My god, we are helpless.
Australia was unaware Chinese warships were set to conduct live-fire exercises off its east coast until its security authorities were alerted via a Virgin Australia pilot who heard radio communications about the drills, according to a top air traffic official.
In short, the Chinese cruiser could have fired off nuclear-armed HN missiles at Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane and we would only have known until a Virgin pilot saw the vapour trails.
We are currently relying on New Zealand to track China’s three-ship “flotilla”.
We might do something about it except we are also helpless internally.
MPs using China’s answer to Instagram have had their accounts restricted, with experts describing the timing as too much of a “coincidence” given efforts to win over Australian-Chinese voters at the federal election.
Rednote, also known as the Little Red Book or Xiaohongshu, boasts more than 300 million users – nearly one million of whom live in Australia.
Politicians in both federal and state parliaments who have been using the app, which was launched in 2013, include Liberal MP Keith Wolahan, Labor MP Jerome Laxale, teal independent Monique Ryan and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan.
We are not just an unreliable ally to foreign friends; we are an unreliable sovereign to our own people.
Time to set up a bolthole somewhere far from Australia.
