By Denis Bright

In the wake of the current ascendancy of MAGA politics, the federal LNP’s culture wars against diversity offer populist icing on the cruel agendas of neoliberalism as an appendage of the US Global Alliance. This is for consumption in regional Australia and the most disadvantaged outer metro electorates where preferences from minor far-right parties persist in electing LNP federal representatives.

In preparation for Australia Day, the annual charades have commenced earlier than usual as noted by ABC News (10 December 2024):

Liberal leader Peter Dutton will not stand beside the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags at press conferences if he becomes prime minister, insisting Australians should be unified under a single national flag.

The Coalition leader last night said he strongly believed “we’re a country united under one flag”, and standing beside multiple flags was “dividing our country unnecessarily”.

“We should stand up for who we are, for our values, what we believe in. We are united as a country when we gather under one flag,” Mr Dutton told Sky News last night.

The patriotic armband offered by the LNP is fuelled at the cost of a crippling defence burden which commenced on Scott Morrison’s watch when Peter Dutton was Defence Minister. The incoming Albanese Government in 2022 was presented with an AUKUS deal that brought new strategic ties with both the US and Britain. With the universal endorsement of our military brass and intelligence services, the incoming government could only comply with the conventional strategic wisdom and smooth lobbying operations in the last days of the Morrison Government (David Hardaker for Crikey 4 April 2023).

These critical interpretations are too important to paraphrase). Interested readers might look at this article which introduces the military lobbying agencies involved in promoting acceptance of AUKUS.

The stark realities and costs of AUKUS are reflected in the growth of the Australian defence budgets which are already gross underestimates. Defence spending estimates are already $50.3 billion for 2024-25. I have used the old data because of the good graphical presentations but there are no plateaux ahead in the trendline of current and future defence spending.

The social tensions created by these agendas in a lack-lustre Australian domestic economy are being kept under control by canny communication gurus in the LNP’s preferred political advertising agency, Topham Guerin.

Jason Koutsoukis in the Saturday Morning Paper (7 December 2024) confirms that the federal LNP has hired TG to support Peter Dutton’s campaign in 2025. This will be an emotionally charged campaign.

Expect political debate to be replaced by dreary populist integrating themes to remind voters to support Peter Dutton for Prime Minister in 2025.

This campaigning style from a multinational advertising company will not deliver a government with a real commitment to middle power diplomacy for better economic management at home and a Win-Win peace agenda abroad.

The burdens of militarization have also taken their toll in Taiwan. The far-right Democratic Party lost its majority in the legislative elections on 13 January 2024 while but retaining the Presidency under Lai Cheng-te.

As in most economies, the initial economic rebound from the COVID-crisis has not been sustained in Taiwan as noted by Trading Economics in its percentage data on quarterly GDP trends:

Australia must use its middle power status to urge China to cool tensions in the region by cutting down on our support for freedom of navigation jaunts by military vessels from the US Global alliance in these troubled waters. I am confident that this is being achieved behind the scenes by DFAT’s confident team of negotiators (Texas National Security Review 9 May 2024):

The Never-Ending Sagas of Wars About Uninhabited Rocks

Diplomatic alternatives are always available to improve relationships between China and Taiwan which have close bonds in trade and investment. China and Hong Kong provided 30 percent of Taiwanese exports in 2022 and included exports of electronic components and semiconductor chips. This gave Taiwan a positive trading balance with China.

The commercial partnerships between China and Taiwan extended to investment flows and travel. Air China as a major flag carrier of the PRC serves Taipei Airport. Taiwan’s Eva Air serves Chinese cities like Guangzhou and tourist destinations in Hainan and Hong Kong. All this co-exists with the sabre-rattling of both China and military leaders across the US Global Alliance. Crosscurrents are at work in these troubled waters and further north in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) for control of the uninhabited rocks of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands between China and Japan:

The Taiwanese Government has a positive take on cross-strait investments with China:

Taiwan is one of the biggest investors in China. Between 1991 and the end of December 2022, approved investment in China comprised 45,195 cases totalling US$203.33 billion. In 2022, the value of cross-strait trade was US$205.11 billion.

From 1991 to 2022, more than US$200 billion has been invested in China by Taiwanese companies. In 2020, 31.8% of Taiwan’s foreign investments were invested in China. Much of Taiwanese-owned manufacturing, particularly in the electronics sector and the apparel sector, occurs in the PRC.

With support from the Murdoch Press and its Sky News outlets, pressure is placed on the Australian Government to overlook these positive developments in economic diplomacy to encourage so-called freedom of navigation jaunts by military vessels from the US Global Alliance through the Taiwan Strait (Sky News 3 June 2024 and interview with the Assistant Defence Minister Thistlethwaite):

There’s no doubt that there’s been, there’s been an increased buildup of China’s military capabilities, particularly over the last decade. But we want to maintain peace and security and the status quo within the region. And that’s what the international operations that Australia is a part of are all about, maintaining the rule of law, maintaining freedom of navigation, particularly in the South China Sea, and ensuring that we can maintain that peace and stability into the future.

The recent spring in the stride of the Albanese Government can still be reinforced by more commitment to middle power diplomatic initiatives to cool down regional tensions with support for Win-Win trading and investment initiatives over the conventional wisdom from the Assistant Defence Minister. Reflexive militarization is in no one’s regional interests.

Election of a Petter Dutton government in 2025 will replace these positive developments with more commitment to militarization of the Asia-Pacific Region at more cost to Australian taxpayers. Our naval brass could travel across the Taiwan Strait by a full range of transport options from either China or Taiwan to surveil the troubled waters in a more leisurely fashion from planes and public ferries.

Sailing the Seas Under the National Sovereignty Flag
Weary of the charades, with emotional pleas,
National sovereignty is being lost at sea.
A Whitlamesque course is still within policy sights,
To illuminate strategic darkness, with renewed Dreamtime Light.

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.