Patriotism, Leadership, and Western Security | Alexander Downer

John joins Alexander Downer to explore the significant geopolitical challenges of today, drawing comparisons to the dangerous period of the 1930s.
Alexander warns of potential large-scale conflicts stemming from entanglements in Ukraine, the Middle East, and the South China Sea, emphasizing the need for a strong, principled approach to foreign policy. He criticises the gradual decline in defence spending and the unpreparedness of Western countries, driven by a false sense of security. Alexander also questions the economic viability of extensive green energy initiatives, arguing they impose heavy burdens without significantly impacting global emissions.
Touching on migration, leadership, and the rise of populism, Alexander encourages political leaders to be honest and transparent, taking seriously the public concerns about declining living standards, illegal immigration, and the sustainability of welfare programs. He calls for a renewed sense of patriotism and pride in national achievements, rejecting divisive identity politics and historical denigration.
Alexander Downer is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was the leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Australia's longest-serving Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and served as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2014 to 2018.
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00:00 Intro
01:37 Dangerous Times
14:23 Trust Between Government and Public
36:00 We Need Better Leadership
40:35 Nationalism, Patriotism and Immigration
48:52 Israel and Antisemitism
01:05:52 Dictatorships Within the West
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Conversations feature John Anderson, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, interviewing the world's foremost thought leaders about today's pressing social, cultural and political issues.
John believes proper, robust dialogue is necessary if we are to maintain our social strength and cohesion. As he puts it; "You cannot get good public policy out of a bad public debate."
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/ alexanderdowner

[@justmemimi7338]

It feels as if western societies are driving their economies and societies into the ground. Cheap, reliable energy underpins everything else: production, and our quality of life. We have no consensus about global warming, and have embarked on a collective Great Leap Forward into renewables. At the same time, and despite claims of climate concern and energy transformation, these same countries tries are allowing extraordinary immigration, which will impose further stress on infrastructure, not to mention cultural tensions. As for spending, the ALP demonstrates that they have not had productive jobs, or run a business, and that they have lived off, and spend, other people’s money. The NDIS is outrageous. The ALP boasted increased employment, yet one in three jobs was for the NHS. There are profoundly disabled people,e who deserve to be looked after, but there’s no doubt there is a lot of rorting. Leftist governments seem to be encouraging reliance on the government. Sorry for the long response. I’m just astonished at how poorly governed so many countries are at the moment, and they seem to be replicating each other’s policies, in lockstep.

[@ratumelimatanatoto2488]

Until people in the West like Australia are willing to take a huge paycut to become competitive again, the decline is inevitable. Multinationals are looking for cheap labour and they have found that in Southeastern Asian countries like Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia etc..as wages and salaries rise in those countries they will move on to the African countries where the population are young and increasingly becoming educated.

[@justmemimi7338]

@@ratumelimatanatoto2488 that’s an interesting point, thank you.

[@grannyannie2948]

Most countries are run by Schwab's puppets.

[@matttcoburn]

I don't think it's by accident they are in lockstep

[@grannyannie2948]

Until the 1990s we had tarrifs on imports to solve this.

[@dionwall5519]

After listening to this podcast a long time, I think this was my favorite. Just a politician who talks reasonably and apparently honestly about what needs to be done.

[@charlesdell1585]

Thankyou We need more honest discussion from our leaders

[@ihsw8]

You missed all the honest comments which were deleted by the moderator. Downer is SO dishonest and Anderson lets it all go, unchallenged. Think 'Steele dossier' as a simple starter.

[@LucienCanon]

We had national patriotism, not just 'patriotism', until governments opened the third world flood gates and imposed an official policy of 'Multicultralism', Mr Downer. Ultimately, true patriotism doesn't exist without the idiology of nationalism.

[@leonharrison800]

Good. Bring in the Palestinian refugees! Australia is done. More multiculturalism matters. 🇵🇸🇵🇸❤❤

[@franhansen5507]

Brilliant discussion, really enjoyed it.

[@Neo_Red_Pill]

Thank you, gentlemen for giving us voice. Please keep speaking the truth and getting it to the world.🙏

[@denroy3]

He gave you a very basic point of view...and failed completely to address the issues that have started conflict.

