Military Coup in Canberra?
This is my last day in Canberra before leaving for Sydney.
It is winter but a decent weather day.
As I approached a Department of Defence meeting today, my final meeting at the Russell Office buildings this visit, I was confronted with a visible Army presence on the lawn with a major gun pointed at the Department buildings.
During my time here, the Australian government has been in crisis and speculation over who the next Prime Minister will be is rampanent.
Has the Army mounted a coup and taken over the government?
Prior to my meeting, I was confronted with displays of Army firepower as seen in this Tiger helicopter photo of this significant close combat asset on the Department of Defence lawn
And the featured photo shows the scene as I was leaving the Department of Defence, where happy Aussie citizens were celebrating the coup and the emplacement of Sentaror Greene (with an e; as a footnote he was elected because people thought he was a Green but no e) as the new Prime Minister.
Just the night before I was with Senator Greene and he was clearly preparing himself for his new role as Prime Minister.
I am scurrying to get updates from Parliament House but will have to navigate through this heavy Army presence to try to get there.
Well it is not April 1, but could simply not resist this before I return to the United States and reenter a rational political universe where clarity of thought reigns.