Trump Era Will Bring Closer Military Ties and More Protection of the Vulnerable Australian North, By Tom North
It would be a good thing to have a greater US military presence in the north of Australia, given the military build up, and mounting aggression of communist China. John Coyne, northern Australia expert at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), believes that this is the way the US military will now go:
" the "great power competition occurring between the US and China" — as well as signals Trump could pull back American influence on the Ukraine-Russia war and the Middle East — could result in a stronger focus on the Indo-Pacific region.
"A Trump presidency will be focused on the Indo-Pacific. It will be focused on competition with China," he said.
"It will produce opportunities and risks for Australia and navigating that will be really important."
Dr Coyne said the US Defense presence had been "on an upward rise" in northern Australia and that would likely continue.
"We're seeing a great amount of investment going into RAAF Base Tindal, we're seeing equal investments being made in terms of fuel storage in Darwin," he said.
"While there are no certainties … we can say that it seems more than likely a continued commitment to the Northern Territory from the US DoD [Department of Defense] will occur.
"[They] know the importance of Australia's strategic geography, and just as importantly, northern Australia's strategic geography."
Dr Coyne said there had been no signs Trump would scrap AUKUS, a defence pact signed between the US, UK and Australia that could see nuclear submarines rotate through Darwin."
While this drives the Greens and the Left crazy, we cannot have too many US nuclear subs in our north, The Greens say that this makes us a "target." We are already a target, but better to have some protection and not be a sitting duck for communist aggression.
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