trump has sent three ambassadors to austria.

perhaps he thinks austria and australia are the same country?

Apart from the morality & political issues..................it's like insurance. You only get to find out how good it is after you have paid.

And you can maybe disappointed. Or maybe not.

how quickly people forget, for 8 years Australian PMs sucked up to Obama ass, then when Trump gets elected to President first thing Turn -a-bull dose is tell Trump he doesn't know what he is doing, Australia is not in the position to do that.

all ive read is fake news

Australia allows it's self to be used by the yanks all the time.

I worked and lived in the USA and they are for them and nobody else.

We have sucked up to the USA forever -- Howard needs to be charged with war crimes for following Bush into Iraq -- I bet if these bastards had to go an fright they would be so bloody keen --

If you want to know what real interest the US has in Australia, google "Map of US bases in Australia - Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition". The US interest has absolutely nothing to do with benevolence, comradeship or democracy. It's all about what is convenient for the US!

 

Whether we like America or not if we are under threat who else will come to or aid?  NZ?

We'd woken that morning with hangovers, the vessel still docked in Balboa. Within an hour or so we'd be transiting the canal to Colon, and from there it would be an eighteen day voyage southwards across the Pacific to Auckland New-Zealand. Turn-to was for 0700 hours so to be on time we'd been woken by the Master-at-Arms at 06-30 hours. There were of course the usual groans as we stumbled aft toward the ablutions and showers, so given the heavy drinking until well past midnight in a selection of Panama City's bars and brothels none of us were exactly quite with it that morning. Fletcher had only just made it to tick-on for the early-morning beer-carry up to the passenger bars on A deck.

He'd been with us earlier the previous night, but as usual his hostile and belligerent attitude toward seamen from other vessels had escalated with the booze. The last we had seen of him was in argument with a crew of US sailors.They were taking his insults about certain details of WW2 with good humour as we left him to it and wandered off to visit other bars along the strip. Fletcher had more than a chip on his shoulder about Yanks. They were 'bloody yanks' so what transpired after we last saw him contained a form of poetic justice. It was later that morning after the beer- carry, after further chores and breakfast that his complaining over what he thought was prickly heat and a furious itching caused him to whip off his T shirt in the Steward's mess and display his back to us. An enormous multi-coloured tattoo covered it.

Emblazoned there was the Stars and Stripes of the American flag, and printed in large capital letters the following words.....
'GOD BLESS AMERICA!'
That was all many many years ago, back in 1958, and I have often had cause to think of Fletcher, and how he might have explained his tattoo to his nearest and dearest

 

      “Nations have no permanent friends or allies, they only have permanent interests.”

 Lord Palmerston quotes (English Statesman, 1784-1865)

 

who will be our sugar-daddy - USA or China?

it seems that at long last trump might appoint an ambassador to australia. no less than admiral harry harris – china's least favourite american!

and who is the intended recipient of the message? the first is canberra as the washington seeks to reassure its anxious deputy sherrif for the pacific area.

the second is beijing.  the trump administration wants to tell china that it cannot divide australia from america.  america needs us as its main military base in the pacific and south east asia.

"the last american four-star to take up residence in australia was douglas macarthur", the general who waged the allied pacific war against japan from his headquarters in brisbane, a washington observer put it. a four-star admiral is the highest military rank in the us navy in peacetime.

china, australia's biggest trading partner, will not be pleased.

australia faces a very real dilemma – to side with their current boss (the usa), or to latch on to the coat-tails of china, the new emerging economic and military empire.

one thing is sure, cowardly australia will never decide to grow up and become independent.