#ANZAC Day 2025

[tracybirds]

It's nearing the end of the year and I'm thrilled to have finished up my little Thunderbirds Reading Challenge yesterday! It's been a whirlwind year with major lows but also some cherished highs and I'm still finding my feet a bit but we're getting there <3 I'm looking forward to 2025 and getting to dive into this world that I love once more!

I want to chatter about my thoughts on each book so I'll do that under the cut <3

Also this is my second year of making prompts for myself and I do plan on doing it again next year, so let me know if you want to be tagged in a post for that.

On to the books!

---

Thunderbird One: A book with silver lettering on the spine

My pick for this was A Zoologist's Guide To The Galaxy by Arik Kershenbaum. This was a book a biology teacher friend had recommended to me and so when I spotted it at the library and saw the silver lettering, it felt like it was meant to be and I snagged it! And I'm so glad she did tell me to read this one - I had so much fun dipping into the concepts and ideas this book presented. It was a really interesting way to explore key biological principals in the context of evolution on an alien world.

My favourite chapters were related to movement and communication, but there were so many fascinating tidbits of information and incredible solutions that life on Earth has come up with, that is gave me a whole new appreciation for the variation present on our own world!

This book has gone on my wishlist to purchase and I think everyone with an interest in natural sciences should check it out :D

Thunderbird Two: A book featuring a musician

For this I chose the appropriately named The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable. This caught my eye as a new release and it was the setting that interested me most. The focus was on Venice, in the time period when Antonio Vivaldi was active, and that setting has some nostalgia for me as my family owned a CD audio drama set in the same period and place, designed to introduce children to Vivaldi's music. Not only that, but I was fortunate enough to visit Venice this year and so the environment was fresh in my mind.

This novel is based on Anna Maria della Pieta who was an orphan and violinist taught by Vivaldi. I've thought about this book a lot since I've read it - it's beautiful and the depictions of how music can consume you is truly stunning, but it's not a beautiful book, it's brutal and dark and doesn't shy away from the struggle that women in the time and place in which it's set. More than music, I think this book covered the soaring heights and despicable depths of what humanity can be, and demonstrates how easily one could become trapped by their circumstances.

As an aside, I did also cry when I read the author's acknowledgements at the end, they were absolutely stunning and I read them out loud to my friend and wow they hit home. I really enjoyed this one too <3

Thunderbird Three: A book you had to read in high school

I knew The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien would be the book I chose as soon as I wrote the prompt. I first read this book in my final year of high school as part of a study on short stories, and it was one of my first real exposures to the Vietnam War. I knew the bare bones of the conflict secondhand from friends who were studying history, I'd heard it mentioned a dozen times in TV and books, but in NZ when it came to military history we spent a lot more time discussing the events of Gallipoli and the ANZACs in WWI and of course the Holocaust in WWII (We can have a discussion another day about why we didn't even learn about the New Zealand Wars but whatever). So when I read it for the first time, I was struck by the raw brutality of it all, and it made a deep impact on me.

Now that I'm older, more than a decade on, I wanted to revisit it.

I know a lot of people who would want to analyse this book with a political framework, and I don't think it's wrong to do so, but I do think that if you do that you miss what this book is. The non-linear nature, the ruminating and revisions inherent in every story told, the oscillation between being blase and being horrifically scared and being alight with a monstrous rage and so on and so on and so on. It's a confronting novel and the way it meanders and feels so pointless at times was something I really struggled with this time around.

But then it's a story about drafted soldiers, trapped in a war they didn't choose and couldn't escape. What else could it have been?

Thunderbird Four: A book exploring somewhere new

The Apollo Missions: In the Astronaut's Own Words by Rod Pyle was not what I expected my pick to be. Even after I read it, I didn't immediately realise how well this fit the prompt. It's such a cool little nonfiction book, taking the transcripts of key points during each of the Apollo missions and pairing the astronauts' awe and wonder (and humour!) with photos from each of the missions was such a cool way to learn more about the goals, the successes and the failures faced in exploring the lunar surface for the first time.

It's such an incredible project that I still can't believe NASA achieved and I love learning more about it <3

(And from a Thunderbirds perspective... it was very fun to see some familiar names cropping up too!)

