Happy Saturday dear Etterati,
This week, the news cycle has been all about Australia’s plan to ditch social media algorithms, One Nation's bid to let Aussies withdraw their super, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s grant to a golf club, and 9/11 memorials (more on that in this week’s Only Fran).
In addition, some pretty shocking stories might not have made it to your feed. Here’s what you might have missed this week and should know.
The US now has access to more than half Australia’s military bases – could it drag the country unwillingly into war?, The Guardian
The US military has access to 110 defence facilities in Australia, and controls 17 of them, in what analysts have reportedly described as a “colonisation”.
The Nautilus Institute, a public policy think tank, compiled the data and found that some bases, including Pine Gap, play critical roles in identifying targets for US strikes overseas. The Bandiana base in Wodonga has US weapons, munitions, fuels and vehicles which are there in case of rapid deployment to conflict in the Pacific. At least 42 facilities will be accessed by US defence contractors which use Australian sites to manufacture, test and train weapons systems.
