It is a long-held belief of many in the Labor Party. Today it has morphed into doubts about AUKUS. Labor stalwart Sean Kelly.
AUKUS, with its pros and cons, commands many column inches in this country; periodically it becomes the central topic of political debate, as it did last week. Similarly, there is much discussion of Trump’s authoritarianism; and sometimes it flares up, as last week. Strangely, though, the two are rarely brought together. Instead, they tend to be treated as two separate issues, siloed from each other. It seems almost taboo to ask the simple question: at what point does America become the type of country we no longer want to ally with?
Some will say it is naive to suggest such moral or philosophical considerations should inform Australia’s geopolitical strategies. After all, global politics often ignores morality; all nations have done awful things. But consider how often our prime ministers have spoken of the “shared values” of our two nations. As the Australia Institute’s Emma Shortis – who has pushed against this tendency to silo – wrote in this masthead, Trump is now “trashing” those values.
Adding further fuel, the Lowy Poll is out today and puts Donald Trump on the same level of trust Xi Jinping.
America does better, but has taken some serious damage.
It seems self-evident that Trump is trashing “shared values”?
But, before we get too cocky, let us ask, what is MAGA and does it serve Australian interests?
America First upsets the left because it so discomforts its easy assumptions that they are morally superior, egalitarian Aussies.
But, and here is where it gets really weird, MAGA is far more traditionally Australian than it is American.
It is about renovating the US economy so that it serves the interests of its working and middle classes. This is a notion more consistent with FDR than Ronald Reagan.
We can argue the methods, whether this can work, but that is its core value.
What seems to incense the left most is tackling the misuse of foreign labour, which Australia also desperately needs.
This is consistent with traditional Aussie values, which have always modulated people inflows so that they lift living standards.
Except for the last fifteen years or so, when excessive immigration was turned into the driver of growth but falling living standards.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Donald Trump is a grifter, and he delights in upsetting the woke left.
This is a feature of populism: to drape oneself in the garb of the people while stealing from them.
But is Canberra any different at this than MAGA? Yes, but it is a difference of degree, not kind.
I would also say that part of MAGA’s problem is that Trump is inept, constantly shooting himself in the foot with poorly considered policy implementation. Not to mention a chaotic narcissist.
In sum, if there is a schism between American and Australian values, it is at least half coming from our side of the fence. In any sense of values that I understand, Australia ceased to be recognisably Australian around the millennium, when it became impossible to own a home, and then immigration was used to keep it impossible.
Finally, this is all a bit silly because the simple fact is we only have two choices: US or China hegemony.
And if you’re worried about the spread of fascism to Australia, then the answer to that question is a no-brainer.