Thunderbird Five: A book featuring a non-organic lifeform

I won't lie, I 100% thought I was going to reread Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir for this one. But then, a book that had been sitting on my shelf for two years found its way into my suitcase when I went to Italy, and to my surprise it featured a non-organic lifeform! Kind of. I'm still not really sure what exactly the Fremda were...

I don't remember very much of this book to be honest. While the premise was interesting, I found the story got pretty bogged down fairly quickly and although it was fine and I enjoyed it enough to finish, I knew I wouldn't be continuing on with the series.

They can't all be winners I suppose ahaha

Anyway, that's my Thunderbirds Reading Challenge for 2024 all wrapped up! Hope you enjoyed a little foray into something different and once again let me know if you want to be tagged when I make the 2025 prompts <3

[ldadony]

2025 Poland Government, Military and fuckin goat people placed by force and threats into Anzac Portal 24/7. Cannot join as military, all terrorists, because there all wumen, Hamas- Israeli, Russia and Ukraine, American Terrorists all mixed in.

Illegal possession of firearms, money laundering, claiming status as man but turns out there wumen, threats for 306 days, day and night, provocation of war, by proxy, use of US Terrrorists Militants in Santa Clarita Los Angeles.

2025 German Government, Military and banks placed in Anzac Portal as Hamas- Israeli, and Russia and Ukraine. her Anzac Portal is active, Cannot join as military all terrorists, all wumen, she doens't get leave Australian Anzac Portal, UN Resolution Treaty violation. Threats day and day provocation of war, by proxy. use of US terrorist Militants in Santa Clarita Los Angeles, illegal possession of firearms, under Nuremburg Trial and Treaty. Policy revocked, 306 days in total. Ties will Al Queda, Taliban, and Hezbollah , Azerbejian, in Port of Sudan and Australia, already labeled, and we have revoked there humanitarian status, and labeled them as goats.

All wumen, all wumen all psycho, and very dangerous, not fragile all women, speaking english threats, german, polish, armenian, spanish, russian, ukrainian, behavoir is not being thwarted, meaning there psycho. psycho is not human, brain in matter is cloned animal brain.

Noises, no life, this is there everyday life, so, we need to revoke all humanitarian laws, and replace with horticulture laws,

2nd person, who is trying to through them off, is not listening, just recording, and making attempts to book them at P&0 Cruisliners and MSC Logistics port containers.

None exhaustive attempt.

All women, all women all goats, hybridized cloned animalia brains, by animal abuse. all women.

So Pacific Command will not issue a Non-Humanitarian order, take control of Red Cross, and order them to death camps by intimidation, threats equally as threatened by law, and real punishment is to follow, no money will be handled, because of human trafficking law suit, and money laundering. Jewish Journal will be shut down.

[qnewsau]

Sydney Mardi Gras announces dates and theme for 2025

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/sydney-mardi-gras-announces-dates-and-theme-for-2025/

Sydney Mardi Gras announces dates and theme for 2025

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras will return to Sydney from 14 February – 2 March 2025, ready to bedazzle the city with a celebration of pride and diversity.

Celebrating 47 years, the central theme for 2025 will be FREE TO BE.

FREE TO BE is a celebration of the strides toward true LGBTQIA+ equality while also acting as a global reminder that our fight is far from over, and that we are not truly free until we are all free to be.

“Free To Be is a manifesto of what our community has desired and fought for dozens of decades, and the reason why we will continue to be here, fighting, celebrating and being fiercely visible for the generations to come,” said Gil Beckwith, CEO of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

“Our theme is about making a statement to embrace and rejoice in our unique individuality as well as our collective identity. It is about the bravery to rise for each other in the darkest of times and protect the progress we’ve made, using it as a springboard toward the progress we deserve.”

The 2025 Festival promises to bring unforgettable moments, radiant performances, and vibrant events that honour the past, celebrate the present and inspire a future of inclusivity and acceptance.

The 17-day celebration culminates in the world famous Sydney Mardi Gras Parade on Saturday 1 March 2025. Community groups from around the country will gather on Oxford & Flinders Streets and Anzac Parade for the spectacular march, with their float concepts drawing on the 2025 theme.

The full Festival calendar and ticket sales will be revealed later this year promising a vibrant tribute to resilience, diversity and solidarity.

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For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

[irvinenewshq]

Mixed Wallabies-All Blacks crew to face Lions at MCG in 2025?

