Let’s stop pretending AUKUS makes us safer.

Margaret Beavis, February 2, 2026 —https://www.theage.com.au/national/let-s-stop-pretending-aukus-makes-us-safer-20260202-p5nysl.html

A couple of weeks ago, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney highlighted the need for
“naming reality”. Accordingly, we have to “name” the wishful thinking that is AUKUS. While it
is clear Australia needs a credible submarine capability, the AUKUS plan is neither credible
nor capable of meeting Australia’s defence needs. The Australian Defence Force has
correctly described this as a high-risk project – with no Plan B.

It is highly questionable whether a few nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) will be effective
in defending Australia: too big for our northern waters, too few, difficult to man, unreliable
and potentially obsolete by 2050, if not before. But not to worry – they will probably never
come.

It is very unlikely, under the AUKUS Pillar I agreement, that the US will sell us three to five
Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines, given US legislation, ongoing US shipyard
sustainment difficulties and major build delays.

The US legislation is very clear. The AUKUS Submarine Transfer Authorization Act, Code
10431, says that the transfer of Virginia-class submarines to Australia “will not degrade the
United States undersea capabilities”.

To meet its own needs, the US must build two Virginia-class SSNs per year. To supply
Australia, it must build at a rate of 2.33 annually; the current rate is 1.13 and has proved very
resistant to increasing, despite major increases in funding (by $US9 billion since 2018).
Australia’s $US3.3 billion contribution is not enough. In addition, the US is now prioritising
construction of the much larger Columbia submarines, making increased production rates of
Virginia-class submarines even less likely.

Operational availability is also a problem, though seldom mentioned. Rear Admiral Jonathan
Rucker, the program executive officer for Attack submarines, noted that with the “Virginia-
class of Attack submarines suffering from maintenance woes and low operational availability,
the US Navy is working to ensure its next Attack submarine is easier to sustain”. This makes
it even less likely the US can spare submarines. Even if they do – how available will they
be? Indeed, during a conflict, would we even get spare parts if US subs needed them too?

How many times does Australia need to be told this a very long shot? Last year, the US
Navy’s Chief of Operations Admiral Daryl Caudle testified that there are “no magic beans” to
boosting the US’ shipbuilding capacity. UK submarine building is even more behind, but that
is another story.

Elbridge Colby, the US under-secretary of defence for policy, said in 2024 that “it would be
crazy for the United States to give away its single most important asset for a conflict with
China over Taiwan when it doesn’t have enough already … money is not the only issue – it’s
also time, limits on our workforce, so both sides of this vitally important alliance need to look
reality in the face.”

From our partners
Late last year, his Pentagon review of AUKUS was reportedly significantly modified by the
president’s office before Trump declared AUKUS was “full steam ahead”.

The US Congressional Research Service in October 2024 proposed that Australia did not
receive any US SSNs but focused on other defence capabilities. It noted that “there is little
indication that, prior to announcing the AUKUS Pillar I project … an analysis of alternatives
or equivalent rigorous comparative analysis was conducted to examine whether Pillar I
would be a more cost-effective way to spend defence resources”.

So why is the US keen to go ahead with this? The benefits for it are obvious. Much more
important than the (non-refundable) billions of dollars is having a new base at Garden Island
and a new maintenance shipyard at Henderson in WA. Even better, the AUKUS agreement
locks us into US war-fighting plans for the next 40 years. Decisions when Australia goes to
war will be made in DC, not in Canberra.

Current US missile and warhead developments mean Virginia-class subs (in reality US-
operated subs) will probably carry nuclear missiles by the early 2030s. The initial assurance
that they would not be nuclear-armed has vanished, just as the initial assurance we would
not end up with the weapons-grade nuclear waste has vanished.

Fuel for these subs requires serious enrichment technology, significantly weakening nuclear
non-proliferation norms. Japan, South Korea, Iran and Turkey are now interested in this
technology. Also, which lucky community will host the high-level nuclear waste?

‘High probability of failure’: Former top official’s dire AUKUS warning

By hosting these submarines (and nuclear-capable B-52 bombers in the Northern Territory),
we not only lose sovereignty but also become a target ourselves. These submarines are too
big to defend Australia’s northern waters, and there will be too few of them – if any – toprovide meaningful defence. Advances in underwater detection technology will probably render them obsolete by 2050, if not before.

Finally, the massive cost of these submarines will cannibalise spending on other more
effective defence weaponry. It will also limit funds available for health, education and other
critical social needs. Austerity in the UK has severely damaged the NHS, once a source of
national pride. Don’t think it can’t happen here.
AUKUS Pillar II and the UK submarines are also extremely problematic, but that needs
another article.

We must have a public independent review of AUKUS. We need to consider alternatives that
are more cost-effective and in our national interest. Sovereignty matters.
Defence secrecy is no excuse, and wishful thinking is very poor strategy. It is time to stop
gaslighting the public.

Dr Margaret Beavis is the vice president of the Medical Association for Prevention of
War.

February 5, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | spinbuster | Leave a comment

Australia: HRF, Jewish Council and ANIC Demand Arrest or Entry Ban of Israeli President

January 30th 2026, https://www.hindrajabfoundation.org/posts/australia-hrf-jewish-council-and-anic-demand-arrest-or-entry-ban-of-israeli-president

In a historic joint action, the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), the Jewish Council of Australia, and the Australian National Imams Council (ANIC), have lodged a formal legal complaint to have Israeli President Isaac Herzog arrested or barred from entering Australia. The groups, represented by renowned barrister Robert Richter KC, allege that Herzog has incited genocide and aided and abetted war crimes, rendering him unfit to enter the country under Australian law.

The 30-page submission, sent yesterday to Attorney-General Michelle Rowland, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and the Australian Federal Police (AFP), warns that the President’s visit is “highly inflammatory”.

The groups are calling on the AFP to initiate a criminal investigation of Herzog under the Commonwealth Criminal Code.

