Because there is no doubt that it is in our national interest. Don’t get me wrong. This is not my usual line that Australian democracy needs the protection of a US hegemony to survive (although that is the primary benefit). This is much closer to home and much more needed today.
Cold War 2.0 has strengthened Australia’s bulk commodity exports for the foreseeable future. Despite all of its bluster about “rebalancing” and “deleveraging” China is doing no such thing. Indeed, as the trade war ramps up, and Chinese industrial output gets hit (with more to come next year) it is responding in exactly the opposite fashion, by building more.
The PMIs show the industrial slowdown underway:
