in the room is “how long does it take to create a new industry” which usually includes the words “a long time”. While we do have 1 reactor, we don’t have large numbers of experienced “experts” at all levels.
Recent reactor builds worldwide have reliably shown significant cost and time overruns. I don’t see how we could build 7 reactors and have them up and running before 2050. As for the price, don’t believe a word they say.
China fliendly. Xi Ping, cute and cuddly man.
I am eagerly awaiting the last of the tarriffs last imposed by fliendly country on poor Australia.
I am also eagerly awaiting blackouts this summer. Them bloody coal powered coal stations producing electricity, has gots to stop.
On Electricity. renewable generation.
Ever sat for a while and kept an eye on NEM prices. Just now SA, price jumped from $75.00 to $12,500.
Just love all this free energy.
…and the price drop…what $275.00. BS.
https://aemo.com.au/energy-systems/electricity/national-electricity-market-nem/data-nem/data-dashboard-nem
The rabbott:
Debt debt debt – the media – debt debt debt – reality debt between 350% less then poms and 400% less than Japan. Labor takes advantage no stands stum, f-all. LNP win.
Labor gets little Billy and the rabbott, the copper man and the minister for everyone F the economy, doubles debt triples deficit. Labor f-all etc media stum
labor win lnp scream debt, media scream labor debt, labor stum. whine a bit but no attack.
Dutton is ready May be bullshit but economy counts so Albo makes NOISE or f-off and give plibersek the chair.
I see Kerry Chikarovski’s son basically got off with a slap on the wrist for selling drugs on the dark web. Must be wonderful to be so privileged and part of Lib royalty, anyone else would have been in the slammer for years.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/tears-as-eastern-suburbs-high-flyer-sentenced-over-dark-web-drug-supply-20241204-p5kvph.html