The more you discuss between enemies, the more chance for peace...

The less you discuss with friends, the more chance for harmony…

           Old Renuvisian proverb.

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The Ausmin joint statement does little to dissuade the idea that Australia is moving, inexorably, towards a satellite, garrison state to be disposed of and used by the US imperium.

It matters not a jot: Coalition conservative or centre-left Labor, the Australian government is seemingly on autopilot, at least when it comes to its alliance with the United States. Steered by Washington’s interests, the endless babble about Chinese aspirations has softened minds and delighted militarists.

The Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) is one forum where this is most evident. Australian Ministers for Defence and Foreign Affairs chew the fat along with the US Secretaries of State and Defence, accompanied by officials of touted seniority. While it is advertised as a consultative occasion between the states “to discuss and share perspectives and approaches on major global and regional political issues, and to deepen bilateral foreign security and defence cooperation,” the locus of actual power is never disputed.

On December 6, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin hosted Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles. (Marles has an odd fetish for the Deputy PM tag.) It was the 32nd occasion the countries had met in this setting.

The joint statement released was filled with the usual, inane puffery: rules-based order, as determined by the parties themselves, of course; the importance of the relationship to “regional peace and prosperity”, despite signs it is becoming increasingly prejudicial to that cause; and utterances about human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Those with a red tipped pen would have underlined the following: “The principals also decided to evolve their defence and security cooperation to ensure they are equipped to deter aggression, counter coercion, and make space for sovereign decision making.”

This could hardly be a reference to Australian sovereignty, given its whittling down over the years to the decisions of an increasingly more engaged US in the Indo-Pacific region. While Canberra decries any moves by Pacific Island neighbours to exercise their own rights of sovereignty to seal security arrangements with Beijing, it ignores its own subordinate, increasingly garrisoned role in the US imperium.

China comes in for repeated reproach, given its “excessive maritime claims that are inconsistent with international law.” Wishing to poke the beast further, the parties also reiterate “Taiwan’s role as a leading democracy in the Indo-Pacific region, an important regional economy, and a key contributor to critical supply chains.”

Strategic competition, as a concept, was fine in principle, but to be pursued “responsibly”. The parties agreed to “work together to ensure competition does not escalate into conflict” and looked to the PRC “to do the same and to engage Beijing on risk reduction and transparency measures.” More could be done on the issue of transparency and China’s nuclear arsenal, for instance.

The statement then goes on to raise the importance of cooperation with Beijing in some areas of mutual concern, only to spatter it with streaks of reservation. Cooperation with China on “issues of shared interest, including climate change, pandemic threats, non-proliferation, countering illicit and illegal narcotics, the global food crisis, and macroeconomic issues” was important, but so was “enhancing deterrence and resilience through coordinated efforts to offer Indo-Pacific nations support to resist subversion and coercion of any kind.”

There is also more poking with the expression of “serious concerns about severe human rights violations in Xinjiang, the human rights situation in Tibet, and the systematic erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy, democratic institutions, and processes undermining commitments made by the PRC before the handover.”

Australia’s promised submarines under the AUKUS security pact, almost as credible as the Loch Ness monster, receives an airing. Giving nothing away, the statement “commended the significant progress AUKUS partners have made on developing the optimal pathway for Australia to acquire a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability at the earliest possible date.” No date is provided, but a year on when that optimal pathway will be miraculously revealed is 2023. Best not wait up.

The joint statement does little to dissuade the idea that Australia is moving, inexorably, towards a satellite, garrison state to be disposed of and used by the US imperium. Under the “Force Posture Initiatives” – the wording is telling – the US will further integrate Australia into its military operations.

The US armed forces would continue its “rotational presence” in Australia across air, land and sea including “US Bomber Task Force rotations, fighters, and future rotations of US Navy and US Army capabilities.” The emphasis, in other words, is entirely US-centric, with Australia’s posture being rather supine, even as it aids “US force posture with associated infrastructure, including runway improvements, parking aprons, fuel infrastructure, explosive storage infrastructure, and facilities to support the workforce.” What a wonderful list of targets for any future foe.

While they rarely make appearances on uncritical mainstream news outlets, such is the impoverished state of public debate on the issue, Australian civil society members are not exactly bubbling with delight at the spectre of such militarisation. The 280 submissions to the Independent and Peaceful Australian Network (IPAN) addressing the high cost of Australia’s relationship with the United States attest to a very different narrative.

