Labor Against War is urging the Australian government to chart a foreign policy independent from the “American war machine”, following revelations that US military and weapons manufacturers control or have access to more than 100 bases across the country.
Government defends US military presence
Foreign affairs minister Penny Wong told the Senate that the US military presence in Australia is “at Australia’s invitation”, and that the defence sites were “Australian bases under Australian command”. The government has defended the growing presence of the US military in the country, despite the group’s call for a new direction.
Labor Against War argues that Australia should move its foreign policy away from “fading guarantees of the past”. The group’s statement comes as the government faces scrutiny over the extent of US military involvement on Australian soil.
El Niño threatens food prices
Experts warn that the most severe El Niño weather event on record threatens to push food prices higher this year, piling pressure on households already grappling with a cost-of-living crisis. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is concerned that a severe El Niño could drive food prices higher and create a further headache later this year, when the central bank is contemplating whether it needs to raise interest rates again.
The impacts of the predicted record-strength El Niño could spill into supermarket aisles by increasing food prices for Australian households already struggling to make ends meet, according to warnings from experts.
Other key developments
In other news, the alleged killers of Australian surfers Jake and Callum Robinson, and their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad, at a Mexican surfing hotspot in 2024 have gone on trial in Baja California. A report reveals that Indigenous Australians who were forcibly removed under assimilation policies have far greater physical and health challenges than the wider Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations.
Top bureaucrats want the government to ban video footage from parliamentary hearings being edited and shared on social media, in a bid to stop online ridicule and abuse. British band Radiohead will return to Australia to play a series of 16 shows in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney next year, marking the band’s first tour of the country in 15 years.
In Europe, politicians have expressed alarm after the far-right Alternative für Deutschland swept to a historic state election victory in Germany. The German chancellor has vowed to stay in office despite the AfD triumph, and Europe’s centre fears a nationalist wave after the AfD victory, according to Jon Henley. Thousands of mourners gathered in Belgrade for the funeral of Ratko Mladić, a Serbian general convicted for his role in the worst massacre in Europe since the second world war.
The UK government looks set to announce a tougher stance in its relations with Israel, including a ban on the trade in goods and some services from illegal Israeli settlements. A nuclear reactor built secretly during the rule of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad could have been used for nuclear weapons if completed, the UN nuclear watchdog has revealed. French vineyards hit by severe drought and heatwaves are expected to report a 30-year low in wine production after the country’s hottest ever recorded summer.
