Author: Kev

Retired infantry officer. Conservative by nature and politics; Happily married and father and grandfather of eight. Loves V8 powered Range Rovers, Golden Retrievers, good books and technology and think there should be open season on Greenies. Born in the mid forties and overdue for servicing but most parts still work.

Defence role changing?

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AT least 1000 Australian military personnel will be home from Afghanistan by Christmas.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith and Australian Defence Force chief David Hurley announced today that the big coalition base at Tarin Kowt, in Oruzgan Province, where most the 1650-strong Australian force is located, will be handed over to the Afghan National Army by the end of 2013.

Which is just as well as apparently defence will lose it’s emphasis on defending the realm and switch over to defending against demons conjured up by The Greens and assorted useful idiots

THE Australian Defence Force must pay much more attention to a future role dealing with the impact of climate change at home and in the region, a key think tank has warned.

So after Gillard’s gutting of defence budgets to dangerous levels, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute throw this suggestion into the mix.  I would think that by the time Abbott has Defence back on target we will have an entirely new view on AGW. It has always been one of Defence’s roles to give aid to the civil community so I can’t imagine anything coming up that they can’t handle without appointing “Green” Generals to advise the government. There is a .pdf at this link
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Defence

Alexander Downer on Iraq

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The Left have been celebrating the 10th anniversary with a litany of what went wrong. Me, I’m more positive and haven’t really changed my opinion since I posted on the subject nearly ten years ago

A democracy in the middle of the shit-hole that is the Middle East would give birth to hope and all the Mullahs and Kings and Princes would be feeling uneasy

More here Today in the Age Alexander Downer, Foreign Affairs minister when adults were playing the game has a piece in The Age We played a worthy role in Saddam’s demise

Let me be blunt: I think we were right to play our own small part in the destruction of the regime of Saddam Hussein. It was a far from perfect operation, mistakes were made and the sectarian violence that followed was appalling. But there are three reasons why the Iraqis, the Middle East and the world are better off for the demise of the Saddam regime.

The first is simple humanity.  Sadam is dead!  That’s a very big plus for the world and particularly Iraqis Secondly, there is the issue of chemical and biological weapons.  He had ’em, he used ’em and now he can’t nor can any other aspiring despot Downer continues;

But if the threshold question is, should we have played a part in getting rid of Saddam a decade ago, my answer is an unequivocal yes.

I’m glad we did. We played a small part in evicting the world’s most brutal dictator who made President Assad of Syria look moderate. We played a tiny part in starting to change theologies of the Middle East from dictatorship to democracy. And we helped spare the region and the world from a dictator who aspired to dominate the Arab world and threaten Israel.

That was the thing about the Howard government: we stood for something. And one of the things we stood for was freedom.

As different from the Gillard government who stand for themselves and the less than 20% of the population who are unionists.
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War on Terror

The morning after

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They (the ALP) had a vote for chaos and it was unanimous …………Barnaby Joyce. It would appear that Simon Crean thought Rudd had the numbers and believed something had to be done.  I have a bit of time for Crean and believe he acted in the interests of the party -unfortunately when the bus pulled out he was the only one on it. Don’t be fooled by Kevin Rudd claiming to do the honourable thing and sticking to his word.   It was simply the case that when the bus pulled into the caucus room he saw Crean and no one else. He’s politically dead and good riddance.  He has done considerable damage to the country and if he decides on a career change I for one would support it – so long as it isn’t with any government.  I have been thinking for some time now that Rudd would wait until after the election and then put his hand up and rebuild the party in his image – can’t see that now. So now we have “can’t organize a coup” to add to this dysfunctional mob of union rep’s CVs.  I use to say they couldn’t organize  sex in a brothel with a handful of hundred dollar bills but Craig Thomson put paid to that line! International coverage is cringe worthy and rightly so.  How can we play on the world stage when other country leaders know what goes on here.  How can Bob Carr look anyone in the eye when he is putting across the government’s point of view and the image of Gillard going overseas representing Australia with that handbag bogan Tim (do you know who I am?) Mathieson on her arm will visit my nightmares more often that any combat trauma. Rudd’s tilt at leadership might be dead but the issue isn’t.  What are the party going to be thinking next week when they get flayed in the polls again. Embarrassing to say the least.      
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Politics

ALP Leadership Spill

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What just happened? I’m starting to think the spill was a set up to kill the leadership question and present a united front. Only Gillard and Swan nominated for the positions of Leader and Deputy so what was it all about? Me, I’m happy that Gillard looks like leading the government to the polls as I want her to pay for the damage she has done to the country. Crean is off to the back bench and Fitzgibbon is thinking about his future as Chief Whip. In the meantime everyone has forgotten about the failure of Conroy’s failed media laws and the litany of other Gillard and ALP stuff-ups. In a day or two we’ll be back to watching the dysfunctional mob bumbling on to September.
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Politics

LP Back

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Larvatus Prodeo is  back for the election and to enhance the pleasure of our election night experience. Fran Bailey is in full sail already;

Out on twitter, and elsewhere, there is, predictably, and ‘anyone but Abbott’ style campaign running, and much public angst about how we must stop him at all costs

Yes, it would be a dark day indeed in this country’s affairs were Tony Abbott to become PM.

