Vital security issues sidelined as distractions take centrestage

Your editorial (“Region’s military tension grows”, 14/7) captured the modus operandi of both Labor and Liberals when it described Anthony Albanese as “walking a tightrope in China”.

Both parties offer a circus show of avoidance by offering trivial distractions from the huge political issues on their plates. Media reports the game. The pay-off for all players is risk avoidance and the comfy safety of irrelevance.

The five-day China tour of the Prime Minister and his business entourage is focusing on tourism, yes tourism, and trade, including our resources with their joke jack-in-the-box of green energy. The US President can wait. Who needs their defence back-up when China is onside?

The first of a minimum number of parliamentary sittings awaits the Prime Minister’s return. There he’ll find his Greens and sundry woke allies on track to inflict more bad taxation on us.

The Coalition opposition will be seated there, policy-free due to its avoidance mindset. Obsessing about gender quota mechanisms is its best forever distraction. Another distraction is Julian Leeser’s proposed experiment with US primaries-style public debates to preselect true Liberal candidates from the Labor-lite, woke zealots ever present at such opportunities (“Quality candidates should be Liberals’ primary focus”, 14/7).

Net zero, major reforms for energy and taxation, and immigration quality controls as outlined by Nick Cater (“Sustainability, loyalty must be restored to immigration debate”, 14/7) would be a lot better and easier than these policy roadblocks.

Betty Cockman, Dongara, WA

Are there any adults in charge around here? Our most critical alliance is at risk, our defence system is inadequate and the nation’s prosperity is sinking under the weight of solar panels and wind turbines, yet the Prime Minister is spending five days patting pandas and setting Australia up to be the bedmakers and coffee servers to Chinese tourists.

Julie Winzar, Palm Beach, Qld

The Prime Minister was right not to be drawn into indicating whether this country would commit submarines to any US-backed war with China over Taiwan.

At this point such a war is merely hypothetical. If war became more likely, there no doubt would be efforts to resolve the situation before any shooting.

Donald Trump may well have left office before there is any serious talk of war, and so may President Xi. The Pentagon policy chief, Elbridge Colby, is either making mischief with his demands or he is naive (“Colby asks the questions – perhaps it’s time to answer”, 14/7).

David Williams, Lockleys, SA

More than half the electorate did not vote Labor at the last election. The Prime Minister needs to explain to this majority of Australians, who are not au fait with Labor foreign policy, why he is so intent on cuddling up to China while acting like a petulant child with our only serious ally. He’s playing a risky game with our future through his ideological disdain for the US.

Paul Clancy, Adelaide

The answer is now obvious regarding the Prime Minister’s lack of decisive responses on matters of importance, nationally and internationally. It’s altitude sickness. As with Everest climbers who ascend too fast, examples of the symptoms may include headaches, unsteadiness (falling off the stage), confusion (not knowing he fell), drowsiness (vacant gaze and non-recognition of changing circumstances), among others.

With altitude sickness, a prime minister may be incapable of managing the wiles of Xi Jinping, Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin.

Rosemary McGrath, Kensington, SA

Alexander Downer outlines how this government’s ambivalence on defence endangers Australia’s national security as well as that of the liberal democratic world order (“PM’s neglect of US alliance puts region in danger”, 14/7).

Anthony Albanese is probably unaware that his visits to China and the pretext of “investing in our relationships” have all earmarks of Neville Chamberlain’s hollow “peace in our times” claim on the eve of World War II. Downer shows us the ANZUS alliance is at stake as Australia forsakes its role as the southern corner of a strategic network against a concerted number of totalitarian threats to the democracies.

John Morrissey, Hawthorn, Vic