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In no political expert but it seems like the choice was between France: very expensive and cost overrunning, less intimidating subs and no strategic cooperatio

In no political expert but it seems like the choice was between France: very expensive and cost overrunning, less intimidating subs and no strategic cooperation. USUK: we give you superior tech, you help us police China and display a clear message that the US won’t fight this alone. The French are pissed? Je suis desolé. If the Chinese start pushing Aus around and we need help, the French would point to the EU tying their hands while they pat their pocket full of our billions. This decision is not just a embarrassment for France but it’s a vote of no confidence on the EU’s willingness to deter China.

dayofthedaleks 5y ago
The French boat was going to be hilariously obsolete by the time it became operational. This lets Australia out of a bad deal while people get distracted by Freedom Fries-type theatrics.
agent327 5y ago
You are very lightly skipping over the point where they already had a contract with France, worth 90 billion euro. If they didn't like the deal they were getting with France, they should have backed out before signing, rather than sign and then change their minds a few weeks later.
- mmerlin 5y ago
  The deal was a sad joke to begin with to get "the pompous poodle" re-elected (which worked). He then soonafter resigned and went to work for the people he shadily brokered this (good for them / bad for us) deal for Basically it's treasonous behaviour that has become the norm for our political class of buck suckers. Read the links in my post elsewhere in this thread https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28580035 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28580035 The deal never should have been allowed to proceed in the first place. It was a travesty it dragged on for so long... but then again this is Australia that sells gas to overseas countries for half the price we sell to ourselves (even after liquefaction and transport taken into account). It is so bad, because Australia is the largest gas EXPORTER in the world, but yet on the flipside the system is so corrupted by vested interests that several states of Australia (e.g. Victoria) are are seriously considering saving money by building several gas IMPORT terminals to buy the gas back from foreign countries, after the Australian gas cartel has already sold to those countries for half the price they sell to locals. It runs right to the top, and beyond. The country is run more by the mining powerbrokers and Murdoch than the politicians who are just muppets. Even our current PM famously said something like "the muppet show is over" when trying to placate the media hounding him after the last successful bloodless coup (changing of the countries leader decided only by vested interests)
  - agent327 5y ago
    That sounds really bad, and I can only wish you good luck with dealing with the whole parasite class in your country. I was only pointing out that having a 90 billion euro contract stolen by another party is always going to cause some bad blood, and that such a thing is in fact not unreasonable. Apparently it was much further along than a few weeks as well. As more news comes out I see total valuations from 30 to 90 billion, and apparently the contract was running for a few years already. It also seems to include much more than submarines, so this is apparently the US and UK just giving Australia money to oust the French. Funny(?) story: years ago I was working on a piece of software for a medium-sized space agency, and the French government sent a government minister to tell them to buy a French alternative instead. They laughed in his face and are still using mine, but the simple fact that they had the gall to do this rankles. So on a personal level I very much applaud anyone sticking it to the French and their insane drive for empire, but even so I do recognize that tearing up a 90 billion contract is always going to be a problem, no matter what. Also, next time someone posts here that we should really give up on meat and flying "because the planet", I'll refer them to the Australians who are apparently uselessly shipping gas back and forth across the ocean... Fix that kind of BS first before bothering the rest of us.

dayofthedaleks 5y ago

The French boat was going to be hilariously obsolete by the time it became operational. This lets Australia out of a bad deal while people get distracted by Freedom Fries-type theatrics.

agent327 5y ago

You are very lightly skipping over the point where they already had a contract with France, worth 90 billion euro. If they didn't like the deal they were getting with France, they should have backed out before signing, rather than sign and then change their minds a few weeks later.

mmerlin 5y ago
The deal was a sad joke to begin with to get "the pompous poodle" re-elected (which worked). He then soonafter resigned and went to work for the people he shadily brokered this (good for them / bad for us) deal for Basically it's treasonous behaviour that has become the norm for our political class of buck suckers. Read the links in my post elsewhere in this thread https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28580035 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28580035 The deal never should have been allowed to proceed in the first place. It was a travesty it dragged on for so long... but then again this is Australia that sells gas to overseas countries for half the price we sell to ourselves (even after liquefaction and transport taken into account). It is so bad, because Australia is the largest gas EXPORTER in the world, but yet on the flipside the system is so corrupted by vested interests that several states of Australia (e.g. Victoria) are are seriously considering saving money by building several gas IMPORT terminals to buy the gas back from foreign countries, after the Australian gas cartel has already sold to those countries for half the price they sell to locals. It runs right to the top, and beyond. The country is run more by the mining powerbrokers and Murdoch than the politicians who are just muppets. Even our current PM famously said something like "the muppet show is over" when trying to placate the media hounding him after the last successful bloodless coup (changing of the countries leader decided only by vested interests)
- agent327 5y ago
  That sounds really bad, and I can only wish you good luck with dealing with the whole parasite class in your country. I was only pointing out that having a 90 billion euro contract stolen by another party is always going to cause some bad blood, and that such a thing is in fact not unreasonable. Apparently it was much further along than a few weeks as well. As more news comes out I see total valuations from 30 to 90 billion, and apparently the contract was running for a few years already. It also seems to include much more than submarines, so this is apparently the US and UK just giving Australia money to oust the French. Funny(?) story: years ago I was working on a piece of software for a medium-sized space agency, and the French government sent a government minister to tell them to buy a French alternative instead. They laughed in his face and are still using mine, but the simple fact that they had the gall to do this rankles. So on a personal level I very much applaud anyone sticking it to the French and their insane drive for empire, but even so I do recognize that tearing up a 90 billion contract is always going to be a problem, no matter what. Also, next time someone posts here that we should really give up on meat and flying "because the planet", I'll refer them to the Australians who are apparently uselessly shipping gas back and forth across the ocean... Fix that kind of BS first before bothering the rest of us.