American Australian Association Limited | Building Strategic Alliances

Rupert Murdoch: We need US

Rupert Murdoch

November 15, 2006 12:00am

THE bond between the American and Australian peoples is strong, because we like each other . . . and we need each other.

Australia and America share so very much.

We are both democratic.

We enjoy a common language and a common heritage.

Ours are the only two countries to fight side-by-side in six of the world's most recent wars, from the First World War to the Second Gulf War.

More to the point, we share common interests in the modern world.

Both countries would benefit from joint efforts to achieve common solutions. The threat from international terror of course tops this list.

Both nations have suffered, and suffered grievously.

Both are targets.

Both will remain targets so long as the radical Islamist ideology thrives in the Muslim world.

Working together, America and Australia have done much to check the ambitions of the terrorist movement, through determined military action, and focused intelligence and police work.

By sticking together, we can and must accomplish much more.

Our two economies are more intertwined than ever.

Even more important, they are more interconnected with the economies of the rest of the world than ever.

We each have a clear stake in a stable world financial system and a regime of open markets and fairly enforced trade rules.

Yet we also recognise the yawning gap between the world's haves and have-nots.

America and Australia each live among much poorer neighbours, for instance, Mexico in the one case and Indonesia in the other.

We see clearly both that this gap is a source of instability and a moral challenge, but also that past efforts to address the problem largely through redistribution and aid have failed.

We have an interest in seeing those countries -- and many other countries -- thrive. Which is why we have a shared interest in helping these countries pursue the necessary political and economic reforms that will lift their peoples out of poverty.

With our advanced, technologically sophisticated economies, America and Australia are huge consumers of energy.

And as our economies develop, our consumption will only increase.

Yet people in both countries, across the political spectrum, are increasingly aware of the drawbacks and even dangers of ever-rising reliance on fossil fuels.

We have a shared interest in finding new sources of energy.

With so much in common, with so much to do, one is tempted to think that the American-Australian alliance is on such a sound footing that nothing could rupture it.

Yet even the strongest bonds can weaken if they are not carefully maintained.

The US and Australia need each other, but as with all international relationships of unequal power, smaller Australia has more at stake. It may be jarring to hearken back to the dark days of 1942.

But they should never be forgotten or dismissed. Nor should we delude ourselves into thinking that no comparable or even graver peril could ever arise in the future.

Should it come, Australians will naturally look across the Pacific for assistance. It would be better, to say the least, if trans-Pacific ties were strong rather than weak at such a moment.

America, on the other hand, can more easily afford a rupture. It would be imprudent of Washington.

It would be unwise. It would be counterproductive.

It would hurt American interests. But it would not be disastrous for America in the same way.

So, in a spirit of goodwill toward both countries, let me suggest a few ways that both sides can prevent any such rift from developing.

First and foremost, Australians must resist and reject the facile, reflexive, unthinking anti-Americanism that has gripped much of Europe.

Australian sentiment is thankfully nowhere near Europe's level of hostility but it could get there. And it mustn't. This is not to indict the current Government for this problem.

During Prime Minister Howard's premiership, the working relationship between Canberra and Washington has arguably never been stronger.

Yet that closeness has undoubtedly fuelled some of the regrettable sentiment which I deplore here.

I am well aware that the Iraq war was and is unpopular among many Australians.

And I am well aware that not every Australian sees the current American administration in a favourable light.

But wars end. Administrations come and go.

The Australian people must not allow their perfectly legitimate doubts about one policy or one American administration to cloud their long-term judgment.

Even more important, they must not allow these doubts to fester into an irrational antipathy that sees America as a greater threat to world peace than al-Qaida.

This is why the American Australian Association is proud to join with the Australian government in founding a new Centre for United States Studies in Australia.

The centre will conduct research, raise awareness, dispel myths, groom new leaders, and increase ties between the two countries.

It will hold to the highest standards of scholarship and objectivity and, in so doing, will inject a strong measure of reason and truth into the conversation in this country about America.

Edited text of a speech by Rupert Murdoch to the American Australian Association last night.