Every non-partisan commentator agrees that the promised subs will be obsolete by the time they are delivered. It is likely, by this time, submarines will be unmanned underwater drones equipped with AI.
Richard Marles assures us that the deal involves no automatic support for American wars. You can only be sceptical, if not cynical, about the claim. There was possibly some justification for entering the Korean War, but very little justification for entering the Vietnam, Iraq or Afghan wars, except to support a world bully in the hope that the bully would, in turn, support us. In the past there used to be talk of Australia as the Switzerland of the south Pacific. Unfortunately this no longer possible, due to Pine Gap and all the American military and naval bases now established in Australia, all of which makes Australia more of a target for any hostile government rather than providing protection.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
