Cardinals attend final mourning mass for Pope Francis ahead of conclave
Catholic Church cardinals have attended the final mourning mass for Pope Francis before gathering for a conclave to elect the next pontiff.
French Cardinal Dominique Mamberti led the prayer in St Peter's Basilica on the last day of the Novendiali.
Around 133 cardinals under the age of 80 will enter the Sistine Chapel on May 7 to vote for the next church leader.
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The Age
17 hours ago
- The Age
Let's consciously uncouple from unreliable America
To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@ Please include your home address and telephone number below your letter. No attachments. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published. AUKUS The AUKUS review is no surprise. We should review it too. AUKUS was a Scott Morrison thought bubble which resulted in a cost of $3.35billion to cancel the French submarines deal. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese kept the AUKUS strategy, so the Coalition could not brand Labor as being soft on defence. The cancelled deal impacted our relationship with France whose presence in the South Pacific make it an obvious partner for Australia. The cost of AUKUS and the problems of nuclear waste, for which we have no infrastructure, were not considered. Since this decision, we have found the US under Trump is not a reliable ally. War in the 21st century has dramatically changed. The Ukrainians who have virtually no navy have destroyed a third of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. The economics of war has changed. Cheap drones can destroy multi-million dollar aircraft ships and tanks. It's time to get out of AUKUS and plan for a 21st century war instead. Peter Ramadge, Newport Time for Australia to finally grow up AUKUS: Absurdly Useless Kingsize Unrealisable Scheme. A more than 20 year gap before the highly questionable submarines could potentially arrive, with all their attendant risks, should alone alarm us. The change in military technology in that time is unimaginable. Submarines, nuclear or otherwise, could be obsolete by then. There is no plan B, and we will continue to pour huge amounts of money into a deal that America does not have to honour. The US, Trump or no Trump, is not interested in our welfare any more, if indeed it ever was. It's high time for Australia to finally grow up, especially in the current world's hostile environment. After looking to Britain last century and then to America since the second world war, we have never seized our own sovereignty. It's time to stop focusing on the US whether in our defence policy or in any other global matter, especially now as we watch it implode. Listening to our 'in denial' politicians, Richard Marles in particular, invites despair. Jill Toulantas, Clifton Hill Why didn't ALP review AUKUS? If, as Defence Minister Richard Marles says, it is normal for a new administration to review a big program such as AUKUS, why didn't he do that in 2022 when the ALP came into government? Denny Meadows, Hawthorn Trump is a symptom of America's decline Emma Shortis (Opinion, ″ For Trump, LA is just the beginning. Soon, he'll monitor every move Americans make ″, 11/6) joins a growing group of observers calling for a rethink of our relationship with the US. Breaking up is hard to do, and most former partners accept that there are no cost-free breakups, but it is still possible to maintain a reasonable relationship. Of course there would be costs in reducing our traditional, but hazardous independence on America for security. However, any competent risk analyst would surely find that they were modest compared with our present course. AUKUS submarines, expansion of Tindal airbase for strategic US bombers and upgrade of HMAS Stirling to host US nuclear submarines, for example, subordinate Australia to US foreign policy goals. A major goal is to contain China, our major trading partner, that has currently almost no incentive to attack Australia. If our experiences in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan have not demonstrated that today's US is not the country of the 1940s, then Donald Trump's reelection should. He is a symptom of US decline, not a cause—and damning evidence that warnings from leaders such as Malcolm Fraser of an uncritical US alliance were prescient. Norman Huon, Port Melbourne Aukus savings Perhaps Donald Trump might do us all a favour and kill the AUKUS agreement. It would free the government to invest in more conventional submarines for defending our coastline. Any savings could be used to mass produce and deploy missiles and drones. The Ukrainian war demonstrates how effective drones can be as a weapon of war. The government could also use any savings from the AUKUS cancellation to invest in cybersecurity as cyber attacks would have the potential to bring transport, comm12unications, finance and supply chains to a dead halt. However, I suspect these common-sense suggestions will be ignored by our political masters Andrew Ferrier, West Launceston, Tas THE FORUM Researching bias The Pew Research Centre polling has upset my assumption that almost no one in Australia would approve of Trump's presidency (' Australians on Trump: dumb, dangerous and dishonest ', 12/6. It is depressing, for example, to think that 28 per cent of Australian men have confidence in Trump. But probably fair enough. It confirms my own sampling. I don't have much confidence in 28 per cent of Australian men. Bronwen Murdoch, South Melbourne