[@kev_cub2740]

I was in my early 20’s in the Howard yrs- I’m now ashamed to say- due to poor education- I HATED the liberal govt of the time. I was young and did not understand the history of democracy or the west… I was an entitled, product of my upbringing Nearing 50yo & seeing how swiftly this could all fall apart, begining to understand they principles that you both stand for- I find myself a huge admirer of your efforts

[@user-ul9dv2iv9s]

Why. What are their achievements. I'm not aware of any.

[@lucysteiner4556]

Let’s divert all the resources to the military industrial complex. Way to go boys,

[@Design_no]

Either that or end up squashed. It's not the West threatening global sustainability.

[@rezaasghari7080]

Mr Anderson. With all respect your role as an interviewer is not merely to nod and applaud everything Interviewee is saying but also to challenge them and perhaps criticize them if necessary. Alex rightly claimed about Obama appeasing mullahs in Iran in 2009 and closing his eyes on the brutal suppression of protesters, to get nuclear deal which led to Iran funding Hamas and Hezbollah. But Howard government did the biggest help in strengthening Iran by removing saddam hossein ( another despot) and as a part of coalition of willing , they lied about WMD , killed tens of thousands of, ruined Iraq and created another coalition of willing of Iran and Iraq putting the lives of everyone in the region including Israel in danger.

[@robmoss7580]

The statecraft probably made sense at the time in terms of shoring up the American alliance. But in retrospect seems both morally and geopolitically questionable.

[@aussiemadman7560]

this Albanese has never had a real job from the moment he was born lived off the hard work of others and yet he has 6 houses

[@user-ul9dv2iv9s]

Really. Albanese has 6 houses has he. And there was me thinking he had only I investment property with the big front page story recently that he asked the tenant to vacate it for whatever reason. Shocking isn't it. Have you checked on the investment portfolios of these 2 hypocrites? These 2 born with silver spoons waggling from their overblown and privileged posteriors, these professional politicians. You're outrage is MIGHTY peculiar there pardner. Yeeha.

[@aussiemadman7560]

@@user-ul9dv2iv9s ic you dont dispute he has never had a real job and he has lived of the hard work of others

[@pinguswalk]

the envy is dripping off of your post lol

[@user-ul9dv2iv9s]

People can't tell the difference between envy and anger. Envy is the go to excuse to deflect criticism away from those profiting from the huge expenses of paying for essentials, such as necessities like housing. "Envy" and "migrants"? Better put with using the words exploitation and racism.

[@Ozgipsy]

Bloody good to hear Alexander off the hook. Great interview. 👍

[@ihsw8]

He's not "off the hook" for all the deleted commentator's comments on this interview. Disgrace.

[@LucienCanon]

The NDIS must be _dramatically_ reigned in. Doing so would actually be popular with the voters, it just requires leadership to carefully and resolutely prosecute the case

[@yvonnelashford2969]

I work with a woman whose entire family is either employed by or receiving assistance from the NDIS - from her sister’s TWELVE disabled children all with their own plans ( number thirteen died) to her somewhat disabled father in law actually being employed by his daughter who has an NDIS business. These people have been housed - in one case in a beachfront hotel while they are paid rent for disabled people to live in their house. Rort is an understatement.

[@LesterBarrett]

"politics and where we're at..." Yes, that seems to be a big part of the problem. There is so much manipulation in the news; so much deception in education. We seem to have elected a large percentage of politicians who are not in place because of their ability to understand where we are at, where we are coming from, or where we are going. Party politics has dominated so many political systems in the West that focus on issues abroad and even at home is subjected to political survival. If one watches the news in some key areas for a year or two, and actually devotes enough attention and analysis to what is observed, it is not difficult to see the status of the players, the bluffs and the serious pushes. Whack-a-mole has replaced a long term perspective. Decisions are being made by people who should not be making decisions. During recent decades, American Forces and those of allies have been taking warto the enemy whenever they show their head. This has not gone unnoticed, especially since it has often been a subject of open discussion in the media, as if it were some kind of virtue that could go on forever if just the right amount of appeasement were offered. Like the Al Aqsa flood, the same strategy of slow envelopment followed by shock and awe has been adopted by enemies and frenemies alike. Russia, Iran, China, terrorist movements, and more have been and are infiltrating the West to take the war to us. To prop up failing and mismanaged economies, the quiet acceptance of as much immigration as the public will allow is being used as a bulwark against the loss of population due to pessimistic birth rates. The people at the lower end of the pyramid aren't getting enough of anything, especially financial security, to venture into parenthood. The problem affects friends and enemies alike. This change in demographics will be paid for later, as is the habit with incompetent leadership. Someone else will clean up the mess, probably with a lot of violence, allowing the present leadership to continue to pursue meaningless controversies and get rich. Whenever anyone speaks of using a firm hand in foreigh policy, the prospect of potential nuclear conflict is brought up. The public is then appropriately cowed and forced to accept that someone in charge secretly knows more than they can ever know. This problem begs for a different approach. The tyranny of laws as an excuse for lack of appropriate action by those who make the laws rewards suboptimization of tactics. If those who make the laws cannot get together long enough to do the right thing, then who will do that? The people are more and more controlled everywhere. Modern surveillance and control methods have made populations into the enemy rather than the enemies that are pushing in at every vulnerability. They too have access to think tanks. Our option to provide the solution with the greatest violence is not the answer to complacency. Idiots cannot act smartly.

