Spain may derail NATO summit by resisting defence spend
Spain has asked to opt out of NATO's plan to increase members' defence spending to five per cent of their gross domestic product, a move that could derail a summit at which the military alliance plans to ask them to commit to the target.
In a letter sent to NATO chief Mark Rutte on Thursday and seen by Reuters, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez requested a "more flexible formula" that either makes the spending target optional or excludes Spain from its application.
He said it was not Spain's intention to obstruct the outcome of next week's NATO summit. But any agreement to raise defence spending - a response to a request by US President Donald Trump - would require unanimous approval by the 32 member states.
"Committing to a five per cent target would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive, as it would move Spain further away from optimal spending and would hinder the EU's ongoing efforts to strengthen its security and defence ecosystem," Sanchez wrote in the letter.
"It is the legitimate right of every government to decide whether or not they are willing to make those sacrifices. As a sovereign Ally, we choose not to," he added.
At an estimated 1.28 per cent of GDP, Spain had the lowest proportion of expenditure on defence in the alliance last year, according to NATO estimates. Sanchez agreed in April to accelerate efforts to meet NATO's current target of two per cent.
Rutte has proposed that member states agree to boost defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP and commit a further 1.5 per cent to broader security-related spending.
Leaders across NATO say its current spending goal is no longer sufficient, with Russia posing a greater threat since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Asked for comment on Spain's request, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization official said: "Discussions among Allies on a new defence investment plan are ongoing."
The US, which has been Kyiv's primary military backer since Russia's invasion, spent an estimated 3.38 per cent of GDP on defence in 2024, the third-most among NATO nations, according to the alliance.
Trump has said NATO members are not spending their fair share on defence and has threatened not to come to the aid of those falling short.
Sanchez, however, said that rushing to a five per cent target would harm European Union efforts to become self-reliant in defence production, pushing governments to procure equipment outside the bloc and that it was "incompatible with our welfare state and our world vision".
Some other NATO members have also questioned the timeline, saying it is too rapid, but are generally willing to sign up, diplomatic sources say.
Italy, for example, wants the deadline moved to 2035 from 2032 and the removal of a requirement to increase spending by 0.2 per cent per year, a source with knowledge of the matter said.
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Perth Now
21 minutes ago
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Trump meeting on backburner with PM to skip summit
The prime minister will wait a little longer for a second-chance meeting with Donald Trump as the president pushes out his timeline to act on the situation in the Middle East. Anthony Albanese will not go to The Hague for next week's NATO summit, with his deputy Richard Marles to represent Australia at the event as originally planned. Mr Albanese was considering making a last-minute dash to the talks, which could have provided an opportunity to meet in person with the US president. The pair had been scheduled to hold their first face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada earlier this week. But 24 hours before they were due to meet, Mr Trump revealed he would leave the event early to deal with escalating tensions between Israel and Iran. The prime minister is keen to meet with Mr Trump to try to negotiate an exemption from US tariffs, advocate for the nation's nuclear submarine deal with the US and UK and discuss defence spending. Mr Trump is expected to attend the NATO summit, but there is no guarantee he will not pull out at the last second amid volatility in the Middle East. The US president on Friday said he would decide whether to get involved in the Israel-Iran conflict "within the next two weeks". Liberal senator James Paterson earlier said the prime minister should attend NATO regardless of whether he meets with Mr Trump. He believes it would allow Mr Albanese to co-ordinate with allies and help support Ukraine in its war against Russia. It would also present an opportunity to discuss the situation in Iran with European partners, and discuss defence spending. "If he meets with President Trump on the sidelines, that would be a bonus," Senator Paterson said. "But frankly, I think his approach of now waiting seven months to go and see the president and not going to see him in Washington DC, relying on a chance meeting on the sidelines of an international forum, is a very risky strategy." The prime minister wasn't the only world leader left hanging at the G7. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelenskiy also had talks scheduled with Mr Trump the day after he left. Mr Albanese met with senior members of the president's economic team including US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, US National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. The talks involved trade, tariffs and critical minerals - which Australia has considered using as a bargaining chip in US tariff negotiations.
