Euro-Chess

Kevin Rudd cemented his position as Australia's greatest Prime Minister a couple days ago with a large expansion of Australia's maritime boundaries.

Having charmed the world with his diplomatic & language skills, Kevin Rudd has reaped the rewards with an expansion of Australia's continental shelf by an area the size of France. The last time we managed anything this spectacular was Billy Hughes' successful grab of former German colonies in Papua New Guinea at Versailles in 1919, and we had to give that back in the end.

Apparently the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade is now drawing up plans for the peaceful annexation of New Caledonia, New Zealand & Timor Leste. A government spokesman said: 'We've already got the economically productive part of New Zealand's population and most of Timor Leste's resources, we might as well finish the job'.

Australia has increased its share of the seabed by 2.5 million sq km, after the UN agreed an extension. Its continental shelf will be extended by five times the size of France, giving it rights to explore new areas for oil and gas. Australia had worked for 15 years on the claim. Some of the new areas lie beside Antarctic territories, but the resources minister said there would be no exploration of Antarctic waters.

The new Australian territory will be 10 times the size of New Zealand and 20 times the size of the UK, and the claim for the expansion had been made under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

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“When you see a good move, look for a better one” - Emanuel Lasker