Craig Hill Media and Consulting
Military
Britain could miss out on crazy, pointless war with China, says important American
Cuts to Britain’s armed forces mean the country will be ‘left on the sidelines’ when America invades China. Robert Gates, former US defence secretary, stressed that Britain would no longer be America’s ‘full crazy partner in war’. He said: “Your military will be dropping food from its only helicopter while the US Marines are surging … Continue reading
Australian helicopters used in ’70s massacres in West Papua
Research into one of the most violent episodes in the history of West Papua claims that helicopters provided to Indonesia by the Australian government were used in military operations in the 1970s that amounted to genocide. According to a report by the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission, two Iroquois helicopters supplied by Australia were … Continue reading
Australia neglects militarisation of Antarctica by foreign powers, including China
Australian academics have pointed to dangers that Antarctic bases are for the first time being militarised, despite the continent officially being called a land of peace and science. Satellite systems at polar bases could be used to control offensive weapons, according to a report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and little could be done … Continue reading
Australia backs Japan’s military buildup at risk of upsetting China
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop threw Australia’s support behind Japan’s attempts to shift its military to a more “normal” defence posture in a speech in Tokyo yesterday. Australia’s backing for Japan’s proposed move away from a purely defensive military runs the risk of sparking resentment in China, which retains deep suspicion of the hawkish Abe … Continue reading
Australia’s defence forces must gear up for South China Sea, says expert
Naval tensions over territorial disputes in northeast Asia and the South China Sea are nearing the dangerous point where serious incidents or armed conflict could become inevitable, one of Australia‘s most respected strategists says. Paul Dibb, key architect of the defence of Australia strategy, will warn in a speech to a naval conference this week … Continue reading
Sex-for-secrets spy scandal prompts Australian navy inquiry
A company that services US warships when they visit Australian ports has been accused of providing prostitutes to an American naval commander in return for secret intelligence on US naval movements to extort money from the US Seventh Fleet. The Royal Australian Navy is investigating whether the alleged bribery and prostitution scam has had an … Continue reading
Australia cuts defence force anti-terrorist unit
The anti-terrorism protection force at some of Australia’s key military bases is to be slashed, as the Defence Department struggles to find budget savings. Australian Protective Service officers will be taken off guard duty at Victoria Barracks in Melbourne, Sydney’s Holsworthy Barracks, the navy’s Garden Island base and the army’s officer training college at Duntroon … Continue reading
Australia’s military takes over border protection; SAS commander in charge
Deputy Chief of Army Angus Campbell will be named Tony Abbott‘s three-star military commander of border protection, with the job of co-ordinating the new government’s tough asylum-seeker policies. The former SAS commander and deputy National Security Adviser has emerged as Defence’s choice to head up the 16 departments and agencies under the Coalition’s Operation Sovereign … Continue reading
Australian opposition plans to relegate asylum seekers to military, keep numbers secret
Australians may never know how many asylum-seeker boats arrive under a Coalition government, with opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison refusing to release details about boat arrivals without the approval of a three-star general. The Coalition has previously said it would appoint a three-star military officer to command a joint taskforce, which will include some 12 … Continue reading
Australian soldiers said to have cut off dead Afghan’s hands
Australian elite special forces soldiers are being investigated over claims they cut the hands off at least one Afghan insurgent’s body to identify him by his fingerprints. A ”potential misconduct” investigation against members of the Special Operations Task Group centres on claims that soldiers amputated the hands and took them back to their base to … Continue reading
Australia takes lead role on Syrian crisis
As president of the UN Security Council from September 1, Australia will lead the international debate on the worsening Syrian crisis amid growing pressure on Moscow and Beijing to bring the Assad regime into line. After the deaths of an estimated 1300 Syrians in what rebels have claimed was a sarin nerve-gas attack on the … Continue reading
US drops bombs on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef during exercises
Authorities are yet to decide whether they will recover four unarmed bombs dropped onto the Great Barrier Reef during military exercises. Two of the bombs did not contain explosives and the other two were without their fusing mechanisms. US warplanes were forced to drop the bombs after they ran dangerously low on fuel during a … Continue reading
Australians warned to get out of Egypt
Australia’s Federal Government is urging hundreds of Australians in strife-torn Egypt to consider leaving. The Department of Foreign Affairs of Trade (DFAT) says 730 Australians are registered as currently being in the country but estimates the real number is likely to be much higher. A further 822 Australians have registered plans to travel there in … Continue reading