Sydney Morning Herald
18 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Trump's AUKUS review gives us a chance to rethink our alliances
Stephen Bartholomeusz' excellent article led me to speculate on our strategic defence strategy (' Has Trump created a path for the Euro to displace the $US?' June 12). As our prime minister prepares to meet US President Donald Trump, he will be well aware of the growing distaste among most Australians for our long-standing alliance with America. Now, Washington is reconsidering AUKUS (' AUKUS in doubt as US starts review ', June 11). It is natural for a state to put its own interests first, but why doesn't Australia do the same? You don't need to be Einstein to work out the AUKUS subs will never materialise. What if Australia got ahead of the game for once and explored a revised strategic alliance with Britain and France, based initially on French nuclear subs? We are at an historic juncture where most of the Western world is looking for a new, more stable order, so let's begin with a plan to not only strengthen our defence capability, but to strengthen our overall relations with Europe. This will also remove the possible perennial sore point that AUKUS threatens to become. Win-win? James Archibald, Enmore Australia's commitment to AUKUS and its multi-billion dollar submarine project is misguided and outdated. It's as if our leaders have ignored everything the war in Ukraine has taught the world about modern warfare. We are investing billions in submarines that will take decades to deliver – vessels designed for a form of warfare that is rapidly becoming obsolete. Meanwhile, we've seen how inexpensive drones and smart technology can disable or destroy equipment worth 100 times more. The battlefield has changed, and we are failing to keep up. On top of that, we're now investing in long-range missile systems. One has to ask: who are these intended for? You don't buy long-range missiles unless you plan to use them – and that points to a dangerous shift in our military posture from defence to offence. What Australia really needs is a smart, modern, defensive capability – one that protects our people and land, not one that provokes arms races or ties us to foreign conflicts. It's time to stop buying Cold War-era hardware. It's time to modernise our defence, focus on protecting our own shores, and make foreign policy decisions based on Australia's best interests, not Washington's. Doug Cliff, Point Clare In 2020, Donald Trump handed Scott Morrison one of America's highest military awards, the Legion of Merit. By 2021, the AUKUS deal between these two self-serving cronies had signed away billions of dollars of Australian taxpayers' money for a deal that gives us nothing but astronomical national debt and the award for being the world's biggest suckers. Anthony Albanese should have taken the opportunity to speak with a comparatively rational leader when Joe Biden was president and make cancelling AUKUS a priority before Trump's return. Instead, desperate to play with the big boys in the playground, he chose to deepen our commitment. We haven't just agreed to being fleeced by, and enslaved to, a dangerous and dishonest America, we have willingly funded it even though it's obvious the submarines will never appear. We expected to be betrayed by a lowlife like Trump, but we have mainly been betrayed by our own politicians, whose cringing weaknesses and pathetic egos have treacherously put our country last. Sally Morris, Leichhardt Cut the rope. Push America off into the Atlantic. Cancel AUKUS. Get back our deposit. Buy our subs from Japan. Strengthen our ties with Japan, China, Indonesia, Europe and India. Let Trump pump his fists in front of his own mirror. Laurie Dicker, Forest Glen If Trump cancels AUKUS, the US will be left with only one ally, Israel. Thinking of it, there's also Russia and North Korea. Ron Brown, Wallsend Democrats blew it With the escalating unrest in America, I am left with increasing anger at the incompetent Democrats, who must now take significant responsibility for the chaos by failing to 'read the room' in the election year (' Los Angeles is at war with Trump's vision of America ', June 12). I was in America for the three months before the election, and all the Democrats did in the media was bang on about a woman's right to an abortion. Fine indeed, but they completely ignored the concerns of the ordinary