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November 14th, 2011 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
Updated
Leaks are one of the longest established of the conventions for disseminating political information and disinformation.
This week’s news, the establishing a permanent US marine presence on Australian soil at Darwin, was something the Government wanted to give maximum exposure. It sees it as good news, the opposition will back it, only the Greens would be a dissenting voice.
In the interests of maximum coverage, presumably, this news was given to the Fairfax press. I say presumably because I don’t know how the information made its way to the Age and SMH, it could have been revealed by an unofficial source against the Government’s wishes. But it doesn’t feel like that sort of leak. It looks like a text book case of the Government handing out a press release with a distribution list of one.
That means the Government can revel in the front-page treatment of the story and when journalists approach the relevant minister for comment they can reply soberly: “No confirmation”. And, according to the convention of the leak, the news remains news on Thursday, when in Darwin Julia Gillard and US President Obama make it all official.
It is argued that the leak is the friend of the journalist and the public, that it is the embodiment of the free flow of information. Well that is the case with some, let’s call them “good” leaks. “Good” leaks involve the less powerful getting information out that the public is entitled to know against the wishes of the more powerful. The other leaks, say about 90 per cent, are simply the powerful manipulating the flow of information for their own benefit.
Passing on an official leak is not a great achievement for a journalist, it simply involves them being part of a small conspiracy against the public. It serves the career interests of the political operative and the journalist, not the public.
But of course leaks will continue and prosper because all journos are hoping their turn will come. In the dark currency of the political media, information and publicity are the stock in trade of politicians and journos. One (the politician) gets the publicity, the other (the journalist) gets a good run. And better than that the journalist is credited with a scoop or exclusive, in this mendacious media world.
It was ever thus. Paul Keating used to threaten to take journalists off “the drip” if he didn’t like their coverage and, conversely, promise to put them on the “high grade drip” if their coverage met his standards.
On the substance of the decision to station American troops in Darwin, it is an interesting illustration of the level of importance Prime Minister Gillard feels about the US alliance. That enthusiasm is matched by the Opposition. Half a century ago, at the height of the Vietnam war, there was criticism from some quarters for then prime minster Harold Holt when he declared Australia to be “All the way with LBJ”. That sentiment has been matched or even exceeded by subsequent administrations and the current government is second to none in its devotion to the alliance.
The decision is not likely to take up much of the political debate because both the major parties are in energetic agreement on the US alliance. The bi-partisan view from Canberra is that the alliance is good, it is the number one good thing in our international portfolio, American engagement here is good and more engagement is better. End of discussion.
The Australian public has a strong emotional attachment to America, we listen to their music, watch their TV and movies, echo their trends. My computer routinely chastises me for not spelling like an American.
But that general attachment to the US is squared when you enter the ranks of mainstream politics. Julia Gillard is one of many, many politicians over a long period of time who have travelled to the US as part of leadership groups. Labor ranks in particular are filled with devotees of American political history, there are civil war buffs and students of the minutiae of long forgotten presidents. This deep, multi-layered fondness for the US is the soil from which Australian foreign policy decisions, like basing marines here, are grown.
That attachment has been unchanging and there are foreign affairs experts who are warning that it fails to acknowledge the changing world, specifically the rise of China. We all know that we are riding the wave of China’s economic surge but there is no underlying fondness for or knowledge of China in the ranks of Australian politicians. Their eyes, hearts and minds are firmly fixed on the fading Stars and Stripes rather than the red dawn in the East. Kevin Rudd is almost a party of one when it comes to finding China buffs in federal parliament.
And in policy circles where there is a real knowledge of China, there is an unease about how Australia can reconcile the fierce attachment to the US, whose economic relevance to us is fading, with the rising importance of China. There is no doubt China will note the Australian decision to base troops here and see it as further evidence of our siding with the United States in the rising regional rivalry between Washington and Beijing. The fast changing regional dynamics bring complexities which are not addressed simply by a variations on Harold Holt’s: “All the way with LBJ.”
Being ferociously engaged with China at a commercial level and directly antagonistic at a defence and foreign policy level is going to create tensions which are worth considering. On the 60th anniversary of the ANZUS alliance the future of the US alliance is something worth debating, not just saluting.