The Wallabies and All Blacks are in talks to type a joint crew to face the British and Irish Lions in a one-off Check on the Melbourne Cricket Floor in 2025, reviews mentioned Wednesday. The Lions, with gamers from England, Eire, Scotland and Wales, are attributable to tour Australia for 3 Exams with discussions underneath means so as to add a fourth towards an Anzac XV. Lions in Australia “We’ve talked to the Kiwis about internet hosting an Anzac crew towards the Lions in 2025 they usually’re contemplating the thought,” Rugby Australia chief Hamish McLennan advised the Each day Mail. “I’m in little question it could be a belter and we’d promote the MCG out with 100,000 followers. “The most effective of the Wallabies and the All Blacks towards the Lions would create huge world protection.” The Wallabies are presently on a European tour and Rugby Australia had no rapid remark to AFP, however the governing physique confirmed the thought was within the works to Fox Sports activities. 1989 match A mixed Anzac crew final performed in 1989 after they misplaced 19-15 to the Lions at Ballymore in Brisbane, but it surely was principally Australians with simply three All Blacks collaborating. The sport fell between New Zealand Exams towards Argentina and All Blacks gamers made particular person selections about whether or not they would danger damage and play. McLennan has been in tense negotiations lately with New Zealand Rugby over the way forward for Tremendous Rugby past subsequent yr. However he insisted relations have been positive. “All is sweet with the Kiwis now, we’re associates once more and we’d be pleased to present them a minimize,” mentioned McLennan. READ: Boks edge Lions in third Check thriller to take collection Originally published at Irvine News HQ

[esprit-de-corps-magazine]

CHALLENGE & COMMITMENT LOST: Part 4: Canada & Australia: Comparing the legacy of two 1987 Defence White Papers

(Volume 24-11)

By Robert Smol

Two months before the release of Challenge and Commitment: A Defence Policy for Canada, Australia put out its own ambitious defence White Paper setting the country on a course of affordable and realizable self-reliance and defence in depth. As attempted here in Canada, the Australian White Paper of 1987 sought to realistically assert effective sovereignty protection over a large territory and coastline through more efficient application of limited defence capability.

“For many years Australians have regarded our nation as un-defendable without overwhelming and unaffordable defence spending,” said Australian Minister for Defence Kim Beazley during a speech to the National Press Club on March 25, 1987. “The White Paper shows that this is not so. We can defend our entire continent 24 hours a day and we can do it affordably.”

While the evolution of Australia’s 1987 White Paper over the last 30 years is beyond the scope of this series, the current operational capability of the Australian Defence Forces (ADF) compared to Canada’s says much about which country has achieved a higher level of self-reliance with respect to national defence.

As with Canada, the Australian 1987 White Paper sought to better define and consolidate the country’s defence commitments at home and with respect to her allies. It recognized that the country was too small (population-wise) and too remote to have any significant influence in international strategic balance. This reality meant that the “international political concerns and interests will always be more far reaching than our defence capabilities.”

What this provided was a more measured and realistic approach to defence planning. Australia came to the conclusion that its priority should rest with consolidating its capability to defend itself against an escalating conflict in the region.

When assessing the possible forms of military pressure against Australia, the 1987 White Paper concluded that, within the country’s “region of primary strategic interest, the capability also exists to mount more conventional but still limited military operations against Australia. These could take the form of increased levels of air and sea harassment, extending to air attacks on northern settlements and off-shore installations and territories, attacks on shipping in proximate areas, mining of northern ports, and more frequent and intensive raids by land forces.”

The answer was self-reliance and defence in depth. According to Minister Beazley’s preface to the 1987 White Paper, “the first aim of defence self-reliance is to give Australia the military capability to prevent an aggressor attacking us successfully in our sea and air approaches, gaining a foothold on any part of our territory, or extracting concessions from Australia through the use or threat of military force.” This approach required a defence in depth of military posture. In the words of Beazley, defence in depth “gives priority to meeting any credible level of threat in Australia’s area of direct military interest. It means that any potential adversaries know that they will be faced with a comprehensive array of military capabilities, both defensive and offensive.”

