Singapore’s lobbying helped get Aus admission to the East Asian Summit, its students help subsidise our universities and the trade/investment flows are in Singapore’s favour (they’re our 8th largest trading partner, we’re their 11th; then ).
In short we need them, not vice versa.

As for their military units up in Queensland, they could always find somewhere else; Singaporean units already train in Taiwan, Indonesia and the US. The real loser would be Rockhampton’s economy.

The problem with using Singapore’s troop deployments as a bargaining chip is that it would lead to the demise of the Five Powers agreement, and, therefore, the only defense treaty we have outside of ANZUS. The effect of this would be to abolish any real independence we might retain from the United States government, and any leverage we have period.

It would also mean that we have exactly zero reliable friends in South East Asia remaining.

I still think Nguyen did deserve a lot of sympathy, not because of the circumstances of his arrest (he damn well knew what would happen if he got caught), but because facing certain death at his young age should not be wished on anyone. But there is no justification for gratuitously spitting on our only real ally in South East Asia to save a single life of somebody who was not innocent, and knew exactly what he was doing.

http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA360012004?open&of=ENG-SGP supplied this information as well and again when I went to retrieve it – no information could be found.

This is not the first time a controversial piece of information has been published and within a couple of hours has been censored.

Howard now says – “Let this be a lesson to all young Australians”. Of course it’s a lesson, but the big boys who engage these young traffickers still get away free because they have legitimate business covers for their trafficking. Immediately one mule is caught, he/she is replaced with another one. This is not slowing down the drug war.

Singapore has 6,000 troops in Australia engaged in military exercises. We have plenty of bargaining power, but as usual Howard will not ruffle international feathers as he likes to be seen as “doing something” regardless of how ineffectual it really is. It always looks impressive on the surface though.