‘This is why he’s still the Placido Domingo of Australian politics’
Welcome to the column where you provide the content. Renowned French clock collector Paul Keating raised the roof of the National Press Club this week with a spray against AUKUS, the Prime Minister and half of his frontbench, showing that, while his judgment might be suspect and his view of China rosier than Mao’s Little Red Book, the old campaigner has lost none of his flair for invective. Peter heard a few bum notes:
“This is why he is still the Placido Domingo of Australian politics. There is always a Luciano Pavarotti to best him.”
Veritas thought he made sense:
“Regardless of the need, perceived or actual, for nuclear submarines, the AUKUS deal is the worst bang-for-buck ever purchased by Australia. $368bn could buy a hell of a lot more deterrent than the nuclear subs.”
John said:
“I think Keating is right but he could’ve been a bit more diplomatic about it. But it was never one of his strengths. The Labor party must be crying into their socialist tea cups that one of their elders has called them out for the inept government they are.”
Bruce was singing from Placido’s songbook:
“Mr Keating is on the money when he declares that Australia is not under any direct threat by China. In China’s long history it has never attacked another country, and I believe this long record will not be broken by China attacking Australia.
“China has lost much of its territory over the years: Manchuria, Mongolia, Tibet, and Taiwan. It has rightly resolved to lose no more. Mr Keating’s concern is if China decides to try and regain Taiwan, the USA will interfere, and Australia will be made to feel obliged to side with them. That will be a catastrophe and if we think 3 nuclear submarines are going to be our winning card, we will need to think again.”
Masori mused:
“I was shocked by Paul Keating’s comments. However I was also shocked by how we have sleep walked into such a poor deal. I originally thought it was a fairly good plan but $368 billion for 3 subs on station far to the north of Australia now strikes me as plain stupid. I hope that we might get more security (long range missiles and drones) for much less. I also believe our sovereignty is severely compromised by this deal.”
Craig said:
“Don’t forget he was the one who left our military cash starved in 1996. Hawke/ Keating were a disaster for the military.”
Peter’s prescription:
“He has had his day and now it has passed. Advice, encourage, mentor is what a retired senior leader does.”
Stuart J noted:
“Question time was like some weird movie with journalists lined up to cop a spray from Keating, like facing the firing squad. He didn’t take any question seriously, just ridiculed everyone. Reminded me of Barry Humphries in character as Sir Les Patterson.”
Brad (the quiet Australian) said:
“If this irrelevant bloke disapproves them the decision made must be the right one. Correct decisions from Labor governments are extremely rare so when they do get it right we all need to embrace it and ignore those who are no longer a key part of the national debate on anything. Paul Keating was a terrible PM and it was a great day for Australia when his government was shown the door.”
Jeffrey said:
“Somebody should remind Keating that China started the tensions in this part of the world by effectively taking control of the South China Sea, and also by using trade to economically coerce Australia to follow their line.”
Murray wondered:
“Where was Laura Tingle, as moderator of this disaster of a National Press Club, in protecting the questioners, when Keating was unloading on the Sky News reporter that questioned the fact that Keating had not had any Security Briefings for over 25 years, a perfectly logical position and question?”
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Retired rear admiral Peter Clarke shared his experiences in charge of conventional and nuclear submarines, concluding that nuclear was the winner. Phil was impressed:
“Thank you Peter for an interesting piece, written by an expert with obvious field experience, rather than opinion rants from very uninformed commentators. I wish we could hear more from experts like yourself.”
Simon added:
“Shame Malcolm Turnbull didn’t read this article before he bellowed on the ABC this morning. Still trying to defend his poor decision on the French diesel option.”
Peter from Melbourne was puzzled:
“Most readers here knew of the stealth advantage SSNs 20+ years ago. Why it took so long to even have the open discussion is a blight on this country.”
MJ from Sydney explained:
”Because the US and UK would not sell us the technology. Now, thanks to Xi in Beijing, the strategic calculus has changed.”
Alexander said:
“A great article. Thank you Peter Clarke for you service and your enlightening article on the difference and capabilities of SSK conventional submarines and SSN nuclear powered submarines. Most interesting and reassuring that Australia both Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese have made the right decision. So much for the superannuated former PMs who seem to be experts on everything and have an inflated opinion of their importance and intelligence.”
Wolfgang said thanks:
“Well that was a gripping read! And very informative. Fantastic to get that sort of detail from someone with deep experience in the territory.”
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Rosemary O’Neill waded into the Oscars post-mortem and found ruthless behind-the-scenes campaigning and the diversity push was shaping the voting, stoking concerns the awards once caned for being #OscarsSoWhite risk turning into #OscarsSoWoke. LAS was unimpressed:
“Unless one is involved in the industry, it’s just an irrelevant, expensive exercise in relatively poor entertainment that doesn’t have any real world impact. While a few may grab the progressive/woke ideals and ideals (recent British awards with a great outcome for women, not) I don’t see any impact on Vladimir Putin’s choices at one end, or world food distribution at the other. Frankly, it’s about time this self-obsessed group of immature individuals, who spend their adult lives playing make-believe, grew up or moved over.”
Colin said:
“ ‘It’s clearly unacceptable that no woman of colour has been crowned best actress since Halle Berry won for Monster’s Ball in 2001’. This quote sums up the issue nicely and clearly, the author has succumbed to the pull of wokeness that has undermined the worth of the Oscars. This quote assumes that a woman of colour should automatically get an award, not because of their talent but because of their ethnicity. It is only unacceptable if there are women who are better actors who then miss out.”
Marcel was brief:
“#OscarsWhoCares”.
According to I Am a Lifter:
“The American film industry is passing into history, the films dreadful, the actors, predictable, and a culture abhorrent. If you want entertainment, these days look to Scandinavian films in every way, they excel.”
Andrew warned:
“What the people behind the Academy Awards have completely failed to make allowances for is that one truth: Once awards are given on the basis of appeal to an identity-faction there is no coming back.”
Byron was bummed:
“Best movie, unwatchable. I tried, I persisted, but my brain just rejected it for what it was. C grade nonsense.”
Timothy said:
“The Oscars are a yawn. Everything about them is fiction, and nowadays there’s even a category ready-made for the virtue signalling award. Merit for performance seems to take a backseat to ‘other’ considerations.”
Mark was happy:
“Sorry but Yeoh was awesome. Cate less so.”
Last word to John:
“Michelle Yeoh won the Oscar in spite of her diverse background, she’s just brilliant and about time. She was a fine actress from 20 odd years back with ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ she did her own martial arts sword fighting, that in itself should have earned her a few Oscars as sword fighting is no mean feat.”
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