[@Xylos101]

Could Alex explain the role he played in crossfire hurricane and the relationship between himself and Stefan Halpert? From my knowledge he was directly tied to the first impeachment of the possible next US president and does he foresee any repercussions in relation to those action?

[@DominicFlynn]

He did it for Australia. It's literally his job. Secretly.

[@mikenielsen8781]

He's a deep-state, military/industrial complex operative . He knows they will protect him.

[@SailingWorldonWater]

And his meeting with Bill Clinton's female fixer George Stephanopolis and the 5 Eyes spying on DJT and his part in Hillarys "Russia Russia Hoax?"

[@PeteHagen-sm4tn]

@@DominicFlynn Downer did it for Barack Obama and the globalized establishment. As such he interfered in American domestic affairs. The name Alexander Downer will go down in history with people like Typhoid Mary and Vikun Quisling.

[@goatvision6908]

@@DominicFlynn That is a nice idea. No. He did it for himself and to earn a debt from others.

[@odmeli4183]

How about we leave them alone and concern about our respective countries. We trade with them without getting involved in their affairs. This is the new world order.

[@michellerayne2115]

I hope and pray thay Australians politicians don't sell this country out to the highest bidder. I hope the poletetions of this county wont line their pockets for short term gain, but long term pain. We have been dumb for quite some time, selling off our valuable, assets, and dancing curtsey to the bloody Americans.

[@grannyannie2948]

We know they will. Not just America. Chyna

[@vaniaandrade9671]

Better what you called "bloody Americans", than Chinese or Russian... Than you will miss the "bloody Americans"!!!

[@jeanettenorman7052]

We have already sold out to the Chinese CCP

[@minhsun5441]

Australia facing economic sanction from China, the Aussie farmers struggling losing billion of dollars of export : Red wine, barley, coal, lobsters etc. Mr Alexander Downer need to tell us his loyalty with Australia or the UK? Did he understand Australian economic policy ? Did he have any love for the True blue Aussie ? It heart breaking to see them suffering. When the big party is over , the economic legend gone , everyone walk away, they left with tears and hurt " "Blue Road" Not Red Rose ahead. Con duong Mau Xanh in Vietnamese. I teach you Aussie Vietnamese

[@jenniferrobinson4464]

Thoroughly enjoyed this informative easy to listen to conversation 👏👏

[@RichardPhillips1066]

Ukraine war is already lost the time to show resolve was before the war started, now Russia is engaged, only a massive intervention can shift the ballance , which would be highly dangerous, no knows how that could escalate

[@grannyannie2948]

I think we should all back out of that one, it's none of our business.

[@australiasindustrialage689]

I agree that politicians need to be honest with the public. The trouble is that the media are syphoning what the public hears, such as with the nuclear energy policy. If the Coalition wishes to sell its nuclear message, it needs to demonstrate the difference, even with coal-fired power.

[@bushranger900]

Alexander Downer at the end of the day you are a citizen of Australia in your case however you are full of your own self serving importance. I really do hope you get subpoenaed to the US. Bypassing your own cabinet to make yourself a spook for the FBI was quiet telling of your character. You will never be forgotten and not in a good way IMO.

[@user-qd8yg1fp7i]

Agreed!

[@jobaxter6021]

Well done bushranger!!!👍👍👍 I'd really like to understand his role in Russian Collusion hoax!!!

[@leonharrison800]

The same values as John Anderson. Appalling.🤮🤮🤮

[@Matto_Harvo]

So funny when former pollies talk about current pollies and point out the obvious, as if they behaved differently. They must just think we're complete efftards.