Marius Benson can be heard covering federal politics on ABC NewsRadio’s breakfast program each week day morning.
Topics:
foreign-affairs,
government-and-politics,
federal-government,
world-politics
First posted
Comments (11)
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You have to be kidding:
14 Nov 2011 4:32:45pm
I viewed the papers with great interest. there are so many photos of the PM kissing dignatories and fellow Labor, green and Independants its a joke. What would the press or Labor say if Tony ABBOT was to carry on the same way with females. I guess its OK for a woman but not a man.
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Schnappi:
14 Nov 2011 5:11:32pm
Perhaps as abbott is out of the country ,that no media wants to show him shaking hands with anyone,that is of course if anyone in the UK even wants to,
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Chris:
14 Nov 2011 5:16:52pm
A kiss on the cheek in order to say hello or offer congratulations has been acceptable social convention for inordinate amounts of time. It ‘s no different to Tony Abbott, John Howard or Kevin Rudd shaking hands with other world leaders. If this is the worst you can come up with then she must be doing something right!
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JohnnoH:
14 Nov 2011 4:35:16pm
It is neither confirmed nor denied that US marine will be based at Darwin. Is this something to get the news away from other things that might be going on? Example:- the press has been facinated with leadership rumours instead reporting real stories. The next big issue for Australia is the Mining Resource Tax, which Labor had a mandate and the vast majority of the people support, because it will insure superannuation. Let’s get the facts, backed up by people responsible on this issue
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Andy:
14 Nov 2011 4:54:13pm
Pity the amount that Swan/Gillard keep telling us it will raise will be nowhere near the amount they keep commiting to spending.
Guess they will just have to add anouther few millions the the $100 MILLION a day they continue to borrow.
Or they could talk to all the businesses who are the ones who really pay for this; for small business most of the offsets come nowhere near meeting the extra cost to them of supperannuation.
Wasn’t that another thing Ken Henry raised in his Tax Report – DO NOT go down the road of increasing the superannuation levy as it was no where near the most efficient way to increase national savings.
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Steve:
14 Nov 2011 4:37:01pm
Perhaps we can add some balance by inviting some Chinese troops to be stationed here too?
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Jiminy:
14 Nov 2011 4:47:22pm
I must admit – I thought there would be some resistance to this – permanent military force from another country based on our soil.
As a country I think it’s time we looked to the future for where our interests are best served and not into the past as it looks like we continue to do.
Tying our lot to the US seems akin to backing the roman empire when it was in its death throes.
Please tell me we at least extracted a heavy price for allowing the US to permanently invade us?
We can’t get respect if all we ever do is rollover can we ? -
the working man:
14 Nov 2011 4:49:16pm
Marius, it’s about time the media got on with reporting the facts. Most media outlets jump on the news limited bang wagon
in trying to destory the PM and the government. Some of the rubbish and dribble that the media, you included has banged
on about is truly amazing,now the carbon trading has passed can we have some descent reporting. The PM has a positive
agenda with that now being continued with tariff reeducation to 5 % for green energy trade in the region. -
Gareth:
14 Nov 2011 4:55:21pm
I cant see that there is much new in this article. Governments and bureaucrats have been leaking information to the media since Adam was a boy. Politicians and the media live off each other. They appear to have a love/hate relationship but they need each other in order to best serve their own interests. To expand an old saying: “We get the politicians and the media we deserve.”
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custard:
14 Nov 2011 5:14:39pm
Marius, I thought you may have commented on the leaks that derailed the tender of the “Australia Network”.
Thats a leak worth finding out about.
The two depts involved are headed by Rudd and Conroy.
Thats where I would start.
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Tectonic Shift:
14 Nov 2011 5:18:17pm
Youre right when you suggest that “official” leaks are relatively harmless and the public are unaffected.
It’s the “unofficial” leak that is despicable.
I well remember the ABC’s Michael Brissenden, betraying the trust of Peter Costello and making public his conversations ‘off-the-record simply to undermine the Liberal Party. Brissenden broke the rules but instead of being disgraced, he was promoted to Washington!
Aunty too can often show it’s motives to be as bad or worse than Polititians. People have long memories.
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