IPAN’s report drawn from its People’s Inquiry into “Exploring the Case for an Independent and Peaceful Australia,” informed by those submissions and released last month, should be mandatory reading for the wonks and hacks in Canberra. In his contribution to the report covering the defence and military aspects of the alliance, Vince Scappatura took note of the most pressing concern among the submissions: “that the alliance makes Australia an unnecessary target of America’s foes.”

The alliance has also seen Australia committed to “several needless and costly wars and is likely to do so again in the future, with especially grave consequences in the context of the great power rivalry between the US and China.” Unfortunately for the industrious Scappatura and those honourable souls so keen to see a revision of the relationship, the sleepwalkers are in charge, marching towards the precipice.

READ MORE:

https://johnmenadue.com/ausmin-and-australias-further-militarisation-within-the-us-imperium/

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The Australian Government is imposing Magnitsky-style sanctions on 13 individuals and two entities involved in egregious human rights violations and abuses.

Among them are Iran's Morality Police, the Basij Resistance Force and six Iranian individuals, involved in the violent crackdown on protests following the death of Mahsa 'Jina' Amini and the continued oppression of the people of Iran.

Seven Russian individuals involved in the attempted assassination of former opposition leader Alexei Navalny will also have human rights sanctions imposed on them.

These sanctions target grievous human rights situations where the perpetrators continue to act with impunity.

The listings demonstrate the Australian Government's commitment to take clear action to assert our values, and to hold perpetrators of serious human rights violations and abuses to account.

In addition to human rights sanctions, Australia is joining partners to announce further targeted financial sanctions on three Iranian individuals and one business involved in the supply of drones to Russia for use against Ukraine.

Russia is using Iranian-made drones to target civilians and critical infrastructure, with the intention of denying Ukrainian people energy, heating and water as they face freezing winter temperatures.

The supply of drones to Russia is evidence of the role Iran plays in destabilising global security. This listing highlights that those who provide material support to Russia will face consequences.

The Australian Government calls on countries to exert their influence on Russia to end its illegal, immoral war.

Australia stands with the people of Ukraine and with the people of Iran.

We employ every strategy at our disposal towards upholding human rights – ranging from dialogue and diplomacy to sanctions – consistent with our values and our interests.

The Albanese Government's approach is to deal with the world as it is, and seek to shape it for the better.

For further information on Australia's sanctions frameworks, please visit: Sanctions regimes

READ MORE:

https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/penny-wong/media-release/targeted-sanctions-response-iranian-and-russian-human-rights-violations-and-invasion-ukraine

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Magnitsky has been defined as a crook by Der Spiegel

LISTENING TO THIS NEWS — AND ABOUT TO COMMENT (SARCASTICALLY) LED ME TO BEING CALLED smart-arse gus....

note: NO SANCTIONS AGAINST THE KIEV REGIME FOR KILLING 14,000 RUSSIANS IN THE DONBASS PRIOR TO THE "RUSSIAN INTERVENTION"..... 

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A new diesel-electric submarine, the Velikiye Luki vessel, was launched during a ceremony in Russia's northwestern city of Saint Petersburg on Friday. The submarine is now set to receive additional tweaks before heading for tests and, ultimately, joining the country’s navy, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The warship was built at the Admiralty Shipyards plant, which is operated by the state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC).

The vessel is the third submarine of the project 677 Lada diesel-electric family. These types of submarines are capable of autonomous deployment of up to 45 days, diving up to 300 meters deep and boasting an impressive speed of 21 knots (nearly 39 kmph) while submerged. Lada-family submarines are fitted with eight 533 mm torpedo tubes, used, apart from torpedoes, for mine laying and launching Kalibr cruise missiles.

These kinds of submarines are extra-stealthy thanks to low noise emission, as well as a special coating of the vessel’s hull. Moreover, these ships are very agile, boasting a large, multi-blade propeller.

“Project 677 Lada submarines belong to a new generation of non-nuclear submarines. To date, the submarines of this project are recognized as the most modern diesel-electric boats designed for the Russian Navy,” Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Yevtukhov said in a statement.

“Deeply modernized equipment pieces are installed on this ship: a control system for ship hardware, an electric propulsion system, a navigation complex, and others. Admiralty Shipyards is the only plant building ships of this class in Russia.”

Earlier this year, Admiralty Shipyards laid down two other vessels of the type, the Yaroslavl and the Vologda submarines. The plant has also been working on the second vessel in the Kronshtadt series, with the submarine set to head for state tests late in December, according to the ministry.

READ MORE:

https://www.rt.com/russia/568836-new-kalibr-missile-submarine/

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IS THERE A LESSON HERE FOR AUSTRALIA?.....

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