Opinion: This isn’t the Alliance we voted for

There’s a growing sense across Australia that the Albanese government has made a serious misstep – one that not only ignores the national mood but risks entangling us in yet another American-made disaster.

This week, as President Trump launched strikes on Iranian infrastructure in what he dubbed a “warning shot,” the Australian government was quick to voice its support. Prime Minister Albanese framed the move as a necessary step in defending global security, a claim that feels both hollow and historically deaf.

The problem isn’t just that Australia is backing military action in a volatile region. It’s that we’re doing so in lockstep with a president who has spent has second term sabotaging international norms, alienating allies, sneering at NATO, undermining the UN, threatening allies over trade deals, calling ANZUS into question, and treating diplomacy like a reality show audition.

Yet here we are, Australia, once again nodding along like a loyal sidekick, seemingly blind to the fact that the protagonist has long gone rogue.

Many of us voted for the Albanese government on a promise of measured, independent leadership. What we’re getting is something else entirely: a government unwilling – or unable – to chart its own course, even when the moral, strategic, and democratic case for doing so is overwhelming.

Australians are not naive about global threats. We understand the dangers of Iranian regional aggression. But what we also understand, painfully well, is the cost of being dragged into foreign wars under the banner of alliance loyalty. From Vietnam to Iraq, our blind allegiance has come at a price – paid in blood, in treasure, and in credibility.

To support Trump’s bombing of Iran now is to sign off on a military escalation with no clear objective, no diplomatic strategy, and no credible international backing. It’s a move that reeks of political theatre, not serious statecraft.

And while the Prime Minister might feel the need to maintain the illusion of solidarity with the U.S., Australians are not buying it. The average voter can see through the rhetoric. They see Trump’s recklessness. They see a U.S. president who has insulted us, threatened our trade agreements, and treated our partnership as transactional at best. And now they see our government backing him – as if nothing has changed.

Well, everything has changed. The alliance that once stood for shared democratic values is now tethered to a man whose values are increasingly antithetical to our own. And for the first time in a long time, Australians are asking the question: how far do we follow a friend who no longer acts like one?

It’s not anti-American to say we need a foreign policy that puts Australian interests first. It’s common sense. And it’s time the Albanese government started listening – before they lose not just their voters’ trust, but the nation’s moral compass as well.

 

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