David Lowe’s critique of Richard Marles reveals more about his own ideological biases than any genuine policy analysis.
On Israel and Iran, Lowe’s framing is historically dishonest.
Iran has spent decades funding proxy terrorist organisations including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, all explicitly committed to Israel’s destruction. The October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre of 1,200 Israeli civilians was the largest single killing of Jewish people since the Holocaust.
Iran subsequently launched direct ballistic missile strikes on Israeli territory.
Characterising Israel as the aggressor while portraying Iran as a victim requires selectively ignoring enormous amounts of documented evidence.
Marles was entirely reasonable in not editorialising on every dimension of a deeply complex conflict.
On AUKUS and defence spending, Lowe dismisses submarine investment as money ‘unlikely ever to arrive’, yet offers no credible alternative for managing genuine Indo-Pacific threats.
China’s military expansion, island-building in the South China Sea, and increasingly aggressive posture toward Taiwan are not invented concerns.
Regional defence partnerships and credible deterrence have kept Australia secure for decades.
Dismantling those alliances based on anti-American sentiment would be strategically reckless.
On Angus Taylor, endorsing Keating’s inflammatory ‘racism’ accusation substitutes insult for argument.
Debating migration policy, values frameworks, and national cohesion is entirely legitimate in any functioning democracy.
Labelling such discussions racist is a deliberate tactic to silence rather than engage.
Lowe’s piece reflects reflexive anti-Americanism, dismissal of genuine security threats, and uncritical sympathy for actors hostile to Western democratic values. Australians deserve policy debates grounded in evidence and strategic reality, not ideology masquerading as analysis.
Barry Fialkov, Ocean Shores
- Multiple news and humanitarian sources report that post-2023, the Gazan death toll from Israel forces is over 72,500 people, dwarfing 1,200 Israeli civilians deaths in 2023. And since Israel’s recent invasion of Lebanon, one million civilians have been displaced. With Iranian nuclear negations in progress, Israel and the US attacked Iran, which breached the UN Charter’s prohibition against the use of force. These actions are viewed as acts of aggression, directly violating Article 2(4) of the UN Charter regarding territorial integrity. It appears that with Israel’s superior military and nuclear capabilities, it has been the aggressor in the region in recent years. Given Iran once had very close relations with Israel (which ended with the 1979 Islamic Revolution), it is clear that peace can be achieved, and should always be pursued – Letters ed.
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