[@Snakebloke]

It's easier to see in hindsight what went wrong, the point is, our current politicians should have learned from the mistakes made by these two...but they've instead, doubled-down...

[@fatherburning358]

Was thinking the very same. The book will be on sale soon! 😂

[@grannyannie2948]

They are all puppets when in power

[@Design_no]

If you voted for the alp you must be.

[@fatherburning358]

@Design_no hahaha jumping in. Trying to start something 🤔 you really think alp voters in this thread? Hahaha 😆

[@markanderson3376]

A very interesting and informative discussion.

[@lucysteiner4556]

You don’t address whether the US and the west have the capacity or ability to wage any of these wars. It is not a question of resolve but capacity.

[@grannyannie2948]

They say two large wars one small one. Which is which ?

[@ihsw8]

They don't care about capacity. They've lost all the wars in the past 30yrs. It's a long list. And, they are going to lose WW3 as well, and we are the meat in the grinder. It's a new world and USA and allies are being left behind, like the bully in the playground also gets left behind, and lonely, eventually.

[@anthonygallagher462]

John, you do yourself no credit giving any time to Alexander Downer. Hopefully, when Trump wins, his DOJ will send Downer to prison where he belongs.

[@the_forbinproject2777]

a war ? what fight for the Pride flag? , no thanks , I'll do the right thing and let them go first .

[@justmemimi7338]

You raise an important point. Nobody will fight for a country that they feel is treating them poorly, while elevating minorities. The west’s immersion in Cultural Marxism will have consequences.

[@grannyannie2948]

So much to risk your life to defend not, abortion up until birth and drag queens reading to toddlers.

[@justmemimi7338]

@@kenbehrens5778 yes, I agrée. Many countries are in a mess, and politicians should be focusing on addressing those matters, and not trying to control the world.

[@davos1409]

You can argue about all these issues but a key measure is income and wealth distribution. Alexander should be looking at himself and his own class to pay more. Western golden age was in the 1950’s and 60’s when taxation on the rich was high and housing for normal people was a couple of times average annual incomes.

[@EagleEye3X6]

Israel today, is living all our tomorrows.

[@mikelincoln8395]

Nope! ‘Lebanon today is living all our tomorrows ’. We can only hope that it’s an Israeli scenario

[@skidooshlayman12]

convert to christianity, it's the only way to peace in middle east

[@ClementPoh]

I used to like Alexander downer but didn't the whole Russia gate thing start with him?!

[@petefalc]

Yes it did. The first warrants on the Trump campaign were due to lies he told.

[@marcbrailak9518]

John would have been interesting to get his opinion on the WEF, WHO if they are the catalyst for weak politicians in relation to an agenda they have?

[@robertwilson1006]

Excellent interview and discussion. Should be compulsory listening for all. Particularly our political and institutional “leaders”. Top notch.

[@denroy3]

I heard no mention of pushing NATo on Putin's border...no mention of Ukraine coup, no mention of bioweapons labs in Ukraine funded by US, also biolabs in China funded by US. People like this push war, start war and lie about the origins. Americans are getting more information about the lies now. Propaganda isn't quite as effective. Tell me, do you know any genuine numbers on what's going on in Ukraine? No, you don't, because they won't tell you.

[@VincitOmniaVeritas7]

Who else thought there was a fly on your screen?

[@Its.all.a.game.m8]

Patriotism is running rather thin in the UK. Johnson was a massive disappointment.

[@lucysteiner4556]

What defence companies do you represent Downer. Also Russia spends less on defence but have a bigger and more efficient military and many more nukes- get it!

[@LucienCanon]

*44:00** to **46:00** unexpectedly based from Alexander Downer. Couldn't agree more though*

[@jacklondon295]

I vote for John for Australian PM.

[@lisamareepritchard6375]

Such an interesting discussion, thank you John & Alexander 🙏 I know the world needs to reduce carbon emissions & I agree with you both on Australia. India & China are out of control! We only contribute 1.3% and are being subjected to a 43% reduction by 2030. How are we going to do this ?This will be more costly for us all in the end 😢

[@blokeVB]

32.00 usa navy divers blew up the gas pipe. But diplomatic rant

[@mysterioanonymous3206]

Bold words from someone in a completely different region and position without all the problems the EU or US would have. Moreover, from a country that's willingly fueled the Chinese industrial expansion. Let's see how he feels in the EUs shoes (location) without all that ressource wealth, but it's pretty safe to assume he'd not only be a lot poorer, but also a lot more careful. Frankly, I don't think anyone in the US or EU would really care what he thinks, because there's no insight really.

