[War] Australia: A Message From Japan

[Daniel Sanderson]

“A Message From Japan”
Prime Minister Jack Decker
Australia
July 30 2014

Decker was sitting in his office, feet up on his desk, chair tilted back, watching the midday news as he ate his lunch, a toasted chicken, sundried tomato and pesto focaccia. He loved them, it made lunch a bit more exciting, while remaining a bit healthy.

The ABC news was showing the footage from yesterday as the first Australian F-35 touched down at RAAF Amberley, in Queensland, where they’d make up Number One Squadron, the squadron that had previously flown the aging F-111s. Decker had been there, and seen a presentation of the F-35s capabilities.

His intercom buzzed, but the PM was too comfortable in his current position, so he just yelled out. “What is it?!”

His office door opened, and Carol, the guardian of his door, stuck her head in. “There’s an intercom.”

“I’m comfortable where I am.”

“And covered in crumbs I’d imagine. Lucas is out here with the Minister for Foreign Affairs.”

“Send ‘em in.” Decker said, taking another bite of his lunch. “What’s up?” He asked as Lucas and Joanna Griffin entered.

“There was a direct message for you, from the PM in Japan.”

“Direct as in you saw it, showed Joanna and some DFAT people, and THEN came and spoke to me?” Decker asked with a laugh, picking up the remote for the TV and turning it off. “What does Mr. Sato have to say today?”

“He wants to remind us to keep our eye on the region as well as Azerbaijan.” Lucas said, handing over the cable.

“Radical Islam?” Decker said with a raised eyebrow. The PM was a Middle East fan, but not a fan of broad brushstrokes when it came to terrorism. Despite that, his counterpart in Japan was right. Australia’s nearest neighbour was another Petri dish for terrorism, and the Philippines wasn’t much better.

“I like the sound of these Anti-Piracy and Anti-Narcotics task forces.” Joanna pointed out.

“Bit of regional cooperation never goes astray.” Lucas said with a nod.

“What’s the thinking at DFAT?” Decker asked Joanna.

“They agree with the Japanese. A summit.”

Lucas snickered. “That’s their solution for everything.”

“Go easy on my former co-workers.” Decker warned.

“They need to take it easy. I want to see what happens if I walk in there and suggest something more extreme then a summit, half of them would go into cardiac arrest.”

“This is why not many people in PM&C like you.” Decker pointed out to his Chief of Staff.

“When you two are quite done giving each other metaphorical wedgies…” Joanna said, sitting down. “Japan.”

“Summit would work.” Decker said with a nod. “Either bilateral or multilateral. Invite the leaders from Japan, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, New Zealand. Discuss regional issues of security, piracy, counter-terrorism, narcotics, all that. See who shows up. Draft a cable to Japan, see what they say to that.”

--

TO: Prime Minister Shunichi Sato
FROM: Prime Minister Jack Decker

Mr. Prime Minister,

Your idea sounds good to me. Australia has already been trying to work on some of those issues with the Indonesian government. However, as usual, domestic politics can make some of these efforts only ceremonial at best, especially in regards to Indonesia.

The summit sounds like an excellent idea. I was thinking, if you were interested, even a multi-lateral summit with several Asia-Pacific leaders. For example, working alongside the Vietnamese, Laotian and Thai governments would be a must on the drug issue, though I left Burma off the list as they probably wouldn’t be responsive to such a summit, especially one that could have consequences for their nation domestically.

I look forward to hearing your views on a multi-lateral summit.

Your friend

Prime Minister Jack Decker

**ACTIONS TAKEN**
1. Australia’s new toys (F-35s) arrive.
2. A discussion on the proposals sent down from Japan
3. A favourable reply sent to Japan.



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