[LINK] The White House Blog, Weekly Wrap Up: Strengthening Relationships Abroad

[Tom Koltai]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: link-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au 
> [mailto:link-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au] On Behalf Of Roger Clarke
> Sent: Monday, 21 November 2011 10:47 AM
> To: Link list
> Subject: Re: [LINK] The White House Blog, Weekly Wrap Up: 
> Strengthening Relationships Abroad
> 
> 
> At 10:17 AM +1100 21/11/11, Marghanita da Cruz wrote:
> >Photo Caption: President Barack Obama [with Prime Minister Julia 
> >Guillard] delivers remarks honoring 60 years of the U.S. and 
> Australian 
> >Alliance to a crowd of some 2000 soldiers and guests at the 
> Royal Army 
> >Air Force Base in Darwin, Australia, Nov.17, 2011. (Official White 
> >House Photo by Pete Souza) 
> ><http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/11/18/weekly-wrap-streng
> thening-re
> >lationships-abroad>
> 
> Perhaps I'd better offer the alternative view, as posted to the 
> privacy list over the weekend:
> 
> [Many people felt considerable disquiet about the location of US 
> servicemen on Australian soil, as announced by a star-struck Gillard 
> last week.
> 
> [One reason for concern is the likelihood of a serious loss of 
> national sovereignty, such as exemption of American military 
> personnel from Australian jurisdiction, and perhaps ceding of control 
> over the geographical location of the base, and even airspace and air 
> traffic control.
> 
Many Australians are not aware that there are several access
restrictions in place on what used to be Australian sovereign
territories.

In some instances these are just small land areas in the middle of
deserts and far northwestern coastal locations, in other more serious
restrictions, we are unable to ring our country with fibre because of
"access corridors".

The Australian population is predominantly coastal. Imagine a fibre ring
with tails to each town and city. The cost would be the fraction of the
same infrastructure on land (Approximately 120 million for the entire
circuit - plus tails versus for example the 34 million agreement between
Comalco and Telstra to get fibre from Darwin to Gove in the N.T.)

Unfortunately, there are three ocean (no go zones) given to our American
friends which prevents this economical solution to a ubiquitous national
ring network.

> [Another is the heightened risk of enforced importation of the gross 
> abuses of freedom that are now part of the American way of life.
> 
> [It's started already, with automated access to Austrac databases.]
> 
> 
> US can access Aussie DNA, personal data
> By Luke Hopewell, ZDNet.com.au
> November 17th, 2011 
> http://www.zdnet.com.au/us-can-access-aussie-dna-personal-data
-339326371.htm
<SNIP>

TomK