Writer
Brian Toohey
Brian Toohey is author of Secret: The Making of Australia’s Security State.
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Why are government officials manufacturing false espionage threats?
Government ministers and senior officials are conditioning Australians to become frightened, very frightened. Continue reading »
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A tremendous addition to the Australian publishing machine
Pearls and Irritations (P&I) is a tremendous addition to an Australian publishing scene in which propaganda is increasingly replacing accurate news and analysis. Continue reading »
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Australian media’s alarm over Chinese spy ship highlights stark double-standard
The mainstream media has once more tried to generate alarm about the presence of two relatively innocuous Chinese electronic spy ships in international waters during the latest biennial Talisman Sabre military exercise spread across the Australian mainland and offshore oceans. It involves 30,000 troops from 13 countries. Although the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi had Continue reading »
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Good news on nukes: US can’t sell Australia nuclear subs
The good news is the US can’t sell Australia the three to five used Virginia class nuclear subs that the Albanese government has announced it will buy. Nor will it sell us any new ones. Continue reading »
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Dambusters
The famous World War II “Dambusters” raid in 1943 killed many more Ukrainians and other civilians than the collapse of the large Kakhovka dam in Ukraine in June. Continue reading »
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Treasurer must wield power, rein in the RBA
The parliament wisely gave a treasurer the power to reign in the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) when it was not acting in the best interests of the Australians. Jim Chalmers should use it. Continue reading »
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Very bad advice: $368b nuclear submarines and the Federal budget
At a time when the Reserve Bank’s interest rate rise is adding to cost of living pressures and increasing the chances of a recession, Albanese is finding it hard to justify the staggering $368 billion cost of AUKUS nuclear submarines. Continue reading »
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The DSR’s desultory treatment of nuclear submarines
The Albanese government’s Defence Strategic Review is marred from the outset by its bald assertion that China’s military build-up is the largest and most ambitious of any country since the end of the Second World War. Continue reading »
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Destroying deterrence
The Albanese government wouldn’t be able buy nuclear attack submarines from the US without agreeing to let them keep performing all their core roles in our region. Continue reading »
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President Biden resorts to extortion
President Biden has resorted to extortion to destroy one of China’s leading digital companies ByteDance, the owner of the highly successful social media group, TikTok. Continue reading »
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Labor prepares return to disastrous Forward Defence doctrine
Nearly everything the Labor government says about nuclear subs is ludicrous and highly damaging. Continue reading »
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Nuclear safety agency silent on disposal of AUKUS radioactive waste
At this stage there is little interest in how to dispose of the high level uranium waste from AUKUS SSNs, let alone put First Nations voices to the fore. This is unlikely to change while the nation’s most prominent journalists see it as their job to promote the dominant military doctrine and boost the demonisation Continue reading »
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Scorpion thresher: Albanese trashes the moral core of his party
A White House fact sheet released as part of publicity for Australia’s decision to spend almost $400 billion on nuclear submarines is false. It claims, “For over 60 years, the UK and the US have operated more than 500 naval nuclear reactors . . . without incident or adverse effect on human health or the Continue reading »
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The cost and unnecessary suffering of military spending
The authoritative Peterson Foundation calculates that last year the US spent more on its military than the next nine countries together. This means more than China, India, Russia, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, Japan and South Korea combined. In 2023, the US allocated $US 858 billion to military spending compared to China’s $US224 billion. Continue reading »
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Modern Olympics: Russian athlete bans violate the charter
Will Australian athletes face a similar ban on participation in the Olympics for their government’s wars of aggression? Continue reading »
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Arms control: the only road to peace
The world was a very dangerous place in the late 1960s. It is again. This time the danger is in Asia as well as Europe, as highlighted by John Lyons’s recent two-part series on the ABC. Continue reading »
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Australia’s national security strategy: no room for peace, arms control?
In contrast to Labor politicians such as Paul Keating, Bill Hayden, Gareth Evans and Gough Whitlam, the four part series recently published by Keating and Stanford on Australian national security sees no place for arms control measures and peace initiatives. Continue reading »
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Wong warns US: Indo-Pacific does not want great power competition
“US policy needs to be based on a clear understanding of what the rest of the Indo Pacific wants. We need to demonstrate we have interests we want to nurture beyond security interests.” Continue reading »
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We should ask for a refund on the F-35 fighter planes, not buy more
Despite the constant talk about how Australia’s strategic focus must be on the long distances our ships and planes have to cover, the Defence Strategy Review has recommended buying a fourth squadron of short range F-35 fighter planes. Continue reading »
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Marles pushes ‘China Threat’ in PNG Rugby League talks
Defence Minister Marles and PM Albanese would like to see two Papua New Guinea rugby league teams join the Australian club competition as a way to counter China’s growing influence. Instead of banging on about China, why not start a new regional competition including one or two Pacific Islands teams, New Zealand and Australia? Sport Continue reading »
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Marles pushes ‘China threat’, advocates ability to attack Chinese territory
Defence minister Richard Marles has a dangerous habit of relying on unfounded assertions to decide that Australia must not only increase military spending on a vast scale but have the ability to attack China from close to its home land. Continue reading »
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Australian submarine madness and the phoney China threat
Nobody knows what military threats to Australia from China or anyone else will exist in 2050. In these circumstances, it is folly to commit to spending over $200 billion on acquiring eight US designed nuclear attack submarines to deploy in support of the US on the China coast. Continue reading »
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Who are the war criminals?
One of the few heartening things to come out of Russia’s war against Ukraine is the renewed emphasis on how it’s a crime for national leaders to start a war of aggression. Putin is not the only one who can reasonably be accused of committing war crimes. Most US president since World War II have Continue reading »
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The Defence Strategic Review – we need to urgently reduce conflicts and global warming
Cabinet needs to insist Marles’ return to Labor’s previous support for an independent foreign policy and recognise there is no guarantee an arms build-up won’t lead to a calamitous war. Crucially, the Albanese government needs to give a clear priority to helping reduce conflicts and global warming that cause horrendous suffering to innocent people around Continue reading »
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The terrible reputation and performance of intelligence agencies
At some stage Albanese may need to re-examine Shearer’s role as head of the Office of National Intelligence. Continue reading »
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What is Anthony Albanese up to!
Anthony Albanese has shown during his recent trip to Europe that he is a prime minister addicted to hyperbole and oblivious to how countries can change in unexpected ways. Continue reading »
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The United States-the Pacific bully
The US dominates the Pacific Islands to an extent China can never hope to achieve. With Australia’s support, the US is now engaged in an arms build-up in its Pacific territories and de-facto colonies in a little known boost to its containment of China. Continue reading »
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If Penny Wong becomes foreign minister will she repeat the numerous blunders Australia and the US have made in the Pacific?
The discussion of foreign policy is one of the low points in the election. It is hard to be otherwise when both major parties are committed to integrating Australia’s military forces with those of the US. This severely curtails the scope for proposing independent policies and raises expectations ensuring the Government and Opposition contribute forces Continue reading »
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War crimes and the traps in sanctions
Vladimir Putin would seem to fit the bill for war crimes in Ukraine. But what about the illegal 2003 invasion of Iraq? Continue reading »
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No liberal democracy, including Australia, should have a Magnitsky Act
The law gives the foreign minister the power to punish foreigners without going to court. The accused are given no chance to provide a defence. Continue reading »
