Australia's American alliance comes at a cost

If this discussion is to be credible and productive we should recognise the Australia-US relationship is neither defined by, or limited to, the terms of ANZUS.

We should also note while ANZUS has not required the US or New Zealand to come to each other's aid since 1986, Wellington sent troops to Afghanistan.

While the terms of the treaty do not automatically commit an ally to military action in the event another is attacked, nothing prevents a former signatory from providing such assistance.

ANZUS is only one part of a complex and long-running tripartite relationship inaugurated by Theodore Roosevelt's "great white fleet" and consecrated by blood during World War II.

While some are quick to point to it as the reason Australia has been so ready to follow America into foreign wars, this is not the case.

It is the deeper relationship, underpinned by a recognition the US saved our bacon in 1942 and 1943, that has seen Australia go all the way with Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, LBJ, George Bush Senior, George W. Bush, Obama, Trump, and most recently Biden.

Australia was immediately embroiled in the Korean conflict, which predated ANZUS, as a result of having occupation forces in Japan.

Vietnam fell outside the scope of the agreement in that none of parties to the treaty had been attacked.

The same was true of the decision to back the US against Saddam Hussein in 1990 and 2003.

The only occasion on which ANZUS has been invoked was by John Howard on September 14, 2001. While little was made of it at the time, the legality of the decision is questionable given the treaty specifically refers to "an armed attack in the Pacific area".

Speaking at the time Howard said: "Invoking ANZUS ... represents a determination on our part to identify with the Americans."

This decision was never going to end well. As a consequence 41 Australian soldiers are dead, thousands more were physically and psychologically traumatised, billions of dollars of Australian money has been spent, and we share America's humiliation.

It is, unfortunately, a very familiar tale. No clear victories have resulted from any of the US military adventures Australia has supported over the past 71 years. Korea was at best a draw. Vietnam was a defeat. Kuwait was a draw. Iraq was a draw and Afghanistan was a disaster that casts doubt over the US's inclination and ability to stand by its allies.

While nobody is suggesting Australia should follow New Zealand, that country gained credibility in the Pacific and South East Asia after loosening its ties with the US.

An important element in our rapidly deteriorating relationship with China - our largest trading partner - is Beijing's not entirely inaccurate view that when it comes to foreign affairs we act as an American puppet.

If history is any guide it is a foregone conclusion that if China and the US ever did come to blows then Australia would be dragged in on Washington's side by the government of the day, regardless of party.

That would be a disaster for this country on a great many levels. It can only be avoided if we acknowledge our slavish devotion to sustaining the US relationship with regular instalments of blood and treasure has come at a significant cost.

Australia needs to reassert control over its own foreign policy. We are, after all, a sovereign nation even though the events of the past seven decades might suggest otherwise.

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