[@lucysteiner4556]

You guys don’t seem to realise you are part of the mistrust- your period in politics was no more trustful. You are deluded about your time in politics.

[@Design_no]

True to an extent, but we are living with Albonomics now, which is far, far worse.

[@MrRJM2828]

Great show !

[@ihsw8]

If you like entertainment

[@ihsw8]

Strange how so many early TRUTHFUL comments have been deleted from this podcast. Moderators know what is 'the real truth', and we can't have that, can we? Downer, like his name

[@akhalif68]

GDay John - Can you pls remind Mr Downer that the so-called "Peace Dividend" should have resulted in increased Gov funding of Vocational/TAFE and Uni education as well as health & wellbeing programs (sadly this didnt happen)...Also the inclusion of dental care wasn't included in Medicare which meant that the working poor & unemployed poor couldn't afford proper dental care!

[@grannyannie2948]

Do you really think they care about us? They replace us to raise GDP

[@Design_no]

You want everything for nothing.

[@jademacachor5823]

Correct Mr. Downer. We can remain friendly without losing our identity. And this includes the Chinese.🇵🇭

[@alanbrooke144]

Well, the question posed at 36:10 is just the reason I voted for the ACT party in New Zealand. I certainly don’t agree with quite a lot of their policies, but at least they are consistent and are up front with their policies, and certainly aren’t driven by the latest focus group results.

[@Wacko2-wrx]

I though this was an episode of the ABC Utopia series as the discussion was so laughable. America has overplayed its foreign policy so disastrously that the 80% of the non Western world has had a gut full of the sanctions, political interference, coups, military interventions, threats and economic coercions and they now have an option to resist through China. America’s hegemony is fading fast and we’re already in a multipolar world but the transition will probably require a world war before America will be forced to accept that reality. The neocon ideology at the elite level of the American government is so extreme they cannot accept their decline and subservient allies like Britain, Australia etc will be drawn into this conflict with horrendous consequences.

[@andrewbaldwin4454]

Alexander Downer had a lot of good things to say in this interview, but he had the wrong take on the Russo-Ukrainian War. The central problem when the Soviet Union collapsed was that more than 20 million Russophones found themselves outside the borders of the Russian Federation, and how this could be peacefully dealt with. The obvious solution was to give the Russian language official status at the federal level in Ukraine and at the national level in other successor states to the USSR where Russophones constituted an important minority, like the Baltic states and Moldavia. At the regional or local level Russophone language rights would be recognized where their numbers justified. Disgracefully, this was not the policy in any of these countries. The only successor state where Russian is an official language outside of the Russian Federation is Belarus, where Russian is the majority language, not a minority language. In Ukraine, legislation, especially since 2014 has become more and more anti-Russophone, dedicated to the assimilation of the Russophone minority. This led to the breakaway of Crimea, the Odesa massacre and the war in the Donbas. There was really no need for Ukraine to four lose any of its territory if its government had shown the respect for Russophone language rights that countries like Belgium, Finland and Switzerland show for the rights of their linguistic minorities. But we are where we are, and the best that Ukraine can hope to do now is negotiate a peace with Russia where they recognize that some parts of the four oblasts that Russia formally annexed in 2022 are Russian. It should also agree to make Russian the official language at the federal level and in oblasts where the numbers justify, not as a concession to Russia, but because it is the decent thing to do. Russia should also agree to respect the language rights of Ukrainophones in the lands it has annexed since 2014. Downer’s call to continue this war makes no sense. The IMF projections for real GDP on a PPP basis for 2024 show the Russian economy is 11 times larger than Ukraine’s, and this is almost certainly an underestimate. Ukraine would have been crushed already if it were not for massive Western aid, which has gone as far as having Americans, French and German military personnel take active combatant roles in this war. It is really madness, as it is the path to World War III and a possible nuclear holocaust. It is not a fight for democracy, given that President Zelensky’s mandate expired almost a week ago, and he has spent his time in office delegitimizing most of his political opponents. Zelensky was never the Ukrainian Churchill, but he is pretty much the Ukrainian Mahmoud Abbas. The instigator of this war, President Biden, is an unindicted war criminal, the man responsible for bombing the Nordstream 1 and 2 pipelines. Australia should be exerting its influence towards a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, not a continuation of this pointless war.