American people about issues that affected them: jobs, border control, inflation, the economy generally. So as a result of that incompetence, we are left watching America unravel. It is riveting reading each day and I think your US correspondent, Michael Koziol, has the best job in the world – if he can stay safe. Duncan Holmes, Freshwater Q+A's demise began in 2019 It's no surprise that the ABC's Q+A is being canned (' Q+A axed, jobs cut ', June 12). The loss of host Tony Jones in 2019 was arguably the beginning of the end. No subsequent host was a match for his professionalism, innate humour and unbiased adjudication of what were much more interesting, robust and challenging discussions or debates. The later hosts invariably made it about themselves, their opinions, gripes, preferred preselected predictable questions, modifying and asking their own questions, and the twee pursuit of gotcha moments. This self-interested myopia is exactly what Australians have clearly just rejected in their politicians, so no wonder the ratings went south under the keen judgment of discerning ABC audiences. Robyn Dalziell, Kellyville It really is enough to make an old political junkie cry (' Axed show no longer got us talking ', June 12). Panel shows where opposing parties eyeball each other and ideas are passionately contested should be the bread and butter of the ABC, but it seems our increasingly tame public broadcaster has lost its taste for the confrontation and controversy these formats deliver. The Drum disappeared without a whimper or any sign of a replacement. Now Q+A is 'dead, buried and cremated' … words I reckon Tony Abbott might be repeating as they pop the champagne corks over at the IPA. Phil Bradshaw, Naremburn Now that Q+A is gone, I suggest the ABC reinstate The Drum. It was a stimulating and thought- provoking show leading in to the 7pm news and offered a well-balanced set of views from knowledgeable panellists, as well as politicians, on contentious questions. The current time slot is filled with a dreadful show that makes even Antiques Roadshow interesting. Currently Would I Lie to You? is the best option at 6.30pm on the ABC, an ironic choice indeed. Our national broadcaster should and could do better than this. Annie Scrivener, St Ives Let's face it, Q+A is no real loss. Nor was the all-too-PC The Drum. The axing of Lateline was a great mistake, but I guess we can't hope for a return. Let's hope now that the ABC will moderate its chasing of, presumably, younger audiences with the frippery of lightweight reality programs and comedians laughing at their own, usually weak, jokes. So let's have some decent current affairs and news analysis and not of the attack dog sort, or the relentless chasing of 'gotcha' moments to fill tomorrow's headlines, or the repeat of what has been in earlier news broadcasts. Until then, this once rusted-on ABC TV viewer will seek decent analysis somewhere else. Greg Baker, Fitzroy Falls What a shame about Q+A' s axing after I started watching it again this year. Has it really been six years since Tony Jones left the show? I stopped watching when it moved to Thursdays. It had been must-see TV after Media Watch on Mondays. With rotating hosts and internal dramas, Q+A lost its continuity and purpose. There was no need to change the formula and fix what wasn't broken. Robert Yen, Lidcombe Tough stance welcome For too long, Australia has taken its foreign affairs cues from the US, so it was gratifying to see Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong show some independence in sanctioning the right-wing Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich (' Australia imposes Magnitsky-style sanctions on two hardline Israeli ministers ', June 11). Our condemnation of them does not serve as a balm to Hamas, whose crimes against Israel are acknowledged by Australia. The people of Palestine must have a homeland. Only then will there be peace in the Middle East. Genevieve Milton, Dulwich Hill Bradfield blame game The Liberals' Bradfield mansion has burnt to the ground, and rather than accept that it was the result of years of neglect and misreading of the electorate, they are still running around looking for an arsonist (' Why the Liberals should just accept defeat in Bradfield ', June 12). Traducing the excellent and transparent work of the AEC, casting aspersions on the intellect of the electorate, anything other than recognising the result is due to their own political blindness and ineptitude. Let's hope the Trumpian refusal to accept the loss ends soon and some political insight results in the rebuilding of a relevant opposition. Mind you, pigs might also fly. Elisabeth Goodsall, Wahroonga Liberal makeover Finally, some common sense from Sussan Ley as she and her small band of survivors pick through the still smouldering ruins of their once powerful broad church, searching for any usable foundations on which to rebuild (' Ley to order radical Liberal review ', June 12). But perhaps even