THE TREATY WEDGE
I am up in the Snowy Mountains for a few days, on the way to Adelaide — for the Labor national conference, the AUKUS public hearing, and a weekend of discussion at the IPAN National Conference. IPAN being the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network.
I am in the Snowies because I am against the brumby cull. Fortunately there seems to be a strong movement this year: court challenges, and film makers up here documenting what a disgrace it is. Hoping to see a few of these beauties while I am here.
I finished a memo today. Australia is starting to show its cards on the Asia-Pacific stage, and it is nothing short of disappointing.
Australia is building a wall of Pacific treaties designed to lock China out. Not the smartest move to make against our most important trading partner — and almost every one of those agreements carries a clause giving Canberra a say over the partner nation’s security ties with anyone else.
Has the government really thought through the consequences for Australians and for this country’s future? There is another way.