Unlike Canada’s White Paper, which gave no clear mention as to how the proposed commitments would be financially managed over time, Australia’s 1987 White Paper provided a flexible long-term framework for reaching procurement funding objectives over time. There, spending was organized around a rolling five-year defence program (FYDP) that was meant to provide a framework around which “policies and priorities, their timescales for implementation, and the anticipated resources that Governments provide as a basis for forward planning are reconciled and brought into balance.”

As Minister Beazley stated during his 1987 speech, “a defence posture which required real growth in every year out of the coming decade would be a badly flawed policy for Australia because there is simply no way that the government can guarantee it.”

As with Canada, Australia’s geography demands a robust naval capability for the country’s own defence. Therefore both White Papers provided particular emphasis on maritime force capability. In the case of Australia, its 1987 White Paper made it clear that the ADF “must be able to conduct maritime operations to prevent an adversary from substantial use or exploitation of our maritime approaches.”

For Canada (see Part 2 of series), this was to be met by a commitment to complete the construction of 12 Halifax-class patrol frigates and 10–12 nuclear submarines capable of operating under the ice. A total of 35 EH101 helicopters were also to be acquired for both operational and search and rescue missions. However, of these planned procurement projects, only the Halifax-class frigates were built, entering RCN service in 1992.

While Canada sputtered and flamed out on its naval modernization plans in the 1990s, Australia sailed forward. In terms of submarines, as was the case here in Canada, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) used Oberon-class submarines in the 1970s and 1980s. However, in 1987 the government approved the purchase of six Collins-class submarines; these boats were enlarged versions of the Swedish Vastergotland class and were built in Australia between 1990 and 2001. In 2016, as Canada continued to struggle with its faltering second-hand submarines acquired from the United Kingdom, Australia entered into a contract with the French firm DCNS (now called Naval Group) for the construction of 12 Shortfin Barracuda 1A submarines. The boats are due to start coming online in a few years.

By way of surface fleet, between 1996 and 2001 Australia acquired eight Anzac-class frigates (FFH) with air defence, surface and undersea warfare, reconnaissance and interdiction roles. In addition, the RAN also commissioned three Adelaide-class guided missile frigates (FFG) between 1984 and 1993.

More recently, Australia launched the first of three Hobart-class guided missile destroyers (DDG) armed with long-range anti-ship missiles, a modern sonar system, decoy and surface-launched torpedoes, as well as various close-in defensive weapon systems. Canada, on the other hand, retired the last of its Iroquois-class destroyers this year with no replacement.

In 2014–2015 the RAN also acquired two Canberra-class amphibious assault ships (LHD) that are capable of landing a force of over 1,000 personnel together with vehicles, equipment and stores.

This in addition to the 15 patrol boats that were commissioned between 2005–2007, and the six mine hunters that launched between 1999–2003.

And while the Canadian government under Jean Chrétien cancelled the acquisition of the EH101 maritime helicopter program in 1993, Australia had already moved forward with its maritime helicopter project. Today, the Australian fleet is supported with 24 MH-60R Seahawks acquired between 2013–2016 as well as 16 older S-70B-2 Seahawks which have been in service since 1989.

Australia is two generations of anti-submarine helicopters ahead of Canada, which continues to fly the CH-124 Sea Kings acquired in 1963. Only recently has the first instalment of the Sea King replacement, the Ch-148 Cyclone, been delivered with the full fleet delivery to be completed in 2025. (The first Cyclone was to have been delivered in 2009, but modifications to the aircraft’s original design and other complications have led to significant delays in the program.)

Both the Canadian and Australian air forces acquired the F-18 aircraft in the mid-1980s. That was then. Today, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is well ahead of Canada both in terms of number and capability of its fighter fleet. In addition to its old fleet of 71 F-18 Hornets, the RAAF also currently flies 24 F-18F Super Hornets, which it acquired as an interim aircraft in 2012. Canada’s attempt to acquire 18 F-18 Super Hornets as an interim fighter has been put on hold.

Beginning in 2018 Australia will also acquire the first of 72 F-35A Lightning II multi-role fighters with the final aircraft set to be delivered in 2023. Planned additions could bring the number of F-35s in the fleet up to 100. Meanwhile, Canada has pulled back from its planned purchase of 65 F-35 aircraft and has not, as of yet, brought forward a replacement. For the foreseeable future, we will continue to fly our old fleet of 77 F-18s.