[@ihsw8]

Accurate comment and beautifully articulated. So much blindness, ignorance and consequent deception from Aussie leadership. These old blokes will be swept away by the coming WW3... there's no other way to world peace and economic freedom. Sad to say

[@harrying882]

The Fantastic mr downer,

[@the_forbinproject2777]

level with people ? why ? the plan is going well and will result in the destiny they want to have .

[@chopincam-robertpark6857]

Another Great One John. Keep being Great.

[@williamniggle7382]

Fernand Braudel the historian said: “The present can partly be understood by reference to the immediate past.” In order to do so, it’s indispensable to have the capability of identifying the major problems in world today. In other words, it means distinguishing the essential from the peripheral. The most essential geopolitical reality now is the rise of China and the decline of America. Despite 800 US military bases around world, of which more than 350 surround China in West Pacific, they are more likely to be the weakness of overstretch than the exposition of strength. Competition, confrontation, containment, constriction, curse, crisis, conflict, combat, ‘collective deterrence’: None of them seems to stop the advances of China, which is not just another big player in the world but the biggest player ever in the human history, predicted by Lee Kuan Yew long time ago. In contrast, after the collapse of the USSR in 1991, America at first self-indulged in the myth of ‘The End of History’, then launched 20 years’ war on elusive terrorism, invading Iraq and Afghanistan recklessly, not to mention GFC in 2007. Braudel was able to foresee the inevitable rise of China in 1963, because he had recognised the strength of Chinese civilisation. “Civilisations are extraordinary creatures, whose longevity passes all understanding. Fabulously ancient, they live on in each of us and they will still live on after we have passed away.” (A History of Civilisations)

[@overallgreatidea6433]

The technocrats have insinuated themselves into high positions of western governments and academia, and their utopian social engineering ambitions routinely steamroll the political sense of elected officials when common sense should be crafting policy instead. The core principles of politics are best learned on a school playground as a child, and on "Yes, Minister!" as an adolescent.

[@PeteHagen-sm4tn]

What is the birth rate in China today? Demography is destiny. Why are so many members of the Chinese bourgeoisie falling into poverty? Once China was the most innovative culture in the world. Today Chinese innovation is based on the theft of intellectual property from others. Public education in China produces graduates only capable of marginal innovation, not radical innovation.

[@grannyannie2948]

The one child policy combined with a culture that favours boys, has left chi na with out enough women of childbearing age to produce a viable generation. Historically when this happens in any country, it means war.

[@noelajones619]

I read this morning that the underwater cable connection to China has been cut.

[@LucienCanon]

47:30 we tell them the truth Alexander Downer. We never said they are lesser, we said they are not quite the same. They already know it. They came to us, we didnt come to them. You need to be more realistic about...reality here. They may or may not be Australian, but they cannot be Australian in the same way we are as a group.

[@michellerayne2115]

I agree strongly with both these gentlemen! I think they are the last breed of decent politicians, in Australia. We now have by enlarge, uneducated, dumb, politicians in this country. Sad to say!

[@alanmurphy5282]

Same in UK.

[@stephenhall1438]

Welcome to 1984

[@grannyannie2948]

They don't have to be bright. They just have to do what Schwab says

[@sikinside1838]

Never been a fan, follow the money with this one. John you can do better

[@peredavi]

Americans could be expected to be tired of all these international interventions and regime changes. We have been doing this since the 1950s. we would have to look at Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Ukraine and ask “how has this helped? “ we are now spending over $800 billion a year on our military. The only other larger part of the budget is now the budget deficit. We are running these budget deficits because Congress has not had the discipline to either raise taxes to fund all the things they think the American public wants or cut the budget. The lower 48% of American taxpayers are getting more back from the federal government than they pay. How long can this go on? The budget deficit is now about $2 trillion per year and budget spending has about $.30 on every dollar being deficit spending. Many of us see the Ukraine war as having been caused by pushing NATO right up to Russia’s doorstep. There were assurances made in the 1990s that NATO would not move East. I am not in favor of a huge welfare state or government of anything like the size that has become in the US. Neither am I in favor of an enormous military industrial complex that president Eisenhower warned us of. It’s all very well for allies to say “you Americans need to do a lot more”. Now there are shortfalls in recruitment of about 30%. The woke left is pursuing an agenda that teaches young people that America’s history is basically one of evil white men doing very bad things. The country is being torn apart from the inside out. In the past 3 1/2 years 10 million plus illegal immigrants of uncertain pasts have streamed across the southern border. I cannot help but think of the golf and Hans streaming into Italy in the fourth and fifth centuries CE It will be lucky if it can even remain a republic, let alone being the primary “peacekeeper” of the world. I find Trump loathsome but who else could I vote for? I am tempted to vote for RFK Junior, but that’s a wasted vote. The idea of a president Harris is completely nauseating. If I was the CCP and Russia that would be my signal to make my moves on Taiwan and the Baltic Republics. THE SHORTSIGHTEDNESS in not encouraging 2’ children families from 1970s onward with reasonable state programs for child care has created a existential problem. The Germans have shown they’re not as smart as we thought. Solar so far north and in a cloudy region uses more energy to produce hardware and have coal plants idling as backup power than will be returned The scientists who argue that CO2 and methane are only small parts of climate and in fact cloud cover which is affected by the solar storms and cosmic particles are told to shut up and get in line. Worrisome. Renewables and even nuclear cannot replace hydrocarbons.

