ARPA: The American alliance in Australian foreign policy

Why the American alliance should not be the holy grail of Australian foreign policy Dennis Phillips, The University of Sydney Nothing in Australian politics basks in a warmer, bipartisan glow than the Australian-American alliance (ANZUS). For more than a half century now—and 67 years after a Labor Prime Minister famously declared, ‘Without any inhibitions of any kind, I make it quite clear that Australia looks to America free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom ’ (Curtin 1941)—the American alliance remains the absolute bedrock of the nation’s foreign policy. It matters not which political party commands a majority in the Australian parliament or whether Australia is led by the ‘man of steel ’ (John Howard, 1996–2007), or by ‘My name is Kevin and I’m here to help ’ (Kevin Rudd, 2007–), Australia’s loyalty to ANZUS is paramount and unquestioned. As Alan Renouf, former Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, noted long ago, the American alliance has entrenched itself as ‘the equivalent of the Bible in foreign relations ’ (Renouf 1979, p. 115). Historian Peter Edwards put it somewhat less dramatically when he explained, ‘The Australian-American alliance is far more than just another bilateral relationship. … It has become a political institution in its own right, comparable with a political party or the monarchy ’ (Edwards 2005, p. 2)