The urgent request details a “sustained pattern of incitement and hate speech” by the President, specifically citing:

The “Entire Nation” Declaration: Herzog’s October 2023 statement that there are no “uninvolved” civilians in Gaza, which the groups argue stripped 2.3 million people of their protected status under international humanitarian law and urged the IDF to treat the entire population as a military target.
Famine Denial: Herzog’s August 2025 claims that images of starving Gazan children were “staged”—a statement made while famine was setting in and which the brief describes as a “conscious effort to obscure war crimes”.
Endorsement of Military Operations Involving War Crimes: A December 2023 visit to the Nahal Oz military base where Herzog reportedly “encouraged” troops 48 hours before the “wanton destruction” and “flattening” of the Palestinian town of Khuza’a.

The submission rejects any claim that Herzog has diplomatic immunity, citing the Nuremberg Principles and international law to argue that heads of state have no shield against charges of genocide or war crimes. The groups warn that if the government fails to act, it would signal “acquiescence to genocidal rhetoric”.

“If the Prime Minister of Israel is not permitted to visit Australia, the President should not be allowed to act as his surrogate,” the complaint states, referencing the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Dyab Abou Jahjah, Hind Rajab Foundation:

“When a head of state publicly denies civilian protection, dismisses famine, and encourages military operations marked by widespread civilian harm and destruction, those acts carry legal consequences everywhere. No country — including Australia — should become a safe haven for individuals credibly accused of inciting genocide or aiding and abetting war crimes. Australia has a duty to uphold the rule of law and protect its communities from such threats.”

Ohad Kozminsky, Executive Member, Jewish Council of Australia:

“President Herzog represents a state found to be committing genocide in Gaza. His presence in Australia would identify this state with Australian Jews, which risks exacerbating social division and endangering Australian Jewish communities. We stand firmly against all forms of racism, and President Herzog’s statements attributing collective guilt to an entire people are a textbook manifestation of anti-Palestinian racism and Israel’s ongoing campaign of dehumanisation.”

Bilal Rauf, Senior Advisor, Australian National Imams Council (ANIC):
“In recent times, Australia’s social cohesion has been under threat. Now more than ever, it is incumbent upon all of us, particularly our political leaders, to seek to protect our social cohesion as a country and society and ensure that individuals who may inflame the situation by their very presence, are not permitted into our country. The proposed visit by the Israeli President Isaac Herzog, a highly controversial foreign head of state accused of serious international crimes, risks inflaming social tensions, undermining Australia’s hate-speech protections, and placing Australian communities at risk. ANIC calls on the Government, which has hurriedly passed laws in the name of social cohesion, to refuse or cancel any visa held by President Herzog. In pursuing this, among other outcomes, ANIC joins with the Jewish Council of Australia and the Hind Rajab Foundation, in pursuing the complaint.”

February 4, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets and lies | Leave a comment

As Trump Threatens Weekend Strike on Iran, Albanese Pretends Pine Gap Isn’t Complicit

1 February 2026 David Tyler AIM Extra

Albanese’s Iran Illusion: How Australia Sleepwalks into Someone Else’s War

While our federal government waffles on about rules based order, Iran is rewriting the rules of modern warfare. Trump is threatening regime-change. The Strait of Hormuz has become a kill box where $13 billion aircraft carriers play sitting duck to lethal, glorified speedboats, where cyberattacks double as deterrence, and where Australia, ever the loyal deputy, pretends it’s all someone else’s problem. Labor’s silence isn’t prudence. It’s complicity in a US strategy that’s already unravelling, and we’ve got the scars to prove it.

Trump already bombed Iran once. In June 2025, Operation Midnight Hammer saw seven B-2 stealth bombers drop bunker-busters on three nuclear facilities while Pine Gap provided the targeting data. Iran’s face-saving response, a telegraphed missile strike on Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, fooled no one. But it burned through 25% of America’s total THAAD interceptor stockpiles, missiles the US produces at a rate of roughly one per month. Now Trump’s threatening round two, this time with explicit regime-change goals, and Albanese still won’t acknowledge that Australia’s uncritical alignment has painted a target on our own facilities.

The real damage? Washington’s isolation campaign isn’t weakening Tehran. It’s shoving Iran into Beijing and Moscow’s arms, locking in an anti-Western axis that thrives on American blunders, while teaching every threshold nuclear state that compliance buys nothing but bombs. Why won’t Labor admit the scale of the mess? Because doing so would mean confessing its own role in a policy already fraying at the seams.

Iran’s Budget Warfare: Turning American Strength into Liability

Iran isn’t trying to match the US ship for ship. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has crafted a playbook that turns American firepower into dead weight: coastal swarms, cyber harassment, proxy deterrence. The goal isn’t winning a war. It’s making escalation so unpredictable, expensive, and politically toxic that the US thinks twice before starting one.

In the cramped waters of the Strait, even Iran’s modest fleet of fast-attack craft becomes a force multiplier. The IRGC doesn’t need a knockout punch, just enough chaos to trap US commanders in a no-win scenario. Push ahead and risk humiliation. Retreat and signal weakness. Dither in the middle while morale drains away. So far, the Pentagon has mostly chosen door number three, proving you can outspend your opponent by billions and still lose the initiative to speedboats and audacity.

The Strait of Hormuz: Where Geography Beats Firepower

The USS Abraham Lincoln isn’t just another, elderly ship in the Strait. It’s a floating monument to American overreach, now redeployed for what Trump calls an “armada larger than Venezuela,” the latest regime-change operation on his scorecard. Iran’s swarm tactics don’t need to sink a nuclear-powered carrier to succeed. They just need to make every transit a gamble, every patrol a potential disaster.

The IRGC’s speedboats may look like dinghies, but in these confined waters where 20% of the world’s oil flows, they’re a constant reminder: geography, not firepower, decides who blinks first. Tehran isn’t trying to win a shootout. It’s turning the Strait into a quagmire where the US loses whether it escalates or backs down, and every crisis burns through irreplaceable defensive systems while China takes notes.

