The Albanese government gives us the mushroom treatment. Keeps us all in the dark and feeds us BS.
This week, our small target federal government gave a bravura homage to John Cage. While a US-Israeli war of no legality engulfs the Middle East, while Australia’s top-secret spy facility hums away in the desert night providing targeting data for strikes that have already killed hundreds of civilians, while US surveillance aircraft slip into RAAF Base Pearce from Diego Garcia without so much as a public flight plan, Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong polish their performance art, the blank face, the rehearsed non-answer, a version of Cage’s 4′ 33″ – and the inane repetition of lines that insult the intelligence of every Australian watching.
Asked about Pine Gap’s role? We got “we don’t comment on that facility.”
The litany of lies becomes a bad parody of accountability. Asked, “is the US-Israel attack on Iran legal under international law? We got: “that is a matter for Israel and the United States.” So the rules-based order they are in love with turns out to be Rafferty’s Rules, after all. And Wong is becoming a human bot before our eyes.
Asked whether we were briefed in advance. We got “this was a unilateral action by the United States.”
It is a performance not of statesmanship but of studied evasion. And it has been noticed. It’s top shelf-fobbing off. Wong and Albanese could fob-off and rebuff for Australia, when it becomes an Olympic event.
On international law being broken, the government’s hypocrisy is gob-smacking.
Albanese and Wong have invoked “international law” and the “rules-based order” more than a hundred times since returning to government. They have called out Russia over Ukraine. They have criticised China. As recently as last year, Wong’s department was demanding China comply with international law, and the year before that, complaining that Chinese domestic legislation allowed Beijing to ignore it.
But when Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, a guest on Australian soil, stated plainly that the US-Israeli strikes on Iran appear “prima facie inconsistent with international law,” Wong’s response was to handball the question back to Washington and Tel Aviv.
“The legal basis of these strikes is ultimately a matter for the United States and Israel,” she repeated, for perhaps the twentieth time, to a press circus that grew visibly more frustrated with each non-answer.
This is not a position. It is a void in a vacuum in a vortex of entropy dressed up as a position.
The “rules-based order” mantra that Australia endlessly chants, a type of incantation to ward off witches, warlocks and bad faith actors, turns out to be a franchise. The rules apply to adversaries. Allies get a different menu. When Russia bombs civilian infrastructure it is an outrage; when the US does it, the legal basis is “a matter for those two countries.” When China ignores international law, Canberra clucks as volubly as any hen-house. When Israel and the Trump administration launch pre-emptive strikes without UN authorisation, without consulting allies, without even informing Albanese in advance, the government goes mute.
It’s not just hypocritical. It’s a double standard with added craven sycophancy, toadying and fawning over the US latest brain-fart that does lasting damage to Australia’s credibility as an honest broker in the region.
Surreal? Pine Gap, which is where the mushroom treatment gets especially dangerous.
Pine Gap is not some quiet public library in the red centre. It is the eyes and ears of the American eagle. Or as Peter Cronau documents, the listening post for a swarm of US satellites that provide the intelligence feed for major US and Israeli military operations in the Middle East and now the Indian Ocean. It geolocates targets. It intercepts military communications. It detects missile launches and supports targeting. It cannot, as Cronau noted before the first strikes last year, not have been already involved.
When a US submarine sinks an Iranian ship in the Indian Ocean, an area directly within Pine Gap’s signals collection coverage, Australians have a right to know whether their facility, on their soil, provided the intelligence that killed those sailors. Wong’s answer: “We don’t comment on that facility.”
Wong assures us there is “a high degree of transparency in relation to the United States presence in Australia.”
You just can’t see it.
Or credit it. Or forgive her duplicity, The lie here is mind-boggling.
Yet now we learn that two US P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft flew directly from Diego Garcia, the staging base for US operations across the Indian Ocean, to RAAF Base Pearce in Western Australia without prior public announcement, with flight plans lodged only once they were airborne. These are not joy rides. P-8A aircraft have been integral to Washington’s operations at the Strait of Hormuz. Their visit to Australian soil in the days following the bombing of Iran is not a coincidence. It is a data point.
Defence Minister Doughboy Richard Marles a US War Department dogsbody, doggedly declines to comment.
Greens Senator David Shoebridge nails it: “The Albanese Government needs to be clear about what support it is offering the US in its war on Iran. Labor’s claim that we are not offering support is plainly not true.”
The government does not want us to think about their epic credibility fail. That is the whole point.
The contempt is not limited to matters of war and peace. It runs through the entire fabric of how this government deals with Australians who have the temerity to ask questions. And to expect answers.
