Australian PM under fire over knights and dames

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. (Reuters)

Monarchist Prime Minister Tony Abbott was accused on Wednesday of sending Australia into a “time warp” by reintroducing knights and dames to the country’s honours list. The conservative leader announced the move Tuesday with ministers revealing he went straight to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, Australia’s head of state, for approval without consulting his Liberal Party. Opposition Labor lawmakers ridiculed the move, asking why he was not focusing on important issues such as health and unemployment instead. “I’m concerned the Abbott government thinks this is a priority,” Labor leader Bill Shorten said. He later told the National Press Club: “Are we in a time warp?” His colleague Ed Husic said it was proof Abbott was out of date. “As sure as knight follows dame, you know that Tony Abbott’s going to take us back to the good old days,” he told reporters. The Australian Republican Movement was equally dismissive,saying its website nearly crashed today from the flood of new members signing up. “This is turning the clock back to a colonial frame of mind that we have outgrown as a nation,” said its national director David Morris. “Our identity today is Australian, so our national honours should be thoroughly Australian.” Ahead of elections last September, state broadcaster ABC asked more than 1.4 million people their views and found 38 per cent in favour of cutting ties to the British monarchy while 20 per cent were neutral. Abbott said yesterday up to four knights or dames could be appointed each year, starting with the queen’s outgoing representative Governor-General Quentin Bryce and her successor Peter Cosgrove. “I believe this is an important grace note in our national life,” he said. “This is for pre-eminent achievement.” The titles will go to people who have accepted public office rather than sought it, although Abbott would not rule out politicians being knighted. A campaign was underway today for cricketer Shane Warne to become a ‘Sir’, but Abbott played down the chances. “Look, he’s a terrific cricketer but I don’t think we’re going to see Sir Shane any time soon,” the prime minister told the Seven Network. Knights and dames were introduced into Australia’s system of honours in 1976 by then-prime minister Malcolm Fraser, but abolished a decade later by Bob Hawke. Previously, Australians had been honoured through the British Imperial System. Only 12 Australian knights and two dames have ever been appointed. Source: The Indian Express

Read More........ → March 28, 2014

US, China compete for the role of “king of sea”

In 2012, the US announced that it is starting “to return to Asia” – that is, to broaden its military presence in the south of the Asia-Pacific region. This is the US’s response to China’s increasing military activity in disputable waters in the East China and the South China Seas. The US is going to move up to 60% of its navy to the Asia-Pacific region. That would increase the US’s military presence there 3 times in comparison with the current situation. At present, about 60 to 70 US military ships and from 200 to 300 planes are constantly present at US naval bases in Japan and South Korea. Besides, at least 2 US aircraft carriers are constantly keeping watch in the region. Now, according to President Obama’s order, US naval forces are to increase in Australia, Singapore and the Philippines. In Australia, the number of US marines will be increased 10 times and will reach 2,500 people. Besides, the US will have broader access to the Australian naval base on the coast of the Indian Ocean, to the south of the city of Perth. Up to 4 US navy ships will be deployed near Singapore’s coast. The US is also planning to deploy up to 500 servicemen and reconnaissance aircraft in the Philippines and to create a center for repairing US navy ships there. Moreover, the US does not rule out that in some time from now, the Philippines may become the center of commanding US forces in the Asia-Pacific region. “In such conditions, the Chinese are starting to feel surrounded by US forces from all sides,” Russian expert in Eastern affairs Yuri Tavrovsky said in an interview with the Voice of Russia. “After all, the US does not hide that the reason why it is strenthening its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region is the growing influence of China there.” “In its turn, China is actively developing its navy,” Mr. Tavrovsky continues. “It is hard to deny that within the last few years, China’s economy has been rapidly developing, which has allowed China to considerably increase its military might. It would probably be an exaggeration to say that China is becoming aggressive, but it is obviously starting to realize that it is getting strong enough to afford dictating its will to other countries.” Another Russian expert, Evgeny Kanaev, is predicting that the US-Chinese relations will most probably aggravate even further: “I don’t think that China’s leaders today want to make compromises with the US. It is unlikely that China will agree to create a program of developing its navy that would satisfy the US. In its turn, the US also doesn’t want to be ousted by China from its positions in the Asia-Pacific region. Besides its military presence there, the US also wants to maintain control over all the transport routes in this region, and China is now becoming a serious rival for the US from this point of view as well.” Experts are concerned that the US’s policy of regaining military control over the Asia-Pacific region and its competition for this role with China may aggravate the situation in this region to a very dangerous point. Source: Voice of Russia

Read More........ → January 18, 2013

Google Play for UK, Germany and France

Google has confirmed in a Google TV blog post that starting November 13th, Google Play music and movies will be available on Google TV in the UK, Germany and France. The post updated an earlier comment that suggested the service was launching in more countries on that date, “but stay tuned as we’re bringing Google Play to more countries all the time,” said Google. The superseded post had suggested that Australia and Canada would also see launches. Source: Advanced Television

Read More........ → December 02, 2012