Well said:
By Lenore Taylor, "Guardian Australia" editor.
It probably makes sense for Anthony Albanese not to provide “running commentary” on every pronouncement from the Oval Office.
As the new US president careens from starting trade wars to proposing the US should “own” Gaza and relocate an entire population, to repeatedly seeking to buy countries that are not for sale, to dismantling USAid, to “sanctioning” the international criminal court, to withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organization … as this list grows, and the pronouncements shift from day to day, the impossibility of a running commentary becomes ever clearer.
But the prime minister and the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, owe the Australian people some very considered commentary about how Australia should navigate a world order that is being upended so quickly and chaotically.
This is an administration that appears to view international relations as a series of quickie business transactions and seems to put little value on international law or deep historical alliances (just ask Canada).
That raises some pretty big questions for Australia since Aukus was an enormous strategic gamble by Australia on the enduring strength and stability of the US alliance.
In his confirmation hearing, the new secretary of state, Marco Rubio, did say that Aukus was “something that, I think, you’re going to find very strong support for in this administration”, but he also described it as a “consortium-like partnership”.
So what are the new terms of this consortium, and at what point might we stand up to our “partner” in the interests of, say, human rights, or international law, or the needs of our region? And what would be the cost?
Australians need a response that goes beyond wishful thinking or “best we keep our head down” or “we’re OK for now because we have a trade deficit and we are paying America to make our subs”.
And we certainly need a response that goes way beyond Dutton’s fawning this week about Trump’s first forays into foreign policy being evidence the president is a “big thinker” with “gravitas”
#auspol #AusElection25 #LNPCorruptionParty #lnplast #AusLabour #Albanesegovernment #Dutton #duttonliberals