If there is one advantage that the Australians had over Canada it would be that their incentive for projecting their defence needs into the future was not so intimately tied into set Cold War alliances. Instead, their White Paper reflected objective and realistic assessments of the different levels of threats that the country may have to face alone in the future. While the Canadian government promoted the 1987 White Paper as a made-in-Canada defence policy, it nonetheless was the perceived changing of those overseas alliances that gutted this country’s White Paper and the procurement plans that went with it.

[newstfionline]

Trump’s Volatility in Asia Distresses a Longtime U.S. Ally: Australia

By Damien Cave, NY Times, May 1, 2017

DARWIN, Australia--South Korea, Japan and the United States have grown accustomed to North Korea’s diatribes, but Pyongyang recently threatened a new target with a nuclear strike: Australia.

During a visit by Vice President Mike Pence to Sydney, the North warned Australia to think twice about “blindly and zealously toeing the U.S. line” and acting as “a shock brigade of the U.S. master.”

Australian and American troops have fought side by side in every major conflict since World War I, and there are few militaries in the world with closer relations: 1,250 United States Marines recently arrived in Darwin for six months of joint exercises; the two countries share intelligence from land, sea and even outer space; and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is slated to meet President Trump on Thursday on an aircraft carrier in New York.

But North Korea’s threat against the country, far-fetched as it might seem, is an example of how Australia’s most important military alliance faces a new challenge: the risk that President Trump will draw the nation into a conflict or other unexpected crisis that destabilizes the region, angers its trading partners or forces it to side with either the United States or China.

“The question is: What might America drag Australia into?” said Ashley Townshend, a research fellow at the United States Studies Center at the University of Sydney. “That’s a very scary thought for Australians, many of whom perceive Donald Trump to be an erratic and highly self-interested commander in chief.”

Mr. Trump has already embarrassed Australia once, with an abrupt phone call to Mr. Turnbull that seemed to dismiss Australia’s historic role as a friend who often gives more than it gets. Now his unpredictable approach is fueling a national debate about Australia’s relationship with the world, and especially the United States. Last week, Paul Keating, a prime minister during the Clinton years, reignited discussion by arguing that Australia must end its status as a “client state.”

Australia is essentially caught between two powers: China, its largest trading partner, and the United States, its faithful ally, with a military connection that has been strengthened by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and more recent agreements to gradually expand the American footprint in Darwin.

What Australia and the United States are now trying to work out is how to manage that military momentum in an increasingly tense part of the world. If the military is a hammer in the Trump era, at what point does every dispute start to look like a nail?

“It’s always important that there’s a balance between the military and the diplomatic--because of the scale of the military,” Mr. Keating said in an interview. “In both economic terms and in strategic terms, they squeeze diplomacy out.”

Darwin, a humid, crocodile-infested coastal city at the northern end of this vast country, captures the past, present and future of Australia’s alliance with the United States.

Japan attacked the city on Feb. 19, 1942, killing 235 people, and residents are quick to point out that the raids were led by the same commander responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor 10 weeks earlier.

Within a few months, Darwin became a hub for counterstrikes from bombers flown by Americans. A pocket guide for arriving American troops set the tone: “You’re going to meet a people who like Americans and whom you will like.”

During the Cold War, the relationship expanded.

Kim Beazley, a former defense minister and ambassador to the United States, cited the rise during the 1960s of three joint installations to maintain contact with American submarines in the Indian Ocean and provide infrared detection of Soviet capabilities, increasing the warning time for a potential Soviet strike to 30 minutes from 15.

Those installations and the ones that followed--especially Pine Gap, a joint Australian-American spy base that helps provide battlefield intelligence and early warnings for missile launches around the world--”are never talked about, but they’re really the guts of the alliance,” Mr. Beazley said.

On the ground in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, Australian troops are also peers in battle, said Lt. Col. Brian S. Middleton, commanding officer of the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines--the American unit that just moved into Darwin for six months of training with the Australians.

As part of the American pivot to Asia, the long-term plan, negotiated under the Obama administration, is to send up to 2,500 Marines to Darwin--the largest deployment of United States forces to Australia since World War II. “It’ll make us more effective in whatever conflict we end up serving in together,” said Kelly Magsamen, the Pentagon’s top Asia-Pacific policy official at the end of the Obama administration.