Cyber Jihad: How Iran Turned Hacking into Deterrence

Iran may not match Russia or China’s cyber prowess, but it doesn’t need to. Its campaigns against US, Israeli, and Gulf targets aren’t about knockout blows. They’re about raising costs, sowing doubt, ensuring any strike on Iranian soil comes with a digital counterpunch. From disrupting Saudi oil facilities to probing Israeli water systems, Tehran’s message is simple: hit us, and we hit back, not just with missiles, but with chaos in your backyard.

At home, the regime has weaponised the internet itself, using imported surveillance tech and homegrown censorship to crush dissent. Since January 8, Iran’s internet connectivity has been throttled to 1% of normal levels, a digital blackout designed to hide what appears to be one of the bloodiest crackdowns in modern Iranian history. It’s crude, effective, and one more layer of deterrence the Pentagon now factors into every war plan.

The Massacres Under the Blackout: What Trump’s “Humanitarian” Intervention Ignores

Here’s what Trump won’t mention when he frames the next strike as protecting Iranian protesters: his administration is planning regime change in a country already reeling from mass killings. Since late December, Iran has experienced its largest uprising since 1979, sparked by currency collapse and spreading nationwide. The regime’s response has been catastrophic…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The Pine Gap Paradox: Australia’s Uncritical Complicity

Australia isn’t a neutral observer. Through Pine Gap, we provided the intelligence backbone enabling the June 2025 strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, operations now drawing genocide allegations at the ICJ given the broader context of US-Israeli coordination. That makes us complicit, and Tehran has noticed.

Iranian Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia was explicit in his warning: if the US strikes again, “the scope of war will certainly extend across the entire region… From the Zionist regime to countries that host American military bases, all will be within range of our missiles and drones.” That’s not bluster. That’s a direct threat to Australian facilities, delivered after we’d already enabled one round of strikes.

The Herzog visit crystallises Labor’s paralysis. Albanese frames it as “solidarity” with Jewish Australians, but the timing, amid ICJ hearings, domestic protests, and credible reports of an “imminent” second US strike aimed at regime change, screams political theatre. Hosting an Israeli president while Pine Gap’s data flows unrestricted into contested operations isn’t tone-deaf. It’s a neon sign for Iranian retaliation: cyberattacks, grey-zone harassment, or worse.

Yet Albanese won’t acknowledge the risks, because doing so would mean admitting our uncritical alignment with Washington has made us a target. So we get silence, deflection, empty platitudes about “shared values,” while senior US military officials tell Middle Eastern allies that Trump may strike Iran “as soon as this weekend.”

Greg Moriarty, our ambassador in Washington, saw this coming. His warnings about blowback from sanctions and military-first strategies should be shaping the debate. Instead, they’ve been sidelined, because realism doesn’t win elections, and admitting the Pine Gap Paradox would require honesty this government doesn’t possess.

The Nuclear Cascade: What Comes After Trump Bombs Iran Again

If Trump follows through, the consequences extend far beyond the Middle East. Every regional power watching this crisis is recalculating. Saudi Arabia has made no secret of its nuclear ambitions, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman publicly declaring the kingdom would pursue weapons if Iran did. Riyadh’s deepening defence cooperation with nuclear-armed Pakistan isn’t coincidence. It’s a hedge against American unreliability and regional instability……………………….

Crossroads: The Choice Albanese Won’t Make

Australia still has options, but the window is closing fast. We can deepen our operational integration with the US, provide targeting for regime-change strikes, and hope Iran decides we’re more trouble than we’re worth. Or we can use our position inside the American security ecosystem to argue for de-escalation, regional guarantees, diplomacy over another roll of the dice with irreplaceable defensive systems and global proliferation architecture.

The second path means telling a distracted superpower our support has limits, that we won’t sign a blank cheque for a strategy multiplying our exposure while delivering only drift. It means acknowledging publicly that Pine Gap’s role in the June strikes has already made Australia complicit, and that a second round aimed at regime change crosses a line we should never have approached.

But if Albanese won’t level with the public about the stakes, we risk sleepwalking into a conflict shaped by other people’s decisions, on other people’s timelines, with Australian facilities providing the targeting data that helps trigger a regional war and global nuclear cascade.

Drop Site News reports the strike could come “as soon as this weekend.” Common Dreams notes 56% of Americans already believe Trump has gone too far with military interventions. Even many Iranian protesters warn the US will exploit their struggle rather than support it. The pieces are in place for a catastrophic escalation, one that makes the June strikes look like a warning shot.

The question isn’t whether Australia can afford to speak plainly about these risks. It’s whether we can afford not to, and whether Albanese has the courage to admit that our “shared values” with Washington don’t extend to enabling regime-change operations that will make us targets while accelerating nuclear proliferation across the Middle East.

The silence from Canberra isn’t prudence. It’s complicity. And if Trump pulls the trigger this weekend, Albanese’s refusal to acknowledge our role will look less like diplomacy and more like dereliction.

This article was originally published on URBAN WRONSKI WRITES, https://theaimn.net/as-trump-threatens-weekend-strike-on-iran-albanese-pretends-pine-gap-isnt-complicit/

February 2, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets and lies | Leave a comment

Herzog, Iran, Pauline, Susssan, Pete and the Rio deal | Scam of the Week

February 2, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Rules-Based Order: Where America Gets Away with Murder, and Everyone Else Gets the Bombs

When the US bombs Iranian nuclear sites, it’s a “strike”. When Iran defends itself, it’s “aggression”. When the US funds insurrections, arms rebels and sabotages economies, it’s “promoting democracy”.

While Ms Penny Wong chants the “rules based order” mantra, Mr Moriarty, gets the gong: he is off to Washington to ensure Australia remains locked in step with the world’s biggest bully. Meanwhile, as the ICJ rules that Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute plausible genocide, and as the US and Australia continue to arm and fund Israel’s apartheid regime, the hypocrisy would knock you over. The “rules based order” isn’t about justice. It’s about power and who gets to wield it without consequences.

31 January 2026 David Tyler , Australian Independent Media

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong chants “rules based order” like a sacred hymn.

