CANBERRA returnee MICHAEL FINCK, of Chapman, is happy to be home after 35 years away, but he’s far from impressed with the roads…
I MOVED back to Canberra two years ago and am happy to be back after 35 years away. However, while the nation’s capital has moved ahead significantly, its roadways haven’t.
I travel on the Tuggeranong Parkway/Caswell Drive/Gungahlin Drive (that’s a mouthful in itself) daily. And what a disgrace â a major roadway with ridiculous speed limits and poor-quality roadway.Â
In my opinion, it should be modelled on Sydney’s newer freeways such as the M7 with electronic speed limits that can be adjusted for peak-hour traffic (say 90/100km/h) then change to 110km/h at other times.Â
Australian defence minister speaks of war with China
In extraordinary comments on national television yesterday morning, Australia’s newly-installed Defence Minister Peter Dutton declared that the prospect of a near-term war with China over control of Taiwan should not be “discounted.”
Dutton’s statement formed part of a broader discussion within the Australian political and media establishment, which is openly canvassing participation in a catastrophic war in the Indo-Pacific.
The themes of “military preparedness,” “regional threats” and the glorification of recent army campaigns were prominent in yesterday’s commemorations of Anzac Day. The nationalist holiday, which “celebrates” the disastrous landing of Australian and New Zealand troops in Turkey in 1915 during World War, is a focal point of the promotion of militarism.
Defence Minister Peter Dutton says there are no plans for Australian troops to return to Afghanistan By political reporter Matthew Doran
Australian troops will not return to Afghanistan, even if the nation s security deteriorates in the coming years, according to new Defence Minister Peter Dutton.
This year s Anzac Day commemorations will be the last marked with Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel deployed in Afghanistan.
Of the more than 39,000 Australian troops who have served in the country over the past two decades, only 80 remain there.
The decision has sparked fresh concerns about the stability of the country, with violence across Afghanistan escalating and peace talks with the Taliban having stalled.
MICHELLE GRATTAN.
PETER Dutton has begun his tenure as defence minister by delivering a very public slap to his most senior military adviser, chief of the Australian Defence Force Angus Campbell.
Dutton’s overriding of Campbell’s initial command decision to revoke a meritorious unit citation that had been awarded to some 3000 special forces soldiers who served in Afghanistan is a humiliation to the general who is supposedly in command of the military.
The minister’s claim that he has full faith in Campbell does not alter this point.
On an issue that goes to the core of military professionalism, ethics and discipline, the government has not trusted Campbell’s judgment.
Australia announces withdrawal from Afghanistan
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced last Thursday that the country’s remaining 80 troops in Afghanistan will be withdrawn by the end of the year, bringing to a close Australia’s continuous involvement in the longest-running war of recent history.
The announcement underscored the extent to which Morrison’s Liberal-National Coalition government, with the full support of the Labor opposition, is marching in lockstep with the US administration of President Joseph Biden. It came a day after Biden had declared that American troops would leave Afghanistan by the end of the year.
Australian Special Air Service (SAS) soldier murdering unarmed Afghan civilian (Screenshot from video leaked to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in March 2020)