The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Breaking up is hard to do but there comes a time
This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to The wedding, only weeks away, is off. Dreams have dissolved in a swirling fog of bitterness, betrayal and resentment. But it's a gut-wrenching sadness that will linger, not only for the couple involved but for friends and family grieving a future that will never arrive. When something you believe in falls apart, anger eventually turns to sorrow for all that is lost. These friends of ours spent a year planning their celebration. An apartment was bought. Rings and outfits purchased. Guests had paid for flights and accommodation. How to make sense of something when love abruptly turns to cold silence? You sift through the rubble looking for those tell-tale signs of cold feet and gnawing doubts that only the aftermath reveals; how one partner clung to the dream more than the other; how others saw worrying signs but looked the other way, choosing fantasy over reality. Then the hardest thing: moving on. Australia faces a similar dilemma over its alliance with the US. We now have a sullen and aloof partner who wants different things. Donald Trump is swinging a wrecking ball through a century's worth of carefully-crafted international diplomacy, treating historic loyalties as nothing more than leverage and Australia as a second-class ally whose phone calls are no longer returned. Trump's administration is actively reviewing AUKUS - the security pact promised to be the cornerstone of our future defence. He questions the value of NATO, blithely undermines long-standing commitments to the Pacific region and is openly cynical about the old world order. He not only flirts with dictators but courts them. The US is an old lover grown contemptuous of traditional values. Australia is the still-believing partner, too quick to forgive, desperately believing the relationship can still be retrieved. It's time to move on. The Australian public certainly thinks so. The latest annual survey by the US-based Pew Research Centre shows we rank behind only Sweden when it comes to anti-Trump sentiment, viewing him as dangerous and a threat to peace and the global economy. To alienate so many old friends in a few months is no mean achievement. Or an accident. Enter Anthony Albanese, his historic election victory all but forgotten in a world punch drunk from endless economic and military crises. His task - almost certainly the legacy-defining mission of his prime ministership - is to ease Australia from an increasingly unreliable relationship with the US and steer a new path for our nation. There is a blueprint of sorts for him to follow. Paul Keating saw this moment coming years ago. After decades of burying our dead in America's wars because we believed it would do the same for us, Keating said it was time for us to end our US dependency and embrace Asia, the dynamic, complex and rapidly emerging region in which we live. The former PM was ridiculed for saying we needed to grow up and stop acting like a deputy sheriff. At the time China was still a rising power. It has now risen. India is on the same path. Nations like Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea are our neighbours, trading partners and should be our strategic peers. Yet we continue treating them like brief stopovers on our way to the glamour of old London and Washington. But nostalgia is not a strategy. Growing up and moving on means investing in regional alliances, not relying on a nation teetering on the brink of civil breakdown. Trust can only be established in southeast Asia by making decisions in the best interests of us and our region, not parroting US policy that these days is increasingly erratic and unhinged. No one says we should completely walk away from America. We've long had a close and co-dependent relationship - culturally and militarily. Completely severing ties would be foolish. But like the sudden relationship implosion and hastily cancelled wedding of my friends, Australia faces two choices: to wallow in the loss of an alliance growing increasingly distant, or accept that a once strong and mutually beneficial partnership has become too one-sided. The healthy alternative? Get out into the world and make some new friends. We stopped clinging to England's skirts a long time ago. Surely we are a nation with enough ingenuity, resilience and self-belief to walk away from another damaged relationship and preserve our sense of self-worth. It might be Donald Trump's lasting contribution to international diplomacy: follow America's lead and put yourself first. HAVE YOUR SAY: Should Australia distance itself from the US and forge greater military and economic partnerships in Asia? Do you still trust the US to support Australia in the event of a conflict? Do you find Trump's disdain for the old world order refreshing or a calamity causing greater instability? Have you or someone you know been left at the altar? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - An election promise to implement a 2030 greenhouse gas emissions target has been abandoned by the Northern Territory as it vigorously pushes for more mining and energy projects. - New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group's deepening ties with China. - Up to 105 cases of land clearing, mainly for farming, could soon be under investigation by authorities after a citizen science project uncovered 90,000 hectares of bush bulldozed over the past five years. THEY SAID IT: "The view here (in Australia) is that the US will rescue us if we ever really have a problem. And I don't think that's true ... I think you're unwise for believing it's true." - Tucker Carlson YOU SAID IT: There's nothing like curling your toes in front of a roaring fire. But if you can smell the smoke it's most likely doing you harm. David thinks wood heaters should be banned: "I've had a gutful and a lung full of the smoke seeping into my house on winter evenings and filling my lungs in the backyard, not to mention polluting my freshly hung washing. I have several friends who are 'green' in many respects, but will not give up their beloved wood-fired heaters. The science is uber clear; in the ACT these heaters contribute to between 11 and 63 deaths each year. The ACT government needs to step up and fulfil its duty of care obligation to Canberrans." "I live in Hadspen near Launceston and both towns are surrounded by hills which trap smoke in still conditions," writes Rowan. "Launceston has the worst air quality of any city in Australia - beating Sydney. The love of wood fires in Tasmania is immutable. Despite new housing being built with reverse-cycle heating (called heat-pumps down here) and electricity at 15c per kWh, people still install these stink-heaters. I feel sorry for the wildlife that cannot escape and for their habitat which is often illegally logged to feed these heaters." Murray writes: "I have a bit of lung disease caused by smoking, back in the day when everyone smoked. So when we bought our cottage in the country the first thing we did was pull out the log burner. It was out of the ark anyway. When I go out on a still, cold morning and smoke is in the air, my breathing is awful. Does that mean our neighbours must get rid of their fires? Of course not." "I loved my wood fire back in the day, but I've bowed to the knowledge it was bad for me, my neighbours and the environment," writes Keith. "However, I can't wean myself off the comfort of the bouncing flame in the living room so I've installed an electric fire. It's not quite the same but it can still generate a feeling of wellbeing on a cold morning or evening." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to The wedding, only weeks away, is off. Dreams have dissolved in a swirling fog of bitterness, betrayal and resentment. But it's a gut-wrenching sadness that will linger, not only for the couple involved but for friends and family grieving a future that will never arrive. When something you believe in falls apart, anger eventually turns to sorrow for all that is lost. These friends of ours spent a year planning their celebration. An apartment was bought. Rings and outfits purchased. Guests had paid for flights and accommodation. How to make sense of something when love abruptly turns to cold silence? You sift through the rubble looking for those tell-tale signs of cold feet and gnawing doubts that only the aftermath reveals; how one partner clung to the dream more than the other; how others saw worrying signs but looked the other way, choosing fantasy over reality. Then the hardest thing: moving on. Australia faces a similar dilemma over its alliance with the US. We now have a sullen and aloof partner who wants different things. Donald Trump is swinging a wrecking ball through a century's worth of carefully-crafted international diplomacy, treating historic loyalties as nothing more than leverage and Australia as a second-class ally whose phone calls are no longer returned. Trump's administration is actively reviewing AUKUS - the security pact promised to be the cornerstone of our future defence. He questions the value of NATO, blithely undermines long-standing commitments to the Pacific region and is openly cynical about the old world order. He not only flirts with dictators but courts them. The US is an old lover grown contemptuous of traditional values. Australia is the still-believing partner, too quick to forgive, desperately believing the relationship can still be retrieved. It's time to move on. The Australian public certainly thinks so. The latest annual survey by the US-based Pew Research Centre shows we rank behind only Sweden when it comes to anti-Trump sentiment, viewing him as dangerous and a threat to peace and the global economy. To alienate so many old friends in a few months is no mean achievement. Or an accident. Enter Anthony Albanese, his historic election victory all but forgotten in a world punch drunk from endless economic and military crises. His task - almost certainly the legacy-defining mission of his prime ministership - is to ease Australia from