Well, a dark day for you at least – I revel in your pain Fran.  
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Politics

Complaining Princess

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AUSTRALIA’S defence force has knowingly neglected abuse victims, according to a senior army officer who has revealed he was the target of a gay-hate campaign by colleagues. Lieutenant Colonel Paul Morgan told the ABC’s 7.30 program last night that the failure of Australian Defence Force management to adequately deal with his complaint was indicative of how poorly many victims were treated.

“Every officer in my chain of command, every colonel and general all the way through to the current Chief of Army, Lieutenant General David Morrison, systematically failed their duty in relation to the management of my complaint.”

Way to go Paul.  That will guarantee you will lose all support amongst your peers and superiors. The Army’s Chain of Command for complaints goes up to and stops at Chief of Army– it  doesn’t include ABCs 7:30 program. ADF chief General David Hurley told the ABC he rejected Colonel Morgan’s claims of widespread inaction on abuse allegations and said numerous programs had been put in place to support victims. How come  Paul is still in the Army?  
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Defence

Deja Vu Gillard

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CRIMINALS face the seizure of luxury cars, houses and cash assets under a national blitz to fight gang-related crime.

Julia Gillard today announced a new taskforce to crack down on gangs as she searches for a political circuit-breaker.

I could be wrong but I thought criminals already faced such seizures.  Admittedly I think the seizures are state based but are we expected to believe that this will work given that it sounds like another beer coaster plan.

The Prime Minister called Premier Barry O’Farrell last night to inform him of the formation of the taskforce

Same for the NSW Police Minister;

”I got a phone call last night … my Queensland counterpart got a phone call very late last night. I don’t think the Victorians even got a phone call,” he said.

Mr Gallacher said $64 million wasn’t a lot when spread among the states and territories over four years.

Mmm – a lot of coordination and planning has gone into this one.  The political circuit breaker we really need is 14 September and these thought bubbles and McTernan’s diversional therapy tactics are not going to help her. Why would you believe her?
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Gillard's Diversions

1971 Springbok Tour

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FORMER Queensland premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen brokered secret deals with police in the lead up to the controversial Springboks tour of Brisbane more than 40 years ago, according to a new book.

Fearing riots and public violence, Bjelke-Petersen told the powerful Queensland Police Union that officers would “not be penalised for any action they take to suppress” the demonstrators during the tour in July 1971.

Then Police Commissioner Ray Whitrod attended the Sydney match between the Springboks and NSW a few days earlier and saw demonstrators hurling smoke bombs, fireworks, fruit, beer cans and balloons onto the playing field. About 100 people were arrested, raising concerns the same mayhem would descend on the Sunshine State. I was recently back from Vietnam when they played on 31 July 1971 at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground, Brisbane, defeating us 14-6.  As the players were just that, rugby players and not politicians, I had no problems with the tour other than they beat us.  Joh and Ray Whitrod did what they should have done- protected the citizens of Brisbane and our sporting visitors. I did however have a problem with rioting anarchist leaders of the anti apartheid demonstrations. From Solidarity Online

The mostly white student left, Aboriginal activists and the union movement united to make the Springboks unwelcome and to disrupt the games as best they could, given the massive police mobilisation by State Liberal governments. Henry Bolte, the Victorian Liberal Premier, declared the protests a “rebellion against constituted authority”.

Fairly easy to organize- just redirect the anti Vietnam War pro-communist mob to anti South African sporting teams for a month odd and use the same anarchist tenets. Get the anti then Liberal government unions to close down  society with strikes everywhere and anarchy rules.

At first, there were only very small committees organising in the early and mid-1960s against Apartheid in sport. After the struggle against the Vietnam War took off, racism in Australia began to be more seriously challenged.

Solidarity – commo bastards – they stand for everything I stand against.  It wasn’t racism they were seriously challenging – it was our liberal democracy they really hated.  
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Qld Politics

Gillard stalking Abbott

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TONY Abbott will commute daily to western Sydney next week during a tour that is set to coincide with Julia Gillard’s Rooty Hill-based stay in the area, and which one Labor MP has labelled “stalking”.

Michelle Rowland, Labor MP for Greenway in Sydney’s west, today said the timing of Mr Abbott’s visit was a stunt and accused him of “stalking” the Prime Minister.

He says that like it’s a bad thing.  Abbott has visited the western suburbs about three times as often as Gillard so maybe she is stalking him. Get used to it Julia.
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Politics
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