Order? In reality, it’s a squalid, pseudo-legal jargon for a world where might is right. While the US drops depleted uranium on Iraqi children, arms Israeli apartheid and fuels insurrections in Iran, any nation that dares assert its independence is crushed under a tonne of bricks. In Iran’s case, a hail of “precision strikes” designed to wound, maim and cause lifelong agony. Meanwhile, in Gaza, the International Court of Justice has declared Israel’s actions plausible genocide, ordering an immediate halt to atrocities and unimpeded humanitarian access. The US and its allies, including Australia, have ignored every ruling, proving once again that the “rules based order” is nothing more than a mafia protection racket, and we’re collecting the rent.

Depleted Uranium is often said to drop but it’s part of the super new bullets or “rounds” in use. The A-10 Warthog’s GAU-8 Avenger, for example, fires 30mm DU rounds. Tank rounds (e.g., the US M829 series) use DU in their cores to penetrate enemy armour. So kids get a spray of it, rather than a drop.

When these rounds hit a target, they aerosolise into fine, toxic dust, which can be inhaled or contaminate soil and water, leading to long-term health risks (e.g., cancer, birth defects) and environmental damage.

The Rules Based Order A Licence to Kill

Penny Wong stands in Parliament, her voice trembling with moral certainty. To her, Australia stands with the brave people of Iran as they struggle against an “oppressive regime”. She invokes the rules based order like it’s a force field against tyranny, a beacon of justice in a murky, chaotic and mercenary world. Just one snag. The rules apply to everyone else. Only.

When anyone else does it, it’s “terrorism”. And as the US sprays depleted uranium, children become cancer statistics? Birth defects are an inter-generational curse, it’s “collateral damage” a euphemism for war crimes.

This isn’t a rules based order. It’s a licence to kill, and Australia through our defence secretary Greg Moriarty, our intelligence agencies and our slavish alignment with US foreign policy is complicit at every step.

And now, as the International Court of Justice declares Israel’s actions in Gaza a plausible genocide, ordering Israel to halt its military operations and allow humanitarian aid, the US and its allies, including Australia, have done what they always do ignored the ruling and doubled down.

Loaded Language “Regime” vs “Government”, “Strikes” vs “Slaughter”

Let’s talk about the language of empire. The US and its press never refer to the “Iranian government”. It’s always the “Iranian regime” a term that strips legitimacy, implies tyranny and justifies intervention. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, a brutal monarchy that beheads dissidents and bombs Yemeni school buses, is a “key ally.”

Israel, an apartheid state with nuclear weapons, is a “vibrant democracy”

When the US bombs a Syrian hospital, it’s a “precision strike”. When Iran fires a missile in self defence, it’s “terrorism”. When the US funds, arms and trains insurgents in Iran such as the Network of Iranian Activists for Democracy (NAD), which distribute Molotov cocktails to protesters and boast about “turning Tehran into a warzone” it’s “supporting democracy”. When Iran arrests those same insurgents, it’s “crushing dissent”.

This isn’t reportage. It’s propaganda, and it’s designed to manufacture consent for the next war.

The Dirty Weapons Engineered to Maim, Designed to Terrorise

The US doesn’t just kill. It maims. It terrorises. It leaves behind a legacy of suffering so grotesque that it defies the term “war crime”. What’s happening is worse than death. Generations suffer. The US has used depleted uranium munitions in every major Middle East conflict since the Gulf War. Why? Because DU is dense enough to pierce armour, but its real legacy is cancer, birth defects and environmental poisoning.

In Fallujah, where the US used DU in 2004, doctors reported a 14 fold increase in birth defects; babies born with two heads, missing limbs and organs outside their bodies. The called the city “the new Hiroshima”. In Syria, the Pentagon confirmed using DU in 2015, despite international condemnation. The result? Radioactive dust that lingers for decades, poisoning soil, water and people. In Iraq, the US ignored its own guidelines, firing DU at unarmoured targets, buildings and even troops turning cities into toxic wastelands.

The US knows DU is a war crime in slow motion. It just doesn’t care.

The US military has set out to maximise suffering. From cluster munitions banned by 100 countries, but still used by the US to white phosphorus, which burns through flesh to the bone, the goal isn’t just to win wars it’s to leave populations traumatised, disabled and dependent.

Cluster bombs scatter hundreds of tiny bomblets, many of which fail to explode until a child picks one up years later. White phosphorus doesn’t just burn. It melts flesh and re-ignites when exposed to air, ensuring victims suffer excruciating, prolonged deaths. Drones don’t just kill targets. They terrorise entire communities, turning the sky into a permanent threat and leaving survivors with PTSD for life.

This isn’t warfare. It’s sadism, dressed up in the language of “national security”.

The Australian Connection Greg Moriarty and the Art of Complicity

Australia isn’t just a bystander to this horror-show. We’re in it up to our necks. Greg Moriarty, our defence secretary and soon to be ambassador to the US, cut his teeth in Iran. As Australia’s ambassador to Tehran from 2005 to 2008, he briefed George W. Bush on Iranian politics at the height of US sabotage operations, assassinations and economic warfare against Iran.

Moriarty’s stellar career is a masterclass in how Australia punches above its weight in the US empire from intelligence sharing to military drill, from sanctions enforcement to diplomatic cover for US aggression.

Historical Parallels Chile, Guatemala, Iraq, Syria and Now Iran (and Gaza)

This isn’t new. The US has been skittling independence for decades. In Chile in 1973, the CIA sabotaged the economy, funded strikes and backed a coup against Salvador Allende all to protect US corporate interests. The result? Seventeen years of Pinochet’s torture chambers……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Call tyranny for what it is. While we are still permitted to express dissent.

This article was originally published on URBAN WRONSKI WRITES https://theaimn.net/the-rules-based-order-where-america-gets-away-with-murder-and-everyone-else-gets-the-bombs/

February 2, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international | Leave a comment

Hate speech. Protecting Israel’s reputation in Australia just got cheaper

by Rex Patrick | Jan 26, 2026 , https://michaelwest.com.au/hate-speech-protecting-israels-reputation-in-australia-just-got-cheaper/

Israel’s reputation is treated as a strategic asset to be managed in Western media and political domains. The Israeli ‘machine’ spends a lot of money and effort doing it. The passing of hate laws in the Parliament just switched some of the cost to us. Rex Patrick explains.

