Sometimes you just have to wait.

I’m not a very patient person, but I have learned two things about patience and persistence:

the hard, really important stuff never comes quickly; and

issues run in cycles. If you don’t hit the finish line this time, hang on: there will almost certainly be another opportunity.

The issue – this time round – is AUKUS: the multi-year, multi-stage, multi-billion-dollar three-way (Australia, UK, US) defence pact. In my first months at P&I, early last year, I got way ahead of myself and declared a tipping point on the matter. The P&I community has been talking about the cracks and contradictions in the deal since before it was announced with huge bluster at that unforgettable three-way press conference with Joe Biden, Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison back in September 2021.

And it was Morrison who sat me back in my chair this week. After a week that, once again, highlighted the weakness of Australia’s position and growing community opposition to it, the former PM leapt to its defence.

He chose the ABC RN’s Global Roaming program to tell us not........

© Pearls and Irritations