an increasingly unreliable relationship with the US and steer a new path for our nation. There is a blueprint of sorts for him to follow. Paul Keating saw this moment coming years ago. After decades of burying our dead in America's wars because we believed it would do the same for us, Keating said it was time for us to end our US dependency and embrace Asia, the dynamic, complex and rapidly emerging region in which we live. The former PM was ridiculed for saying we needed to grow up and stop acting like a deputy sheriff. At the time China was still a rising power. It has now risen. India is on the same path. Nations like Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea are our neighbours, trading partners and should be our strategic peers. Yet we continue treating them like brief stopovers on our way to the glamour of old London and Washington. But nostalgia is not a strategy. Growing up and moving on means investing in regional alliances, not relying on a nation teetering on the brink of civil breakdown. Trust can only be established in southeast Asia by making decisions in the best interests of us and our region, not parroting US policy that these days is increasingly erratic and unhinged. No one says we should completely walk away from America. We've long had a close and co-dependent relationship - culturally and militarily. Completely severing ties would be foolish. But like the sudden relationship implosion and hastily cancelled wedding of my friends, Australia faces two choices: to wallow in the loss of an alliance growing increasingly distant, or accept that a once strong and mutually beneficial partnership has become too one-sided. The healthy alternative? Get out into the world and make some new friends. We stopped clinging to England's skirts a long time ago. Surely we are a nation with enough ingenuity, resilience and self-belief to walk away from another damaged relationship and preserve our sense of self-worth. It might be Donald Trump's lasting contribution to international diplomacy: follow America's lead and put yourself first. HAVE YOUR SAY: Should Australia distance itself from the US and forge greater military and economic partnerships in Asia? Do you still trust the US to support Australia in the event of a conflict? Do you find Trump's disdain for the old world order refreshing or a calamity causing greater instability? Have you or someone you know been left at the altar? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - An election promise to implement a 2030 greenhouse gas emissions target has been abandoned by the Northern Territory as it vigorously pushes for more mining and energy projects. - New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group's deepening ties with China. - Up to 105 cases of land clearing, mainly for farming, could soon be under investigation by authorities after a citizen science project uncovered 90,000 hectares of bush bulldozed over the past five years. THEY SAID IT: "The view here (in Australia) is that the US will rescue us if we ever really have a problem. And I don't think that's true ... I think you're unwise for believing it's true." - Tucker Carlson YOU SAID IT: There's nothing like curling your toes in front of a roaring fire. But if you can smell the smoke it's most likely doing you harm. David thinks wood heaters should be banned: "I've had a gutful and a lung full of the smoke seeping into my house on winter evenings and filling my lungs in the backyard, not to mention polluting my freshly hung washing. I have several friends who are 'green' in many respects, but will not give up their beloved wood-fired heaters. The science is uber clear; in the ACT these heaters contribute to between 11 and 63 deaths each year. The ACT government needs to step up and fulfil its duty of care obligation to Canberrans." "I live in Hadspen near Launceston and both towns are surrounded by hills which trap smoke in still conditions," writes Rowan. "Launceston has the worst air quality of any city in Australia - beating Sydney. The love of wood fires in Tasmania is immutable. Despite new housing being built with reverse-cycle heating (called heat-pumps down here) and electricity at 15c per kWh, people still install these stink-heaters. I feel sorry for the wildlife that cannot escape and for their habitat which is often illegally logged to feed these heaters." Murray writes: "I have a bit of lung disease caused by smoking, back in the day when everyone smoked. So when we bought our cottage in the country the first thing we did was pull out the log burner. It was out of the ark anyway. When I go out on a still, cold morning and smoke is in the air, my breathing is awful. Does that mean our neighbours must get rid of their fires? Of course not." "I loved my wood fire back in the day, but I've bowed to the knowledge it was bad for me, my neighbours and the environment," writes Keith. "However, I can't wean myself off the comfort of the bouncing flame in the living room so I've installed an electric fire. It's not quite the same but it can still generate a feeling of wellbeing on a cold morning or evening." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to The wedding, only weeks away, is off. Dreams have dissolved in a swirling fog of bitterness, betrayal and resentment. But it's a gut-wrenching sadness that will linger, not only for the couple involved but for friends and family grieving a future that will never arrive. When something you believe in falls apart, anger eventually turns to sorrow for all that is lost. These friends of ours spent a year planning their celebration. An apartment was bought. Rings and outfits purchased. Guests had paid for flights and accommodation. How to make sense of something when love abruptly turns to cold silence? You sift through the rubble looking for those tell-tale signs of cold feet and gnawing doubts that only the aftermath reveals; how one partner clung to the dream more than the other; how others saw worrying signs but looked the other way, choosing fantasy over reality. Then the hardest thing: moving on. Australia faces a similar dilemma over its alliance with the US. We now have a sullen and aloof partner who wants different things. Donald Trump is swinging a wrecking ball through a century's worth of carefully-crafted international diplomacy, treating historic loyalties as nothing more than leverage and Australia as a second-class ally whose phone calls are no longer returned. Trump's administration is actively reviewing AUKUS - the security pact promised to be the cornerstone of our future defence. He questions the value of NATO, blithely undermines long-standing commitments to the Pacific region and is openly cynical about the old world order. He not only flirts with dictators but courts them. The US is an old lover grown contemptuous of traditional values. Australia is the still-believing partner, too quick to forgive, desperately believing the relationship can still be retrieved. It's time to move on. The Australian public certainly thinks so. The latest annual survey by the US-based Pew Research Centre shows we rank behind only Sweden when it comes to anti-Trump sentiment, viewing him as dangerous and a threat to peace and the global economy. To alienate so many old friends in a few months is no mean achievement. Or an accident. Enter Anthony Albanese, his historic election victory all but forgotten in a world punch drunk from endless economic and military crises. His task - almost certainly the legacy-defining mission of his prime ministership - is to ease Australia from an increasingly unreliable relationship with the US and steer a new path for our nation. There is a blueprint of sorts for him to follow. Paul Keating saw this moment coming years ago. After decades of burying our dead in America's wars because we believed it would do the same for us, Keating said it was time for us to end our US dependency and embrace Asia, the dynamic, complex and rapidly emerging region in which we live. The former PM was ridiculed for saying we needed to grow up and stop acting like a deputy sheriff. At the time China was still a rising power. It has now risen. India is on the same path. Nations like Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea are our neighbours, trading partners and should be our strategic peers. Yet we continue treating them like brief stopovers on our way to the glamour of old London and Washington. But nostalgia is not a strategy. Growing up and moving on means investing in regional alliances, not relying on a nation teetering on the brink of civil breakdown. Trust can only be established in southeast Asia by making decisions in the best interests of us and our region, not parroting US policy that these days is increasingly erratic and unhinged. No one says we should completely walk away from America. We've long had a close and co-dependent relationship - culturally and militarily. Completely severing ties would be foolish. But like the sudden relationship implosion and hastily cancelled wedding of my friends, Australia faces two choices: to wallow in the loss of an alliance growing increasingly distant, or accept that a once strong and mutually beneficial partnership has become too one-sided. The healthy alternative? Get out into the world and make some new friends. We stopped clinging to England's skirts a long time ago. Surely we are a nation with enough ingenuity, resilience and self-belief to walk away from another damaged relationship and preserve our sense of self-worth. It might be Donald Trump's lasting contribution to international diplomacy: follow America's lead and put yourself first. HAVE YOUR SAY: Should Australia distance itself from the US and forge greater military and economic partnerships in Asia? Do you still trust the US to support Australia in the event of a conflict? Do you find Trump's disdain for the old world order refreshing or a calamity causing greater instability? Have you or someone you know been left at the altar? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - An election promise to implement a 2030 greenhouse gas emissions target has been abandoned by the Northern Territory as it vigorously pushes for more mining and energy projects. - New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group's deepening ties with China. - Up to 105 cases of land clearing, mainly for farming, could soon be under investigation by authorities after a citizen science project uncovered 90,000 hectares of bush bulldozed over the past five years. THEY SAID IT: "The view here (in Australia) is that the US will rescue us if we ever really have a problem. And I don't think that's true ... I think you're unwise for believing it's true." - Tucker Carlson YOU SAID IT: There's nothing like curling your toes in front of a roaring fire. But if you can smell the smoke it's most likely doing you harm. David thinks wood heaters should be banned: "I've had a gutful and a lung full of the smoke seeping into my house on winter evenings and filling my lungs in the backyard, not to mention polluting my freshly hung washing. I have several friends who are 'green' in many respects, but will not give up their beloved wood-fired heaters. The science is uber clear; in the ACT these heaters contribute to between 11 and 63 deaths each year. The ACT government needs to step up and fulfil its duty of care obligation to Canberrans." "I live in Hadspen near Launceston and both towns are surrounded by hills which trap smoke in still conditions," writes Rowan. "Launceston has the worst air quality of any city in Australia - beating Sydney. The love of wood fires in Tasmania is immutable. Despite new housing being built with reverse-cycle heating (called heat-pumps down here) and electricity at 15c per kWh, people still install these stink-heaters. I feel sorry for the wildlife that cannot escape and for their habitat which is often illegally logged to feed these heaters." Murray writes: "I have a bit of lung disease caused by smoking, back in the day when everyone smoked. So when we bought our cottage in the country the first thing we did was pull out the log burner. It was out of the ark anyway. When I go out on a still, cold morning and smoke is in the air, my breathing is awful. Does that mean our neighbours must get rid of their fires? Of course not." "I loved my wood fire back in the day, but I've bowed to the knowledge it was bad for me, my neighbours and the environment," writes Keith. "However, I can't wean myself off the comfort of the bouncing flame in the living room so I've installed an electric fire. It's not quite the same but it can still generate a feeling of wellbeing on a cold morning or evening." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to The wedding, only weeks away, is off. Dreams have dissolved in a swirling fog of bitterness, betrayal and resentment. But it's a gut-wrenching sadness that will linger, not only for the couple involved but for friends and family grieving a future that will never arrive. When something you believe in falls apart, anger eventually turns to sorrow for all that is lost. These friends of ours spent a year planning their celebration. An apartment was bought. Rings and outfits purchased. Guests had paid for flights and accommodation. How to make sense of something when love abruptly turns to cold silence? You sift through the rubble looking for those tell-tale signs of cold feet and gnawing doubts that only the aftermath reveals; how one partner clung to the dream more than the other; how others saw worrying signs but looked the other way, choosing fantasy over reality. Then the hardest thing: moving on. Australia faces a similar dilemma over its alliance with the US. We now have a sullen and aloof partner who wants different things. Donald Trump is swinging a wrecking ball through a century's worth of carefully-crafted international diplomacy, treating historic loyalties as nothing more than leverage and Australia as a second-class ally whose phone calls are no longer returned. Trump's administration is actively reviewing AUKUS - the security pact promised to be the cornerstone of our future defence. He questions the value of NATO, blithely undermines long-standing commitments to the Pacific region and is openly cynical about the old world order. He not only flirts with dictators but courts them. The US is an old lover grown contemptuous of traditional values. Australia is the still-believing partner, too quick to forgive, desperately believing the relationship can still be retrieved. It's time to move on. The Australian public certainly thinks so. The latest annual survey by the US-based Pew Research Centre shows we rank behind only Sweden when it comes to anti-Trump sentiment, viewing him as dangerous and a threat to peace and the global economy. To alienate so many old friends in a few months is no mean achievement. Or an accident. Enter Anthony Albanese, his historic election victory all but forgotten in a world punch drunk from endless economic and military crises. His task - almost certainly the legacy-defining mission of his prime ministership - is to ease Australia from an increasingly unreliable relationship with the US