Let’s start with some disclosures. 1) I respect people of Jewish faith. 2) I respect people of Islamic faith. 3) Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attacks on Israeli citizens were wrong. 4) Israel’s genocide in Gaza was wrong. 5) Hezbollah and Houthi attacks on Israeli citizens were wrong. 6) Israel’s attacks on Lebanese citizens were wrong. 7) The terrorist attack at Bondi Beach was wrong.

“Violence against civilians is wrong.“

I’ve been asked to weigh in on the Gaza conflict on numerous occasions. I’ve declined because it’s complicated, requires a substantive understanding of history and involves perspectives that, without significant research, will just leave me speaking from an uninformed place.

I’m also of the view that nothing said here in Australia, including by our Prime Minister, will change the views of the Netanyahu government or Hamas. We might be a “middle power” internationally, but Australia really doesn’t weigh very heavily in the strategic or political balance in the Middle East.

I condemn the violence on all sides and advocate that, whilst everyone has a right to respectful commentary and peaceful protest, Middle Eastern affairs should not be a basis for hateful or violent division in the Australian community.

Balcony over Jerusalem

I did, however, decide to try to find out at least something about the current environment in the Middle East from someone who’s spent time there and I could trust. That’s what caused me to buy John Lyon’s book, ‘Balcony Over Jerusalem’.

Lyons is a leading Australian journalist, currently working for the ABC in Washington and, on occasion, upsetting Donald Trump. He takes the reader of his book through the wonders and dangers of the Middle East experienced and learned in his 6 years as a foreign correspondent living in Israel.

Whilst the book takes the reader on an interesting walk through conflicts across the Middle East, including in Gaza and the Occupied Territories, one clear theme that emerged from the book was the lengths the Israeli ‘machine’ went to try to shape and indeed control the outside world’s perception of Israel.

Controlling the narrative

In the book Lyons argues that Israel treats its international reputation as a strategic asset, and is up there with national security and diplomacy in its importance. It uses a ‘machine’ that doesn’t just react to criticism of Israel, it engages in proactive narrative shaping, which includes systematic engagement with journalists, diplomats and influencers.

Here in Australia members of Parliament are often offered all expenses paid trips to Israel, where see the Israeli perspective on security. I was invited to do so when I was a senator, but declined.

A 2018 study by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute found the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), part of the ‘machine’, was the largest sponsor of all non-Australian Government funded trips for federal parliamentarians from 2010 to 2018.

The ‘machine’ is responsible for political donations, predominantly to the Liberal Party, but also to Labor. If the machine wants a motion in the House or Senate, or assistance to confuse Israel/Zionism criticism with antisemitism, all it takes is a phone call.

Former Foreign Minister Bob Carr has called what Israel does a “well-funded foreign influence operation designed to put the interests of Israel above the interests of Australia and its foreign policy”. MP or senators that speak out will be reminded of donations and threatened with the possibility of a well-funded opponent running against them at the next election.

If the reader googles the words “John Lyons Balcony Over Jerusalem review”, the first entry that is returned is a scathing AIJAC’s review. Query “Bob Carr Israeli foreign influence” and the first return is a critical NSW Jewish Board of Deputies’ Facebook Page.

Taxpayer funded study

Whilst the attack that took place at Bondi on 14 December 2025 was clearly antisemitic, and abhorrent, it’s clear that Prime Minister Albanese wasn’t interested in establishing a Royal Commission.

Unrelenting lobbying was clearly behind Albanese’s decision for the Royal Commission to go ahead. The ‘machine’ did not hide its efforts to get him to see things from their perspective.

Firstly, past Royal Commissions have looked at events, institutions, industries, policies etc while, uniquely, this Royal Commission is peering into the minds of the citizenry. If the Royal Commission does its job properly, it will open a can of worms; worms which have proven to be beyond the management of governments trying to deal with religious discrimination or free speech Bills.

“Oh, and you can’t easily put the lid back on the can.’

Secondly, there’s the problem created by the duplicity of the ‘machine’ not wanting Gaza to be brought into the discussion but wanting peaceful protests over Gaza blamed in some way for what happened at Bondi Beach.

But to control that, the ‘machine’ would have to insert its own Commissioner into the chair. It tried, but thankfully Albanese went with his own choice, former High Court Justice Virginia Bell.

Maybe the ‘free’ study the ‘machine’ has got won’t deliver the desired outcome.

Ill-informed premise

Turning to the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Bill 2026, the Attorney-General stated in her second reading speech:

The violent terrorist attack we saw in Bondi did not occur spontaneously. Violent extremism starts with words, words of hate spread throughout the community by pernicious individuals and organisations. This hatred is corrosive to a multicultural democratic society. This bill targets those that support violence, in particular violence targeted at a person because of their immutable attributes. This conduct is criminal, but, more than that, it is the seed of extremism, the roots of terrorism. It must be stamped out with the full force of the law.

A major problem is that we don’t know with sufficient clarity what motivated the Bondi attackers; something the perpetrators heard being said in the community, observation of Israel’s conduct in Gaza (and conflating Israel’s conduct with the principles of the Jewish faith), online teachings from Islamic State that originated overseas or locally generated extremist propaganda.

We might find the Bill advanced through the Parliament on an ill-informed premise.

From the River to the Sea – Hate Speech

The other problem is that the offences under the Bill are open to interpretation.

Saying something hateful doesn’t engage the terms of the Bill. It has to be speech that advocates or threatens violence against a person of a particular a race, or nation, or ethnicity.

So, what happens when someone turns up to a protest against the genocide that took place in Gaza and chants “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free”. The person who says it might not have a violent bone in their body and, from their perspective, be rightly using it as a call for human rights, dignity, and equality for Palestinians living under military occupation in the Occupied Territories or Gaza.

An Israeli or Jew wandering past could, from their perspective, rightly view the words as a direct threat to the existence of Israel and the safety of its Jewish population, or an anti-semitic expression.