Other American officials said that in space, missile defense and cyberwarfare, the Australians are all in. Australia is working with the United States to relocate a special radar that helps better track satellites. The Australian military is also making a big push in innovation in undersea warfare and drones in the air and underwater.

And in many cases, that means purchases of American equipment. An Australian defense planning report last year laid out a $20 billion increase in the annual military budget by 2025, including money for fighter jets, surveillance technology, submarines, surface ships and other equipment.

Australians are embedded at every level of the American military. Australian Air Commodore Phillip Champion’s story is common: He first worked with the Americans as a young pilot in the early ‘80s, flying surveillance aircraft, and later as a commander all over the world, including Afghanistan.

“We’ve grown up together,” he said in an interview by phone from Hawaii, where he has been posted to the United States Pacific Command since January. “We trust each other and know we can operate together.”

Still, there have been challenges. In a discussion last year about the cost of the Marines in Darwin, the Australians came in with a data-heavy presentation asserting that United States Marines eat more than typical Australian soldiers, and therefore strain sewage systems more, and argued that the Americans should pay more of the costs of improving wastewater lines on military bases. The proposal stunned even the lead Australian negotiators, who quickly dropped it, according to American defense officials.

The toughest issues have involved China, the crucial lever of influence with North Korea and the region. Some American officials have urged Australia to engage in robust freedom-of-navigation operations in the South China Sea, where China has set up bases on disputed islands, but the Australians have resisted.

Last year, American officials also expressed alarm about a port in Darwin that local officials leased to a Chinese company for $361 million, possibly making it easier to collect intelligence on American and Australian forces stationed nearby.

“China is the elephant in the room for both of us,” Ms. Magsamen said. “We need to have a more frank and structured discussion amongst ourselves about how to manage that relationship.”

Allan Gyngell, who ran Australia’s intelligence agency from 2009 to 2013, argues in a new book, “Fear of Abandonment,” that Australia’s foreign policy is still driven by worries about being left isolated, without the promise of security from a powerful friend: first Britain, now the United States.

Mr. Keating, the former prime minister, is among those urging a more independent foreign policy in which Australia accepts China as the region’s dominant power.

In the discussion last week at the Lowy Institute, a think tank in Sydney, Mr. Keating said Australia should say no to the United States more often--as France and Canada do--especially on issues that affect Australia’s relationship with China.

Those who reject this argument include John Howard, the prime minister who followed Mr. Keating and was in Washington on Sept. 11, 2001. In an interview at his modest office, with worn carpets and military memorabilia, Mr. Howard warned against being “mesmerized by China” and said his Liberal Party, which is the more conservative of the country’s two largest parties, had “pulled off the daily double.”

“We deepened our relationship with the U.S.--and China became our biggest customer,” he said.

He added that too many Australians were jumping to conclusions about President Trump. “He’s different,” Mr. Howard said. “Whether he’s good different or bad different is not the point; the world has to get used to him.”

In Darwin too, there are divisions. Luke Bowen, who heads an economic development agency for the Northern Territory, which includes Darwin, would like to see even more American troops and equipment move in to the area, possibly from the Philippines.

“It’s a priority for us to make the fit as comfortable as possible,” he said. “It’s not just about the Australian presence. It’s about the combined presence.”

But Justin Tutty, who works with a watchdog group that monitors the impact of the American Marines, said he was worried about “a one-sided relationship” in which the Americans lay out the priorities.

“The overinvestment in ‘interoperability’ ties us closer to our larger foreign partner’s attack formation, and reduces our capacity to act, relate and think independently,” he said.

Last week for Anzac Day, commemorating Australians and New Zealanders who died in battle, American Marines and Australian soldiers marched through Darwin’s streets together. Later, there were friendly games of rugby, and infantrymen shared war stories.

“The Australians have been fighting in the same places we’ve fought for over 100 years,” said Colonel Middleton of the Marines. “When we operate with the Australians, we learn as much from them as they learn from us.”

[footyplusau]

Essendon seek more games at the MCG

Essendon will look to rewrite their privileged-tenant contract with Etihad Stadium with a view to playing more home games at the MCG.

The Bombers, the only AFL club to hold their own deal with the Docklands stadium, have indicated their 17-year agreement, struck at the start of the millennium, has become dated. Club bosses have reached the view that they will push for an extra annual home game at the MCG from next year.