[@australiasindustrialage689]

Notwithstanding the oppression of Israel by Egypt

[@ericpassiniemi3194]

Thank you for such clarity on World affairs

[@Itisallagame]

As Britain, Australia and the West in general developed their economies over the past 200-300 years they contributed the majority of current CO2 in the atmosphere. Now the West needs to pay their climate debt by investing in green technology to reduce pollution so that the developing economies can develop without a strangled burden of climate on them.

[@lucysteiner4556]

Ok. Less green energy, less welfare, less health, less education and not war! Yeah!

[@grannyannie2948]

Stopping immigration would achieve everything else you mention

[@lucysteiner4556]

Sorry typo. I mean more war. Irony of course.

[@grannyannie2948]

@@lucysteiner4556 I see my comment disappeared

[@timbo365]

As soon as I saw AD was talking I thought I’d get a better understanding.👍

[@robcooper5813]

Need to look at Tony Seba on renewables.

[@jelesstaats5130]

Australia is a fantastic country, from a person born in western Europe, I loved the inclusive term New Australian when we arrived.

[@marcbra5074]

Welcome mate ! ❤️👍

[@dianapanetta]

@jelesstaat5130..I miss that term now.❤

[@blokeVB]

Solomon Islands troubles . Australia docked a navy landing ship. New Zealand foreign minister and Australian foreign minister (downer) . Check book or troops. Australian gun boat diplomacy

[@claranordblom8968]

What Mr.Downer fails to mention is the importance of the genuine conversation with opponents what is lacking is an honest attempt to finding a middle ground and the attempt the true effort of resolving a conflict rather than taking a short cut and resort to weapons and force ..This is so important. It is lacking .. there should be a way in diplomacy for raprochment rather than war. I am afraid it is this attitude is what is leading today in this mess.

[@user-nj9gw3lm7z]

Such common sense, great listening

[@petefalc]

Downer is a lying scumbag. Look up his actions in crossfire hurricane as he helped try to rig an American election. He belongs in a jail cell.

[@dcklee11]

Like WW1 and WWII should US and Australian troops be sent to Ukraine and Gaza to reinforce western resolve? Unfortunately that is how both wars were resolved and not with proxy troops like it is now.

[@ihsw8]

Nuclear will ensure WW3... no alternative. Field Marshall Montgomery (a great British commander who respected troops and civilians alike) said at the end of WW2 that war is anachronistic once we reach the level of the H bomb. WW4 will be sticks and stones... you ready?

[@Itisallagame]

Why the perpetual talk about the US debt but ZERO mention of the Chinese debt that is 10X the US's?

[@rogerclark6605]

All very nice John but we must allow the Palestinian population to have their own homeland

[@lucysteiner4556]

You right about no trust.

[@ianweeks1768]

Watched it last night, Dower should have had microphone closer to his mouth, there were bad electronics during there recording. He makes sense.

[@patriciakimball8150]

❤️🙏🏼🕎

[@robmoss7580]

Thank you John and Alexander. You governed wisely and well. Miss the steady hand on the tiller...

[@andrewgrubb9268]

I struggle to listen to Downer after his involvement in the Clinton-inspired anti-Trump activities. No credibility......

[@petefalc]

Exactly right. Downer's were the very first lies told against Trump regarding Russia Collision. He was the reason they were able to wire tap Trump's team. He belongs in an American jail cell.