The non-violent person may have committed a criminal offence, or given cause for their visa to be cancelled.

When asked about just how this would all work,

“the Attorney-General could not answer.”

The cost burden transferred

That’s great for the ‘machine’.

It’ll surely find a way to test the law (including our Constitution), with the taxpayer now picking up the tab for maintaining the narrative and suppressing criticism.

The chanting defendant might win the case, but lose their house in the process. And more chilling is that the uncertainty will remain because the outcome will most likely have turned on the ‘circumstances of the case’.

And if they’re locked up instead, the chant will change to a different set of words that could mean different things to different people and

“the litigation roundabout will continue to turn.”

Meanwhile, because Michael West, who doesn’t back down on honest reporting, stated the chant in a social media report presenting the non-violent persons perspective, MWM might find itself fighting to avoid being listed as a prohibited hate group.

The outcome of the Court case might not matter – with the taxpayer funding the prosecution, the legal fees might bleed the organisation dry. Noting MWM’s fearless reporting on Gaza, the ‘machine’ would be ecstatic

“In truth, the whole thing is a mess.“

But that won’t worry the ‘machine’. Having got the Australian Government and Parliament to pick up a lot of their work, they’ll be redirecting their very considerable resources to new techniques of influence and control.

February 2, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The past week in nuclear-related news

Some bits of good news – The Whimsical Floating Schools of Kashmir

Rural Communities Unite To Protect Their Immigrant Neighbors.

Australia’s clean energy transition is going better than almost anyone realises.

The UN is Being Undermined by the ‘Law of the Jungle’

The US Is Pushing So Many Regime Change Agendas It’s Hard To Keep Up. The ‘Peace President’ Who Bombed 10 Countries and Wants $1.5 Trillion for War – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Div95RNXX0M

The U.S. plan for Gaza has nothing in it for Palestinians. Trump’s October 10 ceasefire, Board of Peace, simply continues Israeli Palestinian genocide in slow motion. Greenland Is Not a Prize

Is Zelensky still the most reckless, dangerous leader in the world? They poisoned us‘: grappling with deadly impact of nuclear testing.

Another miserable year for nuclear power as renewables surge.

Climate. How climate change is threatening the future of Winter Olympics

Noel’s notes. Harsh realities in the world of journalism.

AUSTRALIA.

The Afterlife of Failed Prime Ministers. The Preaching Pentecostal: Scott Morrison in Israel.
United Israel Appeal- Charity channels tax free donations direct to IDF soldiers. Hate speech- Protecting Israel’s reputation in Australia just got cheaper.
UK to deploy nuclear-powered submarine to Australia.
‘From day one, an absolute pleasure’: Nuclear science expert receives Australia Day honour.
Australia’s New AUKUS Protest Police, and the Quiet Redefinition of Dissent.
Australia’s Lack Of Speech Protections Means We Should Be MORE Hostile To Speech Regulation.
*&^%$#@! / * Day Northern Water Desalination Plant.

NUCLEAR-RELATED ITEMS. To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com/

ARTS and CULTURE. The United States of Consumption.

EMPLOYMENT. From Net Zero to Nuclear: the skills gap that could stall UK growth. Fears raised that specialist Vulcan MoD work could shift to Sellafield

ENERGY. Is nuclear clean, renewable energy? Scottish communities need obstacles to local energy removed .

ENVIRONMENT. The War Intervention: AI, Data Centers, and the Environment. Fingleton Review UK: NGOs rail against controversial nuclear report ‘inaccuracies’.

ETHICS and RELIGION. The US’s Multi‑Front War: A House of Cards. No Healthy Person Wants To Rule The World Or Become A Billionaire.

EVENTS. Stop the AUKUS nuclear submarines! Online public meeting Feb 11. Follow No Nuclear Subs SA on facebook, instagram, X/Twitter

HISTORY. Michael Parenti (1933-2026): 1918.

LEGAL. Rubio Dodges Accountability at Senate Hearing as Deadly Boat Strikes Continue. Rambling Toward Chaos: Trump and the Nuclear Precipice. Tribunal says Swahili ban at nuclear firm was discrimination.

MEDIA. The BBC pushes the case for an illegal war on Iran with even bigger lies than Trump’s. After Trump Declared Gaza War ‘Over,’ Media Lost Interest.

POLITICS.What does the US want from Iran? Tracking one month of Trump’s changing demands.
As Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ presses forward, Palestinians in Gaza fear what lies ahead.
Is Trump a Useful Idiot?-Project 2025 Is in Power Now.
Democrats vote to hand Trump hundreds of billions for immigration crackdown and global war.
The ridiculous 2026 “National Defense Strategy“.
Project 2025 : The Architecture of an American Upheaval.
Inside Japan’s Controversial Shift Back to Nuclear Energy.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY.
Barring last-minute nuclear deal, US and Russia teeter on brink of new arms race.
Resisting Trump.
Europe Rides the Tiger: Jeffrey Sachs on NATO, Trump, and the Collapse of the “Rules‑Based Order
Trump shamelessly plays the Russia/China bogeyman card for Greenland grab.
The Global Billionaire Steal: Wealth, Authoritarianism and Media.
U.S. Department of Energy signs additional OTAs to accelerate nuclear reactor pilot projects.

SAFETY. Since 2021, EDF has detected more than80 significant cracks on its French nuclear reactorsThe Trump administration has secretly rewritten nuclear safety rules.A High-Stakes Effort to Relax Radiation Limits and Restart Nuclear Growth.

SECRETS and LIES. Leaked Nuclear Secrets: China Arrests Top Military Leader Close to Xi Jinping.
We are back in the Middle Ages’: How the EU literally starves dissenting experts like Jacques Baud.

SPINBUSTER. Artificial intelligence will not revive the nuclear industry.

TECHNOLOGY. Government by AI? Trump Administration Plans to Write Regulations Using Artificial Intelligence.

WASTES. Slow worms blamed for holding up Britain’s nuclear deterrent.

