Every day we are assailed by politicians and commentators shouting about sovereignty or self-reliance.
Never do we hear the call for total independence.
Indeed, there is almost bipartisanship between both major parties as they attest their loyalty to the US alliance. In a recent policy discussion, shadow foreign affairs spokesperson Penny Wong said Australia should “ re-imagine its foreign policy by becoming more self-reliant in protecting and promoting its interests”.
Self-reliance is just homeopathic independence.
Australia has endured an ever increasing strangle hold on its body politic by the U.S.A. since PM Curtin’s turn to America in December 1941. The signing of the ANZUS Treaty in 1951 provided the final ideological headlock.
Australia’s ruling class embraced U.S. economic power as their corporations moved on an Australia that had previously been corralled in the British empire.
Every prime minister since Menzies, has travelled to Washington, soon after election, to be anointed and receive instructions. In the last few decades have they also paid an obligatory visit to former citizen Murdoch. This had been a famously bipartisan effort by both parties until Bill Shorten announced that he would not be seeking an audience with the mogul.
Ford, General Motors, Citibank, Newscorp, Peabody, J P Morgan, Caltex, Chevron and Exxon-Mobil. Finance, mining energy and media corporations all came to dominate the Australian economic landscape. This economic power is buttressed by the political force of U.S. governments’ and private efforts like the Australian-U.S Leadership Dialogue, and the Harvard Trade Union Program. The US Studies Centres at Sydney University (funded by the US State Department as well as big US corporations like JP Morgan and Merke and Co.) The Perth based USasia Centre at the University of Western Australia has a focus on policy in the Indo -Pacific (code for watching China). All these bodies sponsor and foster a determined pro American view point that dominates the airspace.
In the cultural sphere google , Facebook, Instagram et al provide a curated diet of Americana that forces Australian voices into the margins.
Our independence is a complete sham, and never have we been held so strongly by the short and curlies by the USA machine. Our integration into their military system has never been so complete. All our weapons systems are predicated on “interoperability “with the US military forces. This means total dependence and huge bills . The recent reports about the FA 35 Stealth Fighter so called “ Flying Turd*” has blown out to $239 million each or $ 17 billion for 72 of them but the experts go on about the opportunities benefits as we make components (brackets, clamps, tubes and adaptors!!!) .The total cost of the FA -35 was estimated to be US $ 1.5 trillion (*The Nation September 16 2019) and the Australian people are expected to pay their share .
Then we have the rotations of 2500 US marines (another term that means based here) near Darwin. Likewise, the regular wargames conducted on the Queensland coast at Shoalwater Bay by the US and Australian army forces . The aim of these activities according the US Nautilus Institute is “to promote regional security, “strengthen maritime partnership and enhance interoperability’’ i.e. monster the neighbourhood
The Australian Defence Force is virtually integrated into and dependent on the U.S. war machine
Pine Gap, the (formerly CIA now NSA) operated spy base in the Northern Territory, collects data from satellites and sends them to intelligence bases in USA. The data collected comes from all communications in the satellite’s catchment (phones, internet, faxes) including data from all Australians. The data provides direct intelligence for all arms of the US military.
Some of the data is regularly used to kill people in Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen and Pakistan by U.S drone strikes. While Pine Gap is promoted as a joint facility. Everyone knows that this is a hollow lie. Australians provide the guards, gardeners and some token defence personnel.
Academic Des Ball was reported saying “there were at least two areas of the facility where Australian nationals are not permitted entry – the US ‘national communication and cypher room’ and the ‘key room where they [Americans] do the final analysis of all incoming intelligence’ “.
So, when Australian politicians bleat about us asserting our sovereignty and right of navigation in the South China Sea we should be painfully aware of their servile obedience to big brother in Washington and the mighty big foothold that their military, spies and spokesmen have here.