and steer a new path for our nation. There is a blueprint of sorts for him to follow. Paul Keating saw this moment coming years ago. After decades of burying our dead in America's wars because we believed it would do the same for us, Keating said it was time for us to end our US dependency and embrace Asia, the dynamic, complex and rapidly emerging region in which we live. The former PM was ridiculed for saying we needed to grow up and stop acting like a deputy sheriff. At the time China was still a rising power. It has now risen. India is on the same path. Nations like Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea are our neighbours, trading partners and should be our strategic peers. Yet we continue treating them like brief stopovers on our way to the glamour of old London and Washington. But nostalgia is not a strategy. Growing up and moving on means investing in regional alliances, not relying on a nation teetering on the brink of civil breakdown. Trust can only be established in southeast Asia by making decisions in the best interests of us and our region, not parroting US policy that these days is increasingly erratic and unhinged. No one says we should completely walk away from America. We've long had a close and co-dependent relationship - culturally and militarily. Completely severing ties would be foolish. But like the sudden relationship implosion and hastily cancelled wedding of my friends, Australia faces two choices: to wallow in the loss of an alliance growing increasingly distant, or accept that a once strong and mutually beneficial partnership has become too one-sided. The healthy alternative? Get out into the world and make some new friends. We stopped clinging to England's skirts a long time ago. Surely we are a nation with enough ingenuity, resilience and self-belief to walk away from another damaged relationship and preserve our sense of self-worth. It might be Donald Trump's lasting contribution to international diplomacy: follow America's lead and put yourself first. HAVE YOUR SAY: Should Australia distance itself from the US and forge greater military and economic partnerships in Asia? Do you still trust the US to support Australia in the event of a conflict? Do you find Trump's disdain for the old world order refreshing or a calamity causing greater instability? Have you or someone you know been left at the altar? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - An election promise to implement a 2030 greenhouse gas emissions target has been abandoned by the Northern Territory as it vigorously pushes for more mining and energy projects. - New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group's deepening ties with China. - Up to 105 cases of land clearing, mainly for farming, could soon be under investigation by authorities after a citizen science project uncovered 90,000 hectares of bush bulldozed over the past five years. THEY SAID IT: "The view here (in Australia) is that the US will rescue us if we ever really have a problem. And I don't think that's true ... I think you're unwise for believing it's true." - Tucker Carlson YOU SAID IT: There's nothing like curling your toes in front of a roaring fire. But if you can smell the smoke it's most likely doing you harm. David thinks wood heaters should be banned: "I've had a gutful and a lung full of the smoke seeping into my house on winter evenings and filling my lungs in the backyard, not to mention polluting my freshly hung washing. I have several friends who are 'green' in many respects, but will not give up their beloved wood-fired heaters. The science is uber clear; in the ACT these heaters contribute to between 11 and 63 deaths each year. The ACT government needs to step up and fulfil its duty of care obligation to Canberrans." "I live in Hadspen near Launceston and both towns are surrounded by hills which trap smoke in still conditions," writes Rowan. "Launceston has the worst air quality of any city in Australia - beating Sydney. The love of wood fires in Tasmania is immutable. Despite new housing being built with reverse-cycle heating (called heat-pumps down here) and electricity at 15c per kWh, people still install these stink-heaters. I feel sorry for the wildlife that cannot escape and for their habitat which is often illegally logged to feed these heaters." Murray writes: "I have a bit of lung disease caused by smoking, back in the day when everyone smoked. So when we bought our cottage in the country the first thing we did was pull out the log burner. It was out of the ark anyway. When I go out on a still, cold morning and smoke is in the air, my breathing is awful. Does that mean our neighbours must get rid of their fires? Of course not." "I loved my wood fire back in the day, but I've bowed to the knowledge it was bad for me, my neighbours and the environment," writes Keith. "However, I can't wean myself off the comfort of the bouncing flame in the living room so I've installed an electric fire. It's not quite the same but it can still generate a feeling of wellbeing on a cold morning or evening."
