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IMPORTANT // Please look after your loved ones, yourself and be kind to others. If you are feeling that the world is too hard to handle there is always help - I implore you not to hesitate in contacting one of these wonderful organisations Lifeline and Beyond Blue ... and I'm sure reaching out to our PRE community we will find a way to help. T.
Talking Politics
- Thread starter Legends of 2017
- Start date
Why?
Because we might get yelled at? Might lose some money, might gain support, might show a bully that we are not a party to their atrocities and will call out their behaviour ever single time.
Sometimes the world isnt fair. But doing the right thing is just that. The right thing.
This.
Going off at the local bully achieves nothing. Did the bully change their behaviour? Not at all.
You take actions which have some chance of making a difference.
It also helps if you are a little bit consistent. We have plenty of allies with human rights issues, it weakens any criticism we make.
DS
This isn't a LNP/Labour thing, this is how we want our leaders to act, be they LNP or Labour. I want our leaders to show leadership, to say FU to genocidal maniacs, to stand up to them.
I would rather walk around in rags than bend over to another nation.
Do you know much about international trade? When there's a vacuum, it gets filled in. The US did exactly what Australia would have done if the roles were reversed.Spot on TM. It was a poorly thought out piece of diplomacy and it backfired. Labor were correct to call to a team effort with our allies before we went for the megaphone option. We don't have the might to wrestle with China and our own staunch ally the USA has said "thank you very much" and filled in the trade gap after our faux pas.
US, allies reap benefits as fallout from Australia's trade row with China hits $17b
Australia's closest security allies, led by the United States, have been the biggest beneficiaries of Beijing's campaign of economic coercion against Canberra, according to a new report.www.abc.net.au
It's actually been a blessing to a lot of Australian exporters...they are diversifying to other markets such as a sh!tload of barley going to Mexico, coal going to SE Asian nations who never got a look in as all coal was going to China. Sure there's a bit of short term pain, but this is making us much stronger.
No admittedly I don't know much about it outside of what i read in the news, but I'm pretty sure China is our largest trading partner by quite some distance and our stance has cost us a bit of dough as a nation. I don't think losing out of these trading opportunities is a good thing though. What is your expertise in international trade?
I am not a china sympathizer and quite frankly find their approach to diplomacy to be very confronting and intimidating but I don't think poking the bear is good diplomacy either.
I guess time will tell whether this was a good move or not.
In theory I agree with you. Unfortunately, both sides of politics on nearly all occasions say and do what they think will be popular.
Yeah I'm sure our dozen 30 year old Collins Class attack subs and our handful of navy ships (when they're not crippled by catastrophic electrical failures) will suppress the might of China's military. I presume you'll be volunteering for the navy when the time comes?
I was involved in international trade for 20 years, exporting agricultural and horticultural commodities. But that's by the by. My point is markets come and go, but if you have a good product(s), you'll always find a home for them. Ukraine is the largest exporter of wheat...if this war kicks off, go long on on Aussie wheat.
Just never bend over to the CCP.
Not if it was completely suicidal like taking on a global superpower with our little dinghy's we call a navy. I'll leave that up to braver people like you.
Listen I'm the wrong side of 50 with no military training, so I doubt I would be accepted in the Navy. But it there was a land invasion, I would fight like hell for this country. Would you join me?
Absolutely yes i would if there was a land invasion by a foreign power.
But lets not forget where this debate about hypothetical war with China began - over a disagreement over whether we should have tried to garner allies to our position before poking the bear over the origins of Covid, or just go it alone like we did. We rely on the navy/airforce of a nation half a world away to protect us and therefore should be careful about how hard we beat the war drum just in case the USA and others decide we created our own mess. We currently kiss their arse to mediate the risk of this happening.
It's not only exporters diversifying, importers are looking at other markets like India/Vietnam/Sri Lanka. As an importer we have already moved to Sri Lanka and India with some products. India could be a massive trading partner, they are a much better fit geopolitically than China.
Many on this thread are basically encouraging us as a nation to turn a blind eye to China's shocking record as far as human rights, corruption, exploitation and complete contempt for international law because we sell stuff to them and get cheap stuff from them. Scomo lacks sophistication in diplomacy (amongst plenty of other shortfalls) but I'm not sure the answer is kowtowing to China as appears to being suggested.
The same many, if not more, who were more than happy to be part of the exploitation of China's workforce to get cheaper, bigger TVs and other electrical goods.
It's only after the same exploitation turned China into a global super power that people seem to have problems.
The Libs are sinking to a new low with the “reds under the bed” scare campaign. They will just do anything to get re-elected and it shows how desperate they are. The party who claims to be “better economic managers” have destroyed our relationship with our biggest trading partner.
Then on top of that, they have the audacity to gaslight the public by claiming Labor is too chummy with China, when one of their own members of parliament has suspected CCP links. Its truly unbelievable.
Then on top of that, they have the audacity to gaslight the public by claiming Labor is too chummy with China, when one of their own members of parliament has suspected CCP links. Its truly unbelievable.