He’s the orator of the century:
Former Labor prime minister Paul Keating has lashed out at the current government, once again criticising the endlessly-debated AUKUS defence pact. Appearing on the ABC’s 7.30 program last night, Keating called the Albanese government a “sellout”, declaring: “In defence and foreign policy, this is not a Labor government. This is a party which has adopted the defence and foreign policies of the Morrison Liberal government.” Joining AUKUS makes Australia a target for aggression, Keating argued, due to the implicit opposition to China’s growing influence in the Asia-Pacific region. Discussing China’s designs on Taiwan, the 80-year-old said the island was “Chinese real estate”, adding: “Taiwan is not a vital Australian interest”.
Guardian Australia quotes numerous eye-catching parts of the interview, including: “What AUKUS is about in the American mind is turning [Australia into suckers], locking us up for 40 years with American bases all around … not Australian bases. So AUKUS is really about, in American terms, the military control of Australia. I mean, what’s happened … is likely to turn Australia into the 51st state of the United States.” Plus: “If we didn’t have an aggressive ally like the United States — aggressive to others in the region — there’d be nobody attacking Australia. We are better left alone than we are being ‘protected’ by an aggressive power like the United States. Australia is capable of defending itself.”
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