Sky News AU
5 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Donald Trump's fear of Iran becoming ‘another Libya' stalls decision on nuke site strikes for two weeks: sources
President Trump's wariness over bombing Iran is due in part to concerns about creating 'another Libya' if Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is toppled, administration insiders told The Post — as Trump shelves his decision for up to two weeks. The president in recent days has specifically mentioned the oil-rich North African country's decade-long plunge into anarchy in 2011 — after the US joined a NATO bombing campaign to oust dictator Muammar Gaddafi — three sources close to the administration said. Trump 'doesn't want it to turn into Libya,' said one insider familiar with the administration's deliberations on potentially joining Israel's airstrikes against Iran's nuclear program. On Thursday afternoon, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the president was also biding his time before deciding whether to join Israel's strikes 'based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future.' Iran's Foreign Minister Araghchi is expected to meet his UK, French, German, and EU counterparts in Geneva, Switzerland on Friday for talks. Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff is not set to attend, Leavitt said, but noted that he's continued his own conversations with the Iranians. One of The Post's sources said they directly heard the president say in private he was worried about Iran becoming like Libya before Israel began its aerial assault on Iran. Other sources were briefed by those who had heard him say so following the start of the conflict last week, with one source close to the administration saying he also mentioned Afghanistan and Iraq. A fifth source lacked direct knowledge of the Libya remarks, but was briefed on Trump's considerations, said the president seems most inclined to order limited airstrikes to finish off Iran's nuclear facilities at Fordow and Natanz with 30,000-pound 'bunker buster' bombs that can't be carried on Israeli jets. 'Libya was a much more extended kind of bombing commitment, and it ended up being regime change,' the fifth source noted. 'If the regime falls [in Iran], then it's not on Trump, because that's not the goal of his very limited strike.' That source mentioned concern that 'we get somebody worse than Khamenei.' 'As far as President Trump goes, he's not going to get in the business of who runs Iran, that's very salable to his base,' the source said. If the US does successfully use bunker busters on the nuclear sites, one source close to the White House said 'there is still dealing with Iran's response' and fears of contamination or Iran retaliating through terrorism. 'He'd rather have a deal,' the source told The Post. 'There are two reasons Trump talks about Libya: the first is the chaos after what we did to Gaddafi. The second is the Libya intervention made it more difficult to negotiate deals with countries like North Korea and Iran,' said the source who heard the president directly mention the comparison. Israel's defense minister left no doubt that the Jewish state is in favor of regime change on Thursday after dubbing Iran's supreme leader 'the modern Hitler.' 'The IDF has been instructed and knows that to achieve all the objectives, without question this man should no longer continue to exist,' Defense Minister Israel Katz said. Hours later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the choice of US involvement in the conflict was 'entirely' up to Trump, claiming for the first time that the Israeli military was capable of decimating the remaining Iranian nuclear facilities without American bunker-buster bombs. 'We will achieve all our objectives and hit all of their nuclear facilities. We have the capability to do that,' Netanyahu said when asked by a reporter about the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant hidden half a mile under a mountain. Trump's cabinet members have also expressed strong concerns regarding UN watchdog findings about Iran violating its non-proliferation obligations for uranium enrichment, far above what's considered necessary for civilian purposes and at levels 'unprecedented for a non-nuclear state,' a US official said. CIA Director John Ratcliffe has in private meetings made the analogy that suggesting Iran is not prepared to make use of its near weapons-grade nuclear program would be like saying a football team one-yard from the end zone doesn't want to score a touchdown, according to the official. After Israel launched its preemptive airstrikes on Iran last week, many military experts had doubted that the Jewish state has the capabilities of taking out Fordow, given how far underground it's located. Even Israel's 2,000-pound bombs, purchased from the US, had been believed to be too small. Multiple countries in the region have been torn apart by long-running civil wars involving the US — including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen — but Trump has repeatedly pointed to Libya. Libya's longtime dictator Gaddafi, who ruled for 42 years and voluntarily gave up a nuclear weapon program in 2003, was toppled by domestic foes aided by the Obama administration's intervention. Khamenei similarly has ruled for a generation — with 35 years in power as supreme leader after nearly eight years as Iran's president under the first supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini. In Libya, a hoped-for democratic transition gave way to a hellscape of ruthless warlords and religious extremists. Slave markets opened and Islamic State terrorists filmed themselves beheading groups of Christians on the beach. Oil production plunged and the lack of a central government prompted Africans from across the continent to cross the Mediterranean to Europe in unsafe boats. Leavitt told reporters at Thursday's White House briefing that 'the president is balancing a lot of viewpoints and he is listening not just to other world leaders, but to his advisors and to people here in the country and the American people too.' 'Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,' she said, sharing a full statement from Trump. On regime change, Leavitt said 'the president's top priority right now is to ensure that Iran can not attain a nuclear weapon and providing peace and stability to the Middle East.' The White House referred The Post to Leavitt's comments made during the briefing. Originally published as Donald Trump's fear of Iran becoming 'another Libya' stalls decision on nuke site strikes for two weeks: sources