WAR and CONFLICT.
Trump May Launch Strikes on Iran — Regime Change, Not Nukes, Is the Goal – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6913gyCwTQ
Upcoming Trump attack on Iran likely to kill thousands of Americans and Israelis.
It is now 85 seconds to midnight.
Ukraine KILLED 5520 CIVILIANS in the Donetsk Peoples Republic alone since February 17, 2022, and KILLED 9894 DPR CIVILIANS since 2014 (not including Lugansk or elsewhere in Russia).
The Gratuitous Barbarity of Trump’s So-Called ‘Board of Peace’.
The Funeral of Hegemony.
Aldermaston named on Russia nuclear war UK ‘strike list’.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES.
Doomsday Clock setting feels more like 8 or 7 seconds to midnight than 87 seconds.
Over 2 Million Ukrainians Are Dodging The Draft.
War is Silicon Valley’s new business.
US military moves Navy, Air Force assets to the Middle East: What to know.
A Note On the 2026 US National Defense Strategy and Extended Deterrence.
Brian Goodall concerned about nuclear subs at Rosyth

February 1, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Weekly Newsletter | Leave a comment

The Preaching Pentecostal: Scott Morrison in Israel

29 January 2026 Dr Binoy Kampmark, https://theaimn.net/the-preaching-pentecostal-scott-morrison-in-israel/

Australia’s former Prime Minister and faithful Pentecostal Scott Morrison never passes up the chance to express an opinion if it will net him a reward. As one of various politicians of the right (and far rightist) hue invited by Israel’s Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, he was in good company. The occasion: the second international conference on combating antisemitism held between January 26 and 27 at Jerusalem’s International Convention Center, ambitiously titled Generation Truth.

The December 14, 2025 attack by two ISIS-inspired gunmen on those attending a Hanukkah event on Sydney’s Bondi Beach had supplied him with a hot script. Australia’s Albanese government had been previously barked at by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for going wobbly on Israel and soft on Palestinians. Morrison was in hearty agreement, claiming that the Labor government had “walked away from the Jewish state while antisemitism has taken root in Australia,” feeding the hate through unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood.

In keeping with various Christian groups of the right, Morrison is of the view that Israeli interests need to be protected, shielded and treasured against other, undesirable members of the Book. Christians and Jews can make a common alliance against their enemies, even if evangelical Christianity has a well-stocked reserve of antisemitic attitudes. As Prime Minister, Morrison recognised West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, despite its contested status in international law, going so far as to open a Trade and Defence Office there in 2019. In 2021, his government officially adopted the definition of antisemitism proposed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), one that fudges criticism of Israeli policies with antisemitism. Since losing office he has been further courting Israel’s favour by attacking the United Nations for being a forum for antisemitism garbed in the argot of human rights.

The January 27 address recapitulated these points, and more. He pointed to a five-fold rise in antisemitic incidents in Australia following the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas. Context, such as Israel’s historical suppression of Palestinian autonomy and its ruthless campaign of pulverisation in Gaza, was absent. Regular protests in Sydney and Melbourne, including a Sydney Harbour Bridge march numbering 100,000 people, were all cut from the same cloth of antisemitism. Again, Israel’s conduct and policies deserved no mention, while slogans such as “from the river to the sea” and “globalising the intifada” could only be seen as antisemitic declarations.

With political illiteracy typical of the man, Morrison then linked the protests and a softer approach to Palestinian statehood directly to the Bondi attacks, his mind unblemished by any understanding about what ISIS is, and its hostility to Hamas. Shades, here, of the sham groupthink that marked Cold War analysis from Washington to Canberra on monolithic communism. Just as communism of the Chinese, Soviet and Vietnamese character was just communism, so can all forms of Islamism be considered identical.

The usual cod analysis of the “progressive Left,” with its “neo-Marxist identity frameworks” and the “radical Right,” with its “conspiratorial and ethno-nationalist forms,” are offered, both serving as the conduit for “grievance politics.” “When failure is moralised as systemic injustice, liberal norms collapse.” This is the golden apologia for Israel writ large: do not blame institutions and injustice as having any consequences, the spawn of their practices. Abandon grievance; it has no role.

This sets the scene for Morrison’s real concern, and in this, he was keeping to the theme pushed by Chikli from the outset. Whatever the issues on the Left and Right of politics, Islam posed the greatest antisemitic threat, with its “imported European conspiracy theories, recasting Jews as a hidden enemy responsible for global disorder.”

His solution to such malignancy in a Western secular context? More religion, not less. Morrison quotes Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks quoting Jonathan Swift: “we have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love.” But the faith in question had to be of the “good” sort, an inward individual consideration, rather than the “bad” variety that externalised the grievance and made people rush for placards, street rallies and arms.

That bilious right-wing figures demanding the expulsion of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza have more than enough religion to go around (Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich come to mind) suggests this formula to be flawed. But Morrison singles out Islamic leaders and institutions within Australia as alone in lacking accountability. What was needed was “a recognised accreditation framework for imams, a national register for public-facing roles, clear training and conduct requirements, and disciplinary authority for governing councils.” Sermons should also be translated into English, and links to foreign Islamic groups policed and curbed.

In Australia, Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg spoke approvingly of the former PM’s tarnishing method, with Australian Muslims having to “take some responsibility” for terrorist acts. “Unfortunately,” he told ABC radio on January 28, “there has been a mutation of Islam in Australia and other Western countries where they have sought to kill citizens, not just Jewish people, but other citizens.”

The Australian National Imams Council (ANIC), the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) and the Islamic Council of Victoria were suitably unimpressed. Chief executive of the Islamic Council of Victoria, Zakaria Wahid, made the far from startling point that the Australian government did “not hold entire communities accountable for acts of violence committed by individuals, and the same standard must apply to Muslims.”

Morrison has shown that he can be a good Pentecostal when required, demonstrating the sort of charity that never leaves his home or the halls of the Hill Song Church. As a cabinet minister and prime minister in various conservative governments, he showed a glacial contempt for women, welfare recipients, refugees, asylum seekers, those warning about climate change and open government. As prime minister, he gave Australia AUKUS, a criminally exorbitant, foolishly negotiated security pact between Canberra, London and Washington that has turned his country into an American satellite and forward base against China. But his less than secular admiration for Israel has won him friends, a point Chikli has unreservedly acknowledged. No doubt some well remunerated consultancy work is in the bag.

