Albo Honours The Heroes
The first instalment in our "fake news - news which is unfortunately fake" series, about how Albo honoured the service men and women injured in naval and air efforts to counter China in the pacific.
no day, no month 2023.
Anthony Albanese had a busy time recently.
In full media spotlight the Australian Prime Minister met and showed compassion and respect to some of Australia’s recently injured serving military personnel, who have been defending the interests of Australia and the civilised world.
His first meeting was with Jenny Smith1.
Jenny is one of the Australian pilots who, in May 2022, was harassed by a PLA Navy fighter plane which flew dangerously around her, then in front, and dropped aluminium chaff into her engines. Clearly a planned and rehearsed manouevre. Jets don’t normally carry stocks of aluminium chaff unless they are planning to do something with it, and they don’t have a normal use for it.
Jenny held her nerve and acted according to protocols. She was dealing with a situation outside anything she would have trained for, or could have expected to happen that day.
Her conduct should make her nation proud. But until today, her country did not even know her name. Currently she is being given support and counselling to deal with the stress related to the incident. But she is doing well, has been flying again, and was in high spirits when meeting and greeting the PM and the media.
PM Albanese was effusive in his praise and was keen to highlight publicly the work that the navy and airforce are doing in the Sea to the South of China and beyond. He clarified the importance of open trade lanes, and specifically articulated Australia’s position of support for UNCLOS and total rejection of China’s arrogant and ridiculous claims over the Sea to the South of China.
PM Albanese said in a statement to the media:
Jenny is the human face of our contribution to multinational efforts to defend freedom of operations, and has personally paid the price for defending our principles and interests. Her nation should support her, just as she supported her nation.
Later on the same afternoon, Anthony Albanese,
the Prime Minister of Australia,
the person in the position of leadership who’s job it is to build unity and inspire the nation,
went to visit the naval divers, injured by PLAN2 due to malicious sonar use while trying to remove a fishing net that had suspiciously3 got caught in the propellors of HMAS Toowoomba.
Australian navy divers, Antonio Marchesi4, Raj Krishnan and Li Zheng were excited to meet the PM, who enquired about their health and their hearing, with Li jokingly replying “pardon ?” craning his right ear in the PM’s direction.
The TV news film crews also laughed, and the scene made national evening news and went somewhat viral on social media, although was taken down from Tik Tok and never made it to Wechat or Weibo. The discussion became more serious as the PM acknowledged the risks associated with the navy’s work and emphasised the nation’s appreciation.
Afterward, the PM took questions from the Press Pack and reiterated the importance of the unity of the Australian people in standing up to China, and the risks that our service people face. He said:
It is important we remember that China’s aggression hurts real people, who are defending a cause bigger than, but including, Australia’s national interests. They are putting their lives on the line and we need to back them and their families.
At a routine journalists briefing in Beijing, Chinese spokes person, Mao Ning responded to a question from the Peoples Daily:
Peoples Daily:
Australia’s wanton interference in China’s domestic affairs, speaking of black as if it was white and spreading fake news about our vessels attempt to assist the Australian vessel in our holy and eternal territorial waters has caused great hurt to the Chinese people, what is your comment ?
Mao Ning:
Thanks, I think you’ve basically nailed it.
ACRI wrote op ed’s to all the major news outlets calling out Australia’s wanton5 aggression.
Bob Carr took to Twitter to castigate Albanese and denigrate the Australian Navy and airforce.
Crikey got Sun Wan Ning to explain how racist glorifying Australian warmongers was. While typically incoherent, those on the same wavelength took to social media to spread her article without actually reading it.
But back in the real world, this is the reality we face6.
not a real person, the people and events in this story never happened. But something like this should.
PLAN Peoples Liberation Army Navy (Chinese navy).
I assume this was set up to happen by the Chinese navy, but the fishing net caught in the propellor may simply be a random event they took advantage of in order to create the confrontation.
Antonio, Raj and (Li) Zheng are of course fictitious. Anthony Albanese is apparently for real.
not to be confused with “wonton” aggression, which is a southern Chinese food fight.
click and play to understand.