The big international story is the ceasefire in Gaza - and thank goodness for that.

Can US President Donald Trump claim it as a personal success? Absolutely!

From what we can piece together, he was somehow able to persuade Hamas to trust Israel and at the same time finally got tough with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Let's hope the peace lasts, but with Israel's current policy settings that looks unlikely. We also preview our PM's meeting with Trump scheduled for October 20 - and let's hope there isn't any grovelling or attempts to appease the US by giving away lots of stuff.

And finally a few depressing words about who really sets Australian security policy - and it's not governments or Ministers, it's a very powerful group of bureaucrats who have talked themselves into the belief that Australia cannot defend itself unaided. This has become a litmus test for admission into the group and has poisoned the minds of a number of Ministers.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.