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Australia fall short despite incredible 146 run Stoinis comeback

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Plays of the Week

Plays of the Week

Big alley-oops, tennis fairytales and some epic finishes slide in for this week’s biggest plays from the sporting world.

Australia fall short despite incredible 146 run Stoinis comeback

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Australia fall short despite incredible …

Australia fall short despite incredible 146 run Stoinis comeback

After a horrible collapse by Australia an amazing century from Marcus Stoinis set up a dramatic finish at Eden Park.

Federer wins 18th Grand Slam title

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Federer wins 18th Grand Slam title

Federer wins 18th Grand Slam title

Roger Federer has defeated Rafael Nadal in a five set thriller to claim his fifth Australian Open.

Reds & Phoenix sizzle in extreme temperatures

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Reds & Phoenix sizzle in extreme …

Reds & Phoenix sizzle in extreme temperatures

Adelaide United and Wellington Phoenix had to settle for a share of the points after a 2-2 draw on an afternoon where temperatures nudged 40 degrees at Coopers Stadium.

Living two lives

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Living two lives

Living two lives

Tiana Ernst delivers babies by day and plays footy by night. Hailing from far north Queensland and moving south for the game she loves, Tiana is set to play a season of footy alongside her current life as a doctor.

Wolves shock Liverpool in FA Cup

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Wolves shock Liverpool in FA Cup

Wolves shock Liverpool in FA Cup

The first shock of the FA Cup 4th round came at Anfield where a 2-1 victory for Wolves ended Liverpool’s final realistic chance of silverware this season.

Brisbane grab late winner over Wanderers

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Brisbane grab late winner over Wanderers

Brisbane grab late winner over Wanderers

A stoppage time goal from Brett Holman proved the difference as the Roar clinched a 2-1 win in Brisbane.

Plays of the Week

Big alley-oops, tennis fairytales and some epic finishes slide in for this week’s biggest plays from the sporting world.

With North Melbourne, St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs waiting to renegotiate new direct stadium deals with the AFL there seems every indication that Etihad’s struggling tenant clubs will see little if any improvement this season in terms of match returns.

None of those clubs has ever sighted the contract the AFL, which purchased Etihad late last year for $200 million, originally signed on behalf of its tenant teams but all have been assured they will benefit significantly from their yet-to-be-negotiated new deals.

Essendon are seeking to change their deal with Etihad Stadium. Photo: Getty Images

Essendon chairman Lindsay Tanner said the future break-up of home games remained a matter for his executive but confirmed the club had held discussions regarding a fifth home game each year at the MCG, leaving six at Etihad.

Bombers chief executive Xavier Campbell has railed in the past against Essendon hosting Hawthorn at Etihad and the club would also prefer to host Melbourne at the MCG rather than Docklands where the teams will clash in 2017.

This year Essendon will open their season against the Hawks with a home game at the MCG, along with playing there on Anzac Day, plus against Geelong in the so-called “country game” and in their return clash with Carlton.

Although the Bombers’ contract with Melbourne Stadiums Limited does not expire until 2025 and affords the club special signage, merchandising, membership and hospitality deals and significantly better match returns after moving first to the Docklands in 2000, they have been waiting for the AFL purchase to renegotiate a better deal.

While the Bombers want more MCG games to appease their supporters, the club is always looking for more games at the home of most AFL finals and the grand final. Only two Etihad tenant clubs — Essendon in 2000 and the Bulldogs last year — have won premierships over the Docklands era.

North Melbourne CEO Carl Dilena confirmed that his club had not budgeted for better stadium returns in 2017 — returns which have continued to financially cripple all three other original Etihad tenants following deals negotiated by the AFL.

He also confirmed: “We’ve never seen a copy of the Etihad agreement.”

Hamstrung financially by its dispute with the players and struggling against deadlines to reach new deals with the clubs, the AFL has seconded former Etihad finance boss Darren Hayes to assist with the negotiations.

Dilena said the AFL had undertaken to achieve new deals with the clubs by August this year in order to meet 2018 budget deadlines. “They haven’t given us any specific guidelines as to what we may hope for this year,” Dilena said.

“While we’re hopeful there may be an upside, we’ve been conservative.

“They’ve told us they will look at improving returns as an interim move.”

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