Albanese entered office in 2022 declaring that “the Australian people deserve accountability and transparency, not secrecy.” He criticised the Morrison government’s “cult of secrecy” and its “culture of cover-up.” Like a specialist performing a colonoscopy, he was going to shine a bright light into dark entrails. Instead he handed the patient a blindfold.
Not even under “Morrison Un-hosed” has freedom of information been so much of a running gag in a government which not only runs on the most expensive misinformation money can buy from its stable of top-end corporate consultancies but one which is very reluctant to share anything with anyone. Especially anything that might reveal its inner workings or help voters to hold it to account.
The Centre for Public Integrity finds that under Albanese, Freedom of Information requests granted in full have collapsed from 59 percent in 2011-12 to just 25 percent today. Outright refusals have nearly doubled to 23 percent. Almost half of initial decisions are found to be flawed on internal review. The Albanese government complies with Senate orders to produce documents only one-third of the time, a record worse than the Morrison government. The Centre’s Research Director, Catherine Williams, calls it a “deliberate effort to avoid scrutiny.” The government’s own record gives her no grounds to be contradicted.
This is not administrative slippage. This is policy.
What emerges from all of this is a government that has made a fundamental calculation: that Australian citizens do not need to know what is done in their name, with their money, on their soil, or at their risk.
They do not need to know whether their intelligence facilities are helping to kill sailors in the Indian Ocean.
They do not need to know whether US surveillance craft are operating out of Australian bases as part of a widening Middle Eastern war.
They do not need to know whether the strikes their government endorses are legal under the international law their government claims to champion.
They do not need to know what is in government documents that the Senate orders to be produced.
They do not need to ask. They just need to trust.
But trust, like international law, turns out to be something the Albanese government only demands of others.
There is a word for a government that maintains one set of rules for its allies and another for its adversaries, that invokes transparency as a slogan while systematically dismantling it in practice, that keeps citizens uninformed about activities on their own soil that may be drawing them into someone else’s war.
The word is untrustworthy.
Not dishonest in the flamboyant, self-destructive way of some politicians. This government is too careful for that. It is dishonest by omission, by evasion, by the rehearsed non-answer, by the careful deployment of “we don’t comment on that facility” as a substitute for democratic accountability.
Mark Carney, standing on Australian soil, said what Albanese and Wong won’t: the strikes appear inconsistent with international law, hegemons are acting without constraint, and the old world order is fraying. It took a visiting foreign leader to say plainly what our own government refuses to acknowledge.
That tells you something about how far we’ve travelled since Albanese promised us sunlight.
We got the mushrooms.
This article was originally published on URBAN WRONSKI WRITES
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Penny, it is not down to the perpetrators to decide if a war is legal or not. It either is, or it is not. And experts say it is not. But clearly that matters not to you.
A lot to think about there. Certainly the government is making a small target. But the LNP and Hanson, backed by the awful billionaire-funded Advance attack anything, from ‘Albo’s weakness’ (see what happened in The Voice) to backing renewables, etc.
Governments, particularly Labor get wedged.
But I think they should be more guarded about language on Trump’s illegal war. Perhaps Carney has it better. We should not back this war.
Trump and Hegseth have boasted how the US military can take on anything.
AUSTRALIA SHOULD NOT GET INVOLVED.
If anything back UN peace-keeping initiatives. Don’t get involved without the support of the true international community.
Had a quick chat with Blind Freddy about this post of David Tyler’s. Here’s what he said.
‘Mate, it’s very simple’, said BF. ‘Of course they’re not going to tell you what’s going on. Why should they? They know what they’re doing is egregious. They know that the vast majority of Australians are opposed to the spy base up there at Alice Springs, that they’d rather see it shut down, removed, and for that matter, the same for all other American military assets in this country. Furthermore, they know it gives people the shits that they’re implicitly involved in war-making, via the implicit support for everything that the criminals Netanyahu and Trump get up to, and they know it frustrates the hell out of the Australian community that this is the case, and they’re too bloody scared to just come out and tell the plain simple truth about all this.
Instead, they default to a farrago of lies or stonewalling even knowing that this is a very bad look. Somehow or other the Americans and the Israelis have inserted themselves under the skin of these politicians, a bit like scabies, and now they can’t get rid of them.
But you know what’s the worst thing about all of this? It’s that the Labor Party has such a thumping majority that they feel secure, in a smug sly sort of way. They feel that they can pull it off and that there will be no repercussions. The LNP is knackered, One Nation is no threat, the Independents don’t have enough heft… who’s going to pull them into line? It’s a very bad look, it’s cynical politics and people hate it but what can you do… we elected these bastards, and now we have to drink the bitter potion.’