February 1, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | personal stories | Leave a comment

Project 2025 : The Architecture of an American Upheaval

30 January 2026 Dr Andrew Klein, PhD, https://theaimn.net/project-2025-the-architecture-of-an-american-upheaval/

In an era of complex global challenges, a blueprint for the radical restructuring of the United States government and its role in the world has moved from the fringes of policy workshops to the centre of power. Known as Project 2025, this initiative is no mere political manifesto; it is a detailed, nearly thousand-page operational plan to consolidate executive power, dismantle long-standing federal institutions, and reorient American society and foreign policy according to a specific, hardline conservative vision.

While its architects publicly frame it as a preparatory tool for any conservative president, its DNA is unmistakably Trumpist. The project is a direct response to the perceived failures of Donald Trump’s first term, designed to ensure that a future administration is not hindered by a non-compliant bureaucracy or a lack of ideological clarity. An analysis found that just four days into his second term, nearly two-thirds of Trump’s executive actions “mirror or partially mirror” proposals from Project 2025. This is not a coincidence; it is the implementation of a premeditated design.

The Architects and the Blueprint

Project 2025 is the brainchild of The Heritage Foundation, a cornerstone of American conservative thought, which has orchestrated a coalition of over 100 partner organisations. The project’s director is Paul Dans, a former chief of staff in Trump’s Office of Personnel Management, and its president is Kevin Roberts, who has openly described the organisation’s role as “institutionalizing Trumpism.”

The initiative is built on “four pillars” that function as an integrated system for seizing the levers of government: a 920-page policy bible called the “Mandate for Leadership“; a personnel database of vetted, ideologically loyal individuals; a training academy for these recruits; and a secretive “Playbook” of draft executive orders for the first 180 days. The project operates with a stated budget of $22 million and is supported by a network of groups, with nearly half having received funding from a dark money network linked to Leonard Leo, a key architect of the conservative judiciary.

Core Aims and Ideological Drivers

The agenda laid out in Project 2025 is sweeping, touching upon nearly every aspect of governance and American life. Its central ideological drivers are the concentration of presidential power, the advancement of a Christian nationalist social agenda, and a dramatic rollback of the federal government’s regulatory and social welfare functions.

In the realm of government and power, the plan aims to dismantle the “administrative state” by reinstating “Schedule F,” a measure that would reclassify up to 50,000 career civil servants as political appointees, allowing for their replacement with administration loyalists. It also seeks to bring independent agencies like the Department of Justice and the FBI under direct presidential control.

On social policy, the blueprint is equally transformative. It proposes using the 1873 Comstock Act to criminalise the mailing of abortion pills and to reverse FDA approval of the abortion medication mifepristone. It aims to remove legal protections against anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, mandate discrimination against transgender people in the military and in disaster assistance, and eliminate all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs across the federal government.

For the economy and environment, the project advocates for slashing corporate taxes, instituting a flat individual income tax, and cutting spending on social programs like Medicare and Medicaid. On the environment, it calls for the United States to withdraw from international climate agreements and to unleash maximum domestic fossil fuel production under a mantra of “drill, drill, drill,” with one proposal going so far as to suggest abolishing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Regarding immigration and security, the plan outlines a policy of executing the arrest, detention, and mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. It also proposes ending birthright citizenship, dismantling the asylum system, and deploying the U.S. Armed Forces for domestic law enforcement.

The Trump-Project 2025 Nexus

Despite Donald Trump’s public attempts to distance himself, the connections are deep. The initiative is staffed by over 200 former Trump administration officials, and at least six of his former cabinet secretaries are authors or contributors to the project’s policy bible. Crucially, key figures behind the project have been appointed to Trump’s second-term administration. Russell Vought, a Project 2025 co-author, was reappointed as Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Stephen Miller, whose group advised the project, was appointed as a White House advisor. Tom Homan, a contributor, was appointed as “Border Czar,” and Pam Bondi, an ardent supporter, was nominated for U.S. Attorney General. This integration demonstrates that the project’s ultimate aim – to provide a “government in waiting” – has been realised.

Global Implications and the Australian Context

The project’s vision explicitly aims to reshape America’s role in the world. Its foreign policy prescriptions include a “pivot” to counter China, which analysts suggest would come at the expense of focus on Russia and European democracies. It advocates for a “comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of U.S. participation in all international organizations,” signaling a strong isolationist and unilateralist turn. Furthermore, it would embed conservative religious goals into foreign policy, for instance, by making “protecting life” a “core objective” of foreign assistance.

For Australia, the direct mentions in the project’s materials are few, primarily suggesting greater defence collaboration. However, the indirect consequences would be profound. A U.S. withdrawal from climate agreements and a massive increase in fossil fuel production would cripple global efforts to combat climate change, a dire outcome for a region highly vulnerable to its effects. A shift in U.S. commitment to international institutions would create significant uncertainty and force a realignment of strategic partnerships in the Indo-Pacific. The Heritage Foundation’s open admiration for Viktor Orban’s Hungary as “the model” for conservative statecraft indicates a foreign policy more friendly to authoritarian leaders, potentially altering the global democratic landscape in which Australia operates.

A Contested Legacy

Project 2025 is celebrated by its proponents as a necessary measure to dismantle an unaccountable bureaucracy. Its critics, including pro-democracy advocates and civil liberties unions, have labeled it an authoritarian and Christian nationalist plan that would undermine the rule of law, separation of powers, and civil liberties.

The implementation of this project represents a fundamental test for the American system of government. It is a deliberate, well-funded, and systematic effort to transform the structure of the state itself. As this blueprint becomes reality, its effects will reverberate far beyond Washington, D.C., challenging democratic norms and international alliances, and forcing nations like Australia to navigate a world reshaped by an America that has chosen a radically different path.

February 1, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

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