‘Vandals in the White House' no longer reliable allies of Australia, former defence force chief says
A former Australian defence force chief has warned 'the vandals in the White House' are no longer reliable allies and urged the Australian government to reassess its strategic partnership with the United States.
Retired admiral Chris Barrie spent four decades in the Royal Australian Navy and was made a Commander of the Legion of Merit by the US government in 2002. He is now an honorary professor at the Australian National University.
'What is happening with the vandals in the White House is similar to what happened to Australia in 1942 with the fall of Singapore,' Barrie said. 'I don't consider America to be a reliable ally, as I used to.
'Frankly, I think it is time we reconsidered our priorities and think carefully about our defence needs, now that we are having a more independent posture... Our future is now in a much more precarious state than it was on 19 January.'
Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email
'Trump 1.0 was bad enough. But Trump 2.0 is irrecoverable.'
Barrie said it was 'too soon' to say whether Australia should end its multibillion-dollar Aukus partnership, but raised concerns about a lack of guarantee that nuclear-powered submarines would actually be delivered. He also warned about an apparent lack of a back-up option.
Pillar One of the Aukus deal – which would see the US sell Australia nuclear-powered submarines before the Aukus-class submarines were built in Australia – is coming under increasing industry scrutiny and political criticism, with growing concerns the US will not be able, or will refuse, to sell boats to Australia, and continuing cost and time overruns in the development of the Aukus submarines.
'Let's define why we really need nuclear submarines in the first instance, given a new independent defence posture for Australia,' Barrie said. 'If they still make sense in that context, fine. But they might not. There might be alternatives. There might be alternatives with conventional submarines if we didn't want to go any further than the Malacca Straits.'
Barrie's warning comes after former foreign minister, Bob Carr, said Australia would face a 'colossal surrender of sovereignty' if promised US nuclear-powered submarines did not arrive under Australian control.
Carr, the foreign minister between 2012 and 2013, said the Aukus deal highlighted the larger issue of American unreliability in its security alliance with Australia.
Sign up to Breaking News Australia
Get the most important news as it breaks
after newsletter promotion
'The US is utterly not a reliable ally. No one could see it in those terms,' he said. '[President] Trump is wilful and cavalier and so is his heir-apparent, JD Vance: they are laughing at alliance partners, whom they've almost studiously disowned.'
The US Congressional Research Service has proposed an alternative under which the US would not sell any submarines to Australia; instead, it would sail its own submarines, under US command, out of Australian bases.
When asked if he trusted Donald Trump earlier this week, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said 'what sort of question is that?'.
'I mean, he's the president of the United States,' Albanese said. 'He's elected as the president of the United States. I'm the prime minister for Australia. He's entitled to pursue his agenda, of course. But I'm entitled to defend Australia's national interest and that's what we're doing.'
Opposition leader Peter Dutton, speaking at the Lowy Institute this week, said 'the United States is still, and must always be, our most important partner'.
But he criticised the Trump administration's decision to impose tariffs on Australia.
'We disagree with president Trump's decision to apply these tariffs: they're not just unjustified, they benefit neither Australia or the United States.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
19 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Incredible satellite images show the precision of the US attack on Iran's nuclear machine in full
A new series of satellite images has revealed the precision of the US attacks on Iran 's primary nuclear facility. President Donald Trump last night ordered six B-2 stealth bombers to drop a dozen 30,000-pound 'bunker buster' bombs on the base hidden deep inside a mountain in Fordo, 80 miles south of Tehran. 'The strikes were a spectacular military success,' Trump said in a late-night address from the White House, before warning that he wants peace now or that there will be dire consequences. In the aftermath, Iran's foreign minister has branded Trump a 'lawless bully' who 'betrayed' diplomacy as he warned the world has been thrown into an 'unprecedented level of danger'. The newly-released images show the exactitude of military attacks, which Trump claimed flattened the facility. The satellite imagery shows the exact 'strike area' on the Fordow Nuclear Facility, which the B-2 stealth bombers hit as well as possible bomb 'entry points'. Annotated to show the areas clearly, the images also suggest 'possible subsidence' of land which has been caved inwards after the strikes. In response, Iran this morning targeted Israel which has left at least 16 people injured, including a young man with shrapnel wounds to his upper body, according to emergency services. The attacks on Israel are understood to have started at around 6.30am GMT (8.30am IST) this morning - just hours after the US's strikes on Iran. Addressing Trump's attack at a press conference today, Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said: 'Humanity has come too far as a species to allow a lawless bully to take us back to the law of the jungle.' He ordered 'urgent and decisive action' must now be taken by the United Nations and other International bodies, adding that 'silence' will 'plunge the world into an unprecedented level of danger'. Sir Keir Starmer said the US took action to 'alleviate' the 'grave threat' of Iran's nuclear programme - but urged Iran to return to the 'negotiating table' to end the conflict. The UK Prime Minister said in a statement: 'Iran's nuclear programme is a grave threat to international security. 'Iran can never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and the US has taken action to alleviate that threat. 'The situation in the Middle East remains volatile and stability in the region is a priority. 'We call on Iran to return to the negotiating table and reach a diplomatic solution to end this crisis.' obliterated '.
