ADF NEEDS AIR DEFENCE, GETS DRONES
Military bases in Australia’s north would be vulnerable to long-range missiles without new air defence systems, two former top defence chiefs told The Australian.
Former chief of air force Geoff Brown told the newspaper the bases need “integrated air and missile defences, there’s no two ways about it … the trouble is that with no new money, the [nuclear-powered] submarines take up 38% of the budget”.
It comes after Senate estimates recently heard none of the money in the Australian Defence Force’s $330 billion investment plan had been earmarked for defence missiles or launch systems — despite a warning in last year’s Defence Strategic Review that the military “urgently” needed a “layered air and missile defence capability”.
Meanwhile, Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy has announced the purchase of US-made Switchblade 300 drones, “as a way of deterring potential aggressors”.
“They can be carried by a single person and they can obviously be deployed to devastating effect as they have been in Ukraine,” Conroy said, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
The cost, and the number of drones bought, are being kept secret.
RUSSIA BOMBS CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
Russia bombed a children’s hospital in Kyiv on Monday in a barrage of daytime missile strikes that was the heaviest aimed at the Ukrainian capital in four months, the Associated Press reports.
“Seven people were killed in the capital, including two staff members at the hospital, where three children were hurt,” the news service reports.
According to Reuters, “parents holding babies walked in the street outside the hospital, dazed and sobbing after the rare daylight aerial attack … windows had been smashed and panels ripped off, and hundreds of Kyiv residents were helping to clear debris”.
In total, at least 36 people were killed in the Kyiv bombardment and other strikes across Ukraine.
The assault came just days before a NATO summit in Washington DC, where leaders from 32 countries will gather to celebrate the military alliance’s 75th anniversary.
German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle reports: “The summit [is] meant to send a signal of strength and unity. But the gathering is at risk of being overshadowed by US domestic politics. With President Joe Biden facing questions whether he is still up to the job and able to win reelection, many in Europe fear a second Donald Trump presidency has become more likely.”
ON A LIGHTER NOTE…
Australia has just announced its Olympic squad and it’s the second largest we’ve ever assembled — with six recent World Championships medallists and three Tokyo Olympics medallists to participate.
As the ABC reports, “Australia’s field squad is made up of several former world champions, including pole vaulter Nina Kennedy, who sensationally shared the world title with Katie Moon in 2023.”
The opening ceremony is on July 26, and the closing ceremony is August 11.
Time Out has a helpful guide to how to watch the Paris Olympics in Australia. The Nine Network has the rights and will be broadcasting the games on more than 40 free-to-air channels, plus highlights via an app.
The eight-hour time difference between Paris and Australian Eastern Standard Time will mean some early wake-up calls for those who want to catch the action live. But the earliest events will begin at 7.30am in Paris, meaning 3.30pm in Sydney, so some contests will happen at a convenient hour (the latest events will end by 11.30pm in Paris, meaning 7.30am in Sydney).
I’m Anton Nilsson, and this is my final Worm for a while. It’s been a pleasure. Tomorrow, our new Worm editor Rich James will issue his first edition. Give him a warm welcome!
Say What?
It is in our DNA to want to decapitate our leader.
Unnamed member of Emmanuel Macron’s inner circle
The French President’s decision to call snap parliamentary elections — “without consulting anyone but himself” — has left France “deeply divided”, Politico writes in a new profile of Macron. Macron is described as having few friends, but he keeps a tight circle of young male advisers about. One insider said Macron “wants to seduce everyone, but much of France has a personal, violent hatred for him”.
CRIKEY RECAP
On May 15, then Labor senator for Western Australia Fatima Payman gave a speech in which she broke ranks with her colleagues on the conflict in Gaza, calling Israel’s conduct a “genocide”: “I ask our prime minister and our fellow parliamentarians: how many international rights laws must Israel break for us to say enough? How many lives does it take to call this a genocide?
Since then there has been a great deal of brave commentary in the media from Payman’s Labor colleagues. Except we’re not sure exactly who, because, for whatever reason, no-one seems willing to put their name to it. Here’s Crikey‘s timeline on the well-sourced “background” information filling out the coverage of Payman in recent weeks.
Last week, Andrew excitedly posted on OzBargain that he had success “looking into new methods of getting cheap chicken”.
In a post titled “[Hack] 4 Pieces Original Chicken (or Hot & Spicy Where Available) $7.45 @ KFC (Desktop Browser Required)”, Andrew — or AwesomeAndrew as he’s known there — wrote on the Australian deals website that KFC’s “very bad cybersecurity” presented an opportunity.
“The method involves performing a replay attack on the add-to-cart request sent to the server. Unfortunately, this method only works on PC, so it is not very convenient to use, but I believe that it might still be possible on the app due to lack of server-side cart validation,” Andrew explained.
A good rule of thumb in Australian politics (and perhaps life in general) is that if you stand on the side of Pauline Hanson, you stand on the wrong side of history.
Last week, knee-deep in a PR blitz around attempts to reform the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), NDIS Minister Bill Shorten stood beside the One Nation leader to hammer home the importance of the new laws that Shorten is trying to implement.
“Changes [are] needed to be done and it [needs] to be cleaned up,” Hanson said. “And that’s why I’m here talking today and I’m supporting Mr Shorten on this legislation that’s been put forward.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
What happened in France’s shock election, and what comes next? (CNN)
Israeli attacks across Gaza kill 40 in a day (Al Jazeera)
Liberian president cuts his salary by 40% (BBC)
El Salvador’s Bukele threatens gang-crackdown style tactics against price gougers (NBC News)
Keir Starmer will not appoint dedicated veterans’ minister sitting in cabinet (The Independent)
Biden tells wavering Democrats he will not abandon campaign (Reuters)
THE COMMENTARIAT
The blaring warning for Albanese that Morrison ignored until he lost — Angus Livingston (SMH) ($): Labor should not ignore the Gaza issue roiling in some of its key heartland seats, and the reason why is staring them in the face. We only have to look back to 2022 when, for years leading up to the federal election, the Coalition stumbled from misstep to mishap over climate, integrity and the treatment of women.
It was not everywhere. It was not in every seat. It was not every MP. But on election day, it hurt the Liberals in seats they never expected to lose. And crucially, it happened extremely quickly. This is the lesson Labor and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese must consider as they deal with the loss of West Australian first-term senator, Fatima Payman, and grapple with an extended cost of living crisis with seemingly no end in sight.
Cleaning up our fetid politics is Keir Starmer’s toughest task yet. Here’s how he can do it, fast — Polly Toynbee (The Guardian): Winning the election was almost easy compared with the next task Keir Starmer has set himself. “The fight for trust is the battle that defines our age,” he has said, and it will define him. Fail, and he risks the rampant right and the righteous Greens and Liberal Democrats devouring his huge majority.
The country purged the most corrupt and decadent government of modern times, but Labour’s victory was almost a byproduct of that vengeful impulse. How do you reclaim trust that is so lost that politics has never been held in such low repute? Everyone knows the reasons why deep cynicism greets doorknocking MPs. Examples of Westminster venality, bribery, bullying, sexual and financial disgrace are too many to list, too wearily familiar to need recounting.