Thanks, Freddy. Sums it up for me.
BF, yes we did vote for the bastards but we won’t be voting for them again. They may have two years to run but that’s time for the progressive independents we need to make themselves known and they can best do that by exposing this pissant government for all the ills you have outlined. PS canguru, thanks for consulting your mate.
International law is a vague concept, since the 17 c,. hypotheticals, sick resignation and compromise, humiliation, conciliation, vaccilation. If “something good” happened, there is precedent. But the strong will move, crush, get…
Why is there not more alarm about the sinking of a ship in International Waters by the USA? Sri Lanka is the nearest country to this attack and is receiving bodies and survivors, and may well be experiencing pollution stemming from this event for years to come.
Excellent article David.
This is not something that evolved within Labor as it remained in office. This contempt for the Australian people was evident from day 1. After campaigning for a kinder, gentler parliament Albanese immediately rejected working with the crossbench on changes to question time, instead cut staff to his opponents – how are his opponents supposed to keep the government accountable when they don’t have the staff to do so? Watching Labor in question time shows the utter contempt Labor has for actually answering questions from their elected opponents – let’s not forget those in parliament are representatives of sections of the Australian voters. So much for Albanese’s pledge to govern for all Australians.
The design of the NACC wasn’t done in consultation with Independents and the Greens who fought the hardest for its existence, but in closed door talks with the Liberals who were opposed to it. The design Labor came up with is a mockery of transparency and integrity. How many of us know what on earth is going on in there?
The first issue faced was the massive jump in power prices, immediately Chris Bowen had closed door discussions with energy generators and distributors. While Albanese dismissed windfall profit taxing out of hand, contemptuous of any discussion of that option, Bowen failed to mention to the Australian public that uncontracted extracted gas could be used as a gas reserve to keep prices down, instead he came out of the negotiations claiming to have fought the good battle and had a win for Australians by fixing the price of gas at a high level (even as prices were by then dropping to about the same level and as it turned out going lower, if I remember correctly.) Only when Peter Dutton belled the cat in the election, the best part of 3 years later, did we learn that a gas reserve was a genuine option.
David is right to describe this Labor government as untrustworthy. It is equally valid to apply it to the state Labor governments as well.
Albanese is dishonest. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9ipyyCpMVk) Marles was dishonest in his reaction to the war.
Just today, Tony Burke demonstrated untrustworthiness in my view:
Burke says Herzog’s secret meeting with Asio nothing ‘unusual’
Burke was just asked why Israeli president Isaac Herzog held a secret meeting with the boss of Asio during his trip to Australia last month.
He said people were “reading too much” into a simple conversation that happens all the time.
When you get dignitaries or ministers visiting from other countries, they make their requests for who they want to have conversations with and who they want to meet with. And so it’s not unusual for requests to come through for security agencies.
Obviously, I meet with foreign security agencies. They’re always on my list when I travel. But when someone makes a request, then if it’s possible for a meeting to be conducted, a meeting’s conducted.” (The Guardian)
It is a false equivalence to equate a “symbolic’ position with that of a home affairs minister.
A difficulty with using ‘untrustworthy’ in a discussion is that the common response is that all politicians can’t be trusted. I don’t believe that, but it is extremely difficult to disprove as how do any of us know whether politician X, who you believe to be trustworthy, hasn’t done or said something that could be construed as evidence of untrustworthiness.
Labelling all politicians as untrustworthy gives cover for the genuinely untrustworthy and begs people to throw up their hands in despair and accept bad governance as inevitable.
I ran out of time in editing that last post.
Two things:
– a quick search turned up no other dignitries having meetings with ASIO heads (it was a very quick search though);
– ‘symbolic’ was the term commonly used by Herzog-visit-supporters to justify his visit.
I don’t believe his position as President is “symbolic”, even if it was meant to be, he certainly has made it highly political.
It is within the remit of a Home Affairs Minister to have responsibility for domestic security intelligence, hence it would not be surprising for him to have such meetings, but it beggars belief that it is in the remit of Herzog’s position, there would be some equivalent minister in the Netanyahu government with that remit – or they might even be simply relying on Mossad or former Unit 8200 members infiltration of foreign intelligence agencies.
Re the FOI, I would be very interested in seeing who is applying for the info, and what they are asking for.
It seems to me that advice I was given some years ago, to use a blanket FOI in the guise of a fishing exercise, does 2 things.