[@dennisstephens8793]

Modeling can be based on science but not science

[@peterforsythe3643]

I wish I could give this talk TWO Likes ! 👍👍

[@binaryagenda]

It's not antisemitic to criticise Israel's ethnic cleansing in Gaza. Just because they were mistreated a century ago doesn't give them perpetual carte blanche to do whatever they want.

[@lucysteiner4556]

If there is a rise in anti semitism it lies at the feet of Netanyahu and Israeli governments practice of apartheid and now the genocidal ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians under occupation. It’s OK for the Israelis to condemn the entire Palestinians population for the uprising of the Hamas insurgents but the Israelis can’t admit their war crimes perpetrated against the Palestinian people have fuelled anti semitism.

[@bigtone667]

He still sounds like a politician giving sound bites. He says places like China and India need to reduce their CO2 emissions because they are the big contributors. Perhaps we should start manufacturing all of goods we need in our own country, and then their CO2 emissions would go down.

[@dog__backwards9547]

bAR 2024

[@user-qf7nl5lc7y]

❤Americans- the EU has been the big problem!!! Look elsewhere !

[@dennisstephens8793]

Just explain to me.....what the science is that says carbon is causing this situation...not a model that

[@ihsw8]

Carbon is a scam for ppl who don't want development and freedom in the world... Kerry, Gore, Schwab, there's hundreds of them choking the world to death.

[@davidhemsted5372]

We already know all this. Why don't you start a new political party?

[@williamsnowden8186]

A good appraisal of international affairs, characterised by clear and analytical thinking, and that commodity these days ... Good sense! John Anderson is an admirable interviewer who asks probing questions and listens (!), and then asks relevant, supplementary questions. In stark contrast to the rude, aggressive confrontational and discursive presenters on BBC Radio Four.

[@lucysteiner4556]

Downer, you achieved nothing in your time as firing affairs minster. Nothing! I can’t think of anything. I’m 68. I was there.

[@dog__backwards9547]

Better lat than never. Welcome to the confusion?

[@trevorfuller1078]

C(c)onservative leaders in Anglosphere countries are not wont to defend the histories, heritages, cultures, constitutions & traditions, because many contemporary figures, if not most today, are so incredibly, woefully ignorant & lamentably unsure of these topics that they either are incapable or do not have the intellectual confidence or wherewithal of constructing or maintaining an argument or opinion to expound or defend such principles or effectively argue in favour of such truthful historical contexts or facts, when they are wrongly attacked or scandalously criticized by Wokists or other leftists, who usually have no other valid arguments or real justifications against their traditional beliefs, values or common histories other than to scurrilously undermine or falsely criticize them, in order to wantonly promote & disseminate their own hideous, dishonest & biased propaganda, beliefs, & interests, which are usually orientated towards attaining their ultimately dubious objectives!!

[@michaelmcqueen4514]

China Vs USA & Japan Russia Vs UK & Europe Iran Vs Israel

[@lucysteiner4556]

US v Russia US v China US v Iran Israel and US ethnic ckeansing Gaza US destroying Europe US v Syria US v Yemen US destroys Iraq loses and leaves US destroys Afghanistan, loses and leaves Guess who is the bully and warmonger in todays world.

[@the.parks.of.no.return]

More Australian aid to ukraine ? Brilliant idea send a trillion dollars of weapons and 100,000 troops and it will be fine.

[@lucysteiner4556]

Spending money on the people of a country secures a country going forward. Not wars. I can’t believe you guys. You are such dinosaurs! .

[@alanaadams7440]

America has the least carbon production than any country of the same size and in the world

[@h.astley2113]

prelude to war? talk about a downer hehe

[@steveballard515]

Shame job JOHN

[@wettham715]

I am not woke!!!

[@lucysteiner4556]

You were just banging on about listening to the people. That governments should listen to the people. Have you turned on your TV recently or popped your head over the top of the silo you are in? People all over the world are protesting the genocide in Gaza. Listen to the people!

[@user-hu1kc3pt7t]

It she e based on class not color.

[@dog__backwards9547]

FURY

[@jelesstaats5130]

Peter Dutton might be made of the right stuff,

[@lucysteiner4556]

Fluffy pillows??

[@jasonseng5463]

Just 2 upper class right wingers agreeing with each other. Nothing to see here.

[@jiahan3849]

Thanks for the clear analysis. Obama's Iran policy was the key error.

[@glengrant3884]

You two are as relevant as fluffy pillows!🤮🤑🤣