Seeking to sell the Parramatta Lancer Barracks and the Victoria Barracks in Sydney, I guess the Albanese Government might as well sell off all our airbases too if it isn’t prepared to keep them safe. (Drones crisis escalates, 13/8). News that drones, unmanned aerial craft, operated perhaps by foreign spy agencies are freely invading restricted air space over our top military airbases is a spectacular and unforgivable lapse. Coining the name from the useless drone bee, famous for its low buzzing sound and lack of real stinger, it seems the feckless Government benches might have a few of their own. On the world’s battlefields, these unmanned aerial crafts perhaps deserve a new name, as the rules of battle and military engagement have been rewritten by this cheap, but devastatingly lethal new player. On the bright side, as the government develops a $7B investment in anti-drone technology, we can all benefit from the free target practice provided by either wanton hobbyist breaking the law in restricted air space with their new toys or sombre spies having their treachery vaporised. Alan Sexton North Parramatta 14August 2026