1. It might yeild unexpected info, but even 20 years ago unless it was relating to me and my dependent children specifically, I had to pay for each paper that may have nothing relevant.
2. Apply as for as broad a range as possible, while remaining remotely relevant, as it causes major upheaval and departmental cost, even if the findings are not actually paid for.
That time the FOI did turn up some unexpected documents, although I am sure that some docs were not provided.
A recent Health Dept FOI application relating to a my spouse’s death cost an application fee, and I was asked to be as specific as possible because of the departmental staffing time it would take if I went too wide. This was not for legal purposes, so I was kind and limited my request. Even then the electronic data was too large to email and had to be sent on a DVD.
So, I think it is fair that we can find out who is putting in the FOI applications and what are they asking for. It might be available under the current FOI laws.
Reading this I started to feel sick. My queries in my head were correct.
How did a vessel get sunk in the Indian Ocean
How close to Australia is that!
Did Pine Gap have any hand in it.
How could a Progressive Labor Govt agree to a war without informing the Parlt and the People?
What has Israel got on Australia that not only a Genocidal support could visit on our soil but that we could support more bombing and death by USA/ZionistIsrael.
What is happening to our Sovereignty as a Nation that Military aircraft could land on an Australian Base without permission of Parlt?
Where is our Democracy?
This is dangerous stuff!
Disgust is too soft a word I have for Albanese and Wong. This old lady who believes in Social Democracy is broken.
The Greens senator David Shoebridge has issued a scathing rebuke of the prime minister’s claim that “no Australian personnel have participated in any offensive action against Iran” when three Australians were on board the US submarine that sank an Iranian warship near Sri Lanka. (The Guardian)
Howard is a liar, Morrison is a liar, Anthony Albanese is a liar.
Further to that reference to the Greens David Shoebridges’s statement:
Shoebridge added that the involvement of the Australian personnel makes Australia “obviously, clearly, unambiguously, part of an illegal war, part of a war that is breaking down the norms of international law”.
On the surface that would seem like overreach by Shoebridge, but it needs to be taken in context of the USA summarily executing people in boats and its kidnapping of a sovereign leader.
Over the duration of the Trump 2.0 administration many people have been warning of consequences of Labor’s offering of unqualified support and the embedding of Australian soldiers in US forces. The latter was not just reiterated when the USA kidnapped a sovereign leader, killing many in the process, but forcefully put forward. Labor was asked directly whether or not Australian soldiers were involved, and the legal implications that Australians might end up charged with war crimes strongly raised.
When the USA was threatening Brazil, Michael Pascoe, on MWM, made the observation that Australian sycophancy to the US government was signing us up to whatever evil that bunch of pedophile-protecting gangsters undertook.
Australia is murdering people and threatening democracy. That’s the reality of Anthony Albanese kissing Donald Trump’s ring this week MWM
When Trump unleashed ‘Liberation Day’ many of us were calling for Australia to distance itself from the USA and work together with those countries being victimized. On the Guardian comment section there were those saying that Albanese’s reactions were a mature approach. What they neglected was if Trump wasn’t opposed, he would get emboldened. Trump has gotten worse with every act of subservience by other nations and their leaders.
Untrustworthy Labor has let us down and is taking Australia to a very dark place.
Based on the limited information provided to the Australian public, the sinking of an Iranian ship by a USA submarine raises some serious issues for us.
The Australian military personal aboard the sub, fall in my view in one of two categories:
1) if acting on behalf of our country, we are now at war with Iran?
2) If acting as part of the USA crew, they are mercenaries and should be discharged from our armed forces and charged on returning to our country.
Once again Australia’s sovereignty is in question and the outcome is not looking good.
We got “this was a unilateral action by the United States.”
(Behind hands with a teensy chuckle, “But one we support anyway…”)
That’s called gaslighting the nation, Ms Wong.
Any shred of respect that I had for anyone in this Government has gone.
I did not like Albanese from the get go, saw that he has ‘two faces’ and waited for the evidence to emerge!
What we have done wholesale in this country in this instance is to get into a car with a blind driver and trust that he knows what he’s doing? Absolutely not.
For my part, I’d rather see David Shoebridge or David Pocock as PM, so Australia you know what to do for the next election.
https://michaelwest.com.au/australia-and-the-epstein-coalition-invasion-of-iran-a-disaster/
and deal with this to knock off the continuing crap shoot that 2PP relies on to get across the line….
https://michaelwest.com.au/gerrymander-teal-backer-takes-aim-at-donations-cap/