Serious abuse at Australian Defence Academy alarms government
Claims of serious abuse at the Australian Defence Force Academy and HMAS Leeuwin naval base are “more widespread and persistent” than previously reported, a high-level inquiry has found. In an interim report, the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce, headed by retired judge Len Roberts-Smith, found that abuse was evident at other recruit schools and training institutions … Continue reading
Australian military police stop Afghan prisoner transfers because of mistreatment
Military police at Australia‘s detention centre in Afghanistan were pressured to make prisoners more “pliable” by gagging them, depriving them of sleep and denying them exercise. Sources with first-hand knowledge of the detention centre at Tarin Kowt have said that senior officers from Australia’s special forces, as well as the “force exploitation team” – defence … Continue reading
Australian frigate joins US Navy in East China Sea mission
An Australian Navy frigate joined the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet on Monday for a three-month embed, the latest example of tightening links during a time of heightened tensions in the Asia-Pacific region. The modified Perry-class frigate HMAS Sydney is now docked at Yokosuka’s naval harbour, where its 217-member crew will prepare for a patrol as … Continue reading
China dismisses Australia’s defence white paper, says it changes nothing
China has warned that Labor’s new white paper is a political document unlikely to bring major changes to Canberra‘s defence strategy or alter Australia’s position in the Asia-Pacific region. Han Feng, a deputy director at the China Academy of Social Science, a think tank closely linked to the Communist Party and government, said the paper … Continue reading
New Australian defence white paper fails to recognise China as any threat whatsoever
Asia is a potentially turbulent region, yet Australia has no sensible defence strategy. For more than 40 years Australia has been able to assume that it is a secure country in a peaceful region. That has kept its defence needs low and defence budget modest. Now Asia is changing fast, and the old assumptions no … Continue reading
US Senator John McCain slams Australia’s defence cuts as ‘imprudent’
Powerful US senator John McCain has criticised the Gillard government for cutting the Australian defence budget. In an interview in his Washington Senate office, Mr McCain told The Weekend Australian that “it is not prudent” for Canberra to cut its defence budget so heavily. Last year the Gillard government cut defence spending by 10 per … Continue reading
Australia won’t be drawn into ‘mythical’ US-China war says defence consultant
The view that war between the US and China is inevitable and that Australia will be drawn into such a conflict is a dangerous miscalculation, says defence white paper author Paul Dibb. The comments to be made tonight by Mr Dibb will follow those by Julia Gillard, who yesterday deplored “false modesty” in our relationship … Continue reading
U.S. marines based in Australia will cost $1.6 billion
Infrastructure costing an estimated $1.6 billion will need to be built in Northern Australia to accommodate a fully-equipped, 2500-strong US Marines task force due in Darwin in about 2016. And it is not clear yet who will foot the bill to accommodate the potent and self-contained Marines Air Ground Task Group, which will come to … Continue reading
Australian soldier accused over deaths of unarmed Iraqis
A decorated Australian soldier was embroiled in a secret war- crimes investigation after two former high ranking US military officials accused him of ordering the killing of unarmed men during the invasion of Iraq. Fairfax Media has uncovered the extraordinary allegations directed against then army warrant officer Joe Day, who was on an exchange with … Continue reading
Australian Prime Minister strengthens military alliance with China, ignores 2009 report of threat
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard today will unveil a 10-year plan to tighten Australia’s embrace of China, flagging three-nation military exercises to include the US and more Chinese investment in Australia. The declaration comes as Canberra and Beijing have clinched a deal for an annual meeting mechanism between the Australian prime minister and the Chinese … Continue reading
Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd calls on China to calm North Korea
North Korea’s nuclear program poses a serious threat to China’s own relations with its neighbours, Kevin Rudd has warned officers at Beijing’s main defence academy. In a speech at China’s National Defence University, Mr Rudd said Pyongyang’s antics threatened China’s foreign policy objectives because Asian nations were beginning to co-operate on regional anti-ballistic missile defences, … Continue reading
Japanese technology could improve Australia’s Collins-class submarines
The navy has set its sights on sophisticated new Japanese technology to extensively rebuild its troubled Collins-class submarines and extend their operational lives by 10 years or more. That could postpone the spending of an estimated $40 billion to build the 12 new submarines the Gillard government has promised to replace the Collins-class boats. Japan … Continue reading
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