the big, old cornerstones of small government and lower taxes are no longer fit for purpose. To help in her deliberations she needs only to look to the experiment tearing America apart (' Trump: Dumb, dishonest and dangerous say Australians ', June 12). Voters recognise there is a growing need for government services – health, NDIS, welfare, unemployment, defence etc – not to mention lowering the confrontational brand that the Liberals seem wedded to. Their new manifesto could then also include actually doing our bit to save the planet and being generous towards less fortunate nations and individuals escaping persecution. If Labor ever dropped the ball, voters might even consider a party believing in the above values as a viable alternative. Peter Thomson, Brunswick (Vic) Sussan Ley doesn't need to arrange a major review of the Liberal Party and the reasons for its failures. The Liberals just need to stop denying climate change/global warming, accept and embrace the march towards renewable energy and totally forget nuclear power. If the Nationals don't like it, then it will be time for Ley and the Liberals to say goodbye to them. Ken Butler, Mount Colah Home truth It is a no-brainer that the cost of building a new residence will soar if there is a shortage of materials and skilled labour (' Home building costs soar ', June 12). However, if one tours the more affluent suburbs, as I often do on my bicycle, the number of major renovations being carried out, usually on large houses for apparently well-off residents, is extraordinary. These renovations are consuming materials and labour, and one wonders if they should take precedence over desperately needed new housing. Perhaps councils could limit the number of approved renovations at any time in the interests of freeing up labour and materials, and thus reduce pressure on costs of new residences. Geoff Harding, Chatswood Reality bites We all know that climate change-worsened heatwaves, bushfires and floods are detrimental to our collective health. But climate change is also driving up incidences of horrible vector-borne diseases like dengue fever (' Mosquito disease cases on the rise', June 12). Mosquitos are already the most deadly creature on the planet, killing more than a million people a year. Our warmer climate is creating the conditions for these pests to spread more readily than ever – just another sting to add to the long list of reasons why climate action matters. Amy Hiller, Kew (Vic) Tax gas giants Ken Henry once said that he did not understand why young people weren't out on the streets rioting about the unfairness of the tax system. I wonder when we will charge sensible levies on the gas exporters who sell the nation's non-renewable gas resources and pay little to nothing for it, and use tax shelters to minimise corporate tax. Australian gas exporters pay an average of 14 per cent tax while similar companies in Scandinavia pay 73 per cent, and they have a massive wealth fund to pay for education and health, plus other important areas of good for the community. The new government now has the political strength to fix this outrage. Will they do it? I suppose not. Maybe I am just dreaming. Max Press, North Sydney Sail on, sailor The passing of the Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson brings memories flooding back from my early days of longboard surfing in Australia (' Brian Wilson dies at 82 ', June 12). Cars with boards on top and radios blasting out Wilson's songs like Surfin' Safari, Surfer Girl, Girls on the Beach along the beachfront. Later, as the Beatles grew in strength, even Paul McCartney praised Wilson for iconic titles like Good Vibrations, God Only Knows and Wouldn't it Be Nice, as the Beach Boys developed and matured. In Australia, those times will be remembered as the start of the great Australian surfing period, with heroes like Midget Farrelly and Manly's Glenn Ritchie and Robbie Lane, while in the car park Wilson's music dominated the airwaves. Many of us will be feeling sadness and nostalgia as we farewell Brian Wilson's musical genius. William Tuck, Mosman Cheeky shortcut Stories about the AMP building reminded me of when I was about 17 or 18 working as a cleaner there. Part of my job involved sweeping the roof. Instead of picking up the litter I would simply sweep it over the edge. As it was about 5.30am, I assumed it wouldn't land on anyone. At least I hope it didn't. Patrick McMahon, Paddington
AU Financial Review
a day ago
- AU Financial Review
Global treaty aims to end ‘Wild West' of high seas
More than 10,000 people have converged on the Mediterranean coast this week, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and legendary environmentalist David Attenborough, to talk about oceans. Top of the agenda for the officials attending – among them Australian Environment Minister Murray Watt – is a bold proposal to carve up vast swaths of the planet's international waters, and protect them from environmental destruction.