The National
23 minutes ago
- The National
Flights from UK to Dubai and Doha cancelled after US attack on Iran
It comes after a British Airways (BA) flight from London Heathrow to Dubai was diverted to Zurich on Saturday night. The BA109 flight departed from the UK at 9.53pm on Saturday and reached Saudi Arabia before the Boeing 787 Dreamliner changed its course, landing in Switzerland, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24. READ MORE: Keir Starmer accused of 'gaslighting' statement on US bombing of Iran All of the airline's flights to Dubai and Doha that were scheduled to depart from Heathrow on Sunday have been cancelled, including return flights, the company said. Israel announced on Sunday that it had closed its airspace to both inbound and outbound flights in the wake of the US attacks. On Sunday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned there was a risk of the Middle East crisis spiralling beyond the region after Trump ordered US planes and submarines to attack Iran's nuclear programme. The US struck three nuclear sites in Iran overnight prompting Tehran to launch a retaliatory ballistic missile barrage against Israel. In a statement, British Airways said: 'As a result of recent events, we have adjusted our flight schedule to ensure the safety of our customers and crew, which is always our top priority. 'We are contacting our customers to advise them of their options while we work through this developing situation.' BA is offering a flexible booking policy for customers already booked onto flights to Dubai and Doha between Sunday and Tuesday who wish to change their dates of travel.
NBC News
31 minutes ago
- NBC News
Vance says U.S. 'not at war with Iran, we're at war with Iran's nuclear program'
WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday that the U.S. is not at war with Iran, but with Tehran's nuclear weapons program, and declined to confirm with 100% confidence that the country's nuclear sites were totally destroyed. During an interview on NBC News' 'Meet the Press,' moderator Kristen Welker asked the vice president whether the U.S. was now at war with Iran after President Donald Trump said the U.S. military had dropped bombs on three Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday. The move marked the first time that the U.S. had attacked Iran and prompted concerns about whether attacks could drag the U.S. into a wider war. Hours later, Iran launched retaliatory strikes against Israel, causing damage in Tel Aviv. 'We're not at war with Iran,' Vance said. 'We're at war with Iran's nuclear program.' Vance also declined to confirm with 100% certainty that Iran's nuclear sites were completely destroyed, saying instead that he believes the U.S. has 'substantially delayed' Iran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon. 'I'm not going to get into sensitive intelligence about what we've seen on the ground there in Iran, but we've seen a lot, and I feel very confident that we've substantially delayed their development of a nuclear weapon, and that was the goal of this attack," Vance said. He said that the U.S. 'destroyed the Iranian nuclear program,' adding, 'I think we set that program back substantially.' Trump said Saturday night that the facilities were 'completely and totally obliterated,' which NBC News cannot independently confirm. 'Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,' Trump said in his Saturday night address to the nation. 'Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace.' In the hours since the strike, the U.S. has received 'some indirect messages from the Iranians,' Vance said. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has also said that Iran 'reserves all options' for its response. Trump said in an all-capitalized post to Truth Social on Saturday that 'any retaliation by Iran against the United States of America will be met with force far greater than what was witnessed tonight.' Asked whether the U.S. would draw a red line if Iran disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a major route, Vance said the move would be 'suicidal' for Iran. 'Their entire economy runs through the Strait of Hormuz. If they want to destroy their own economy and cause disruptions in the world, I think that would be their decision,' said. 'But why would they do that? I don't think it makes any sense.' The vice president said that the U.S. wants peace with Iran 'in the context of them not having a nuclear weapons program.' He argued that the U.S. did not 'blow up' diplomacy, casting blame instead on Iran for not giving diplomacy 'a real chance.' 'The Iranians are clearly not very good at war. Perhaps they should follow President Trump's lead and give peace a chance,' Vance said. 'If they're serious about it, I guarantee you the President of the United States is too.' The U.S. attack came after Israel launched strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities earlier this month, prompting Iran to retaliate with strikes against Israel. The two countries have been locked in a military conflict since then. The U.S. initially denied its involvement, but in the days following the initial attacks, the president weighed whether the U.S. should unleash the military to back Israel. U.S. has 'bunker buster' bombs that could penetrate Fordo, which is built inside a mountain — the only country known to have this type of weapon.
