Australia’s Refusal to Send a Single Ship to the Red Sea: What were the Reasons?
President Joe Biden’s surrogates asked for just one ship—not an unprecedented request. Why did we refuse?
Commentary
The stated reason was that our priority is the Pacific, and surely it should be.
As the recent non-release of cabinet documents relating to our decision to join the United States in Iraq reminds us, no Australian government has ever ignored serious requests from Uncle Sam since World War II.
Australia has never been capable of defending itself alone and has always relied on the patronage of a large ally.
Originally this was the British Empire, and then after WWII, it was the United States. We always paid our “insurance premiums” as they became “due.”
Our latest premium became due when President Joe Biden’s surrogates asked for just one ship—not an unprecedented request as we’ve sent more than one in the past to the same area of the world.
Why did we refuse?
There are three possible explanations and the answer is probably a mixture of all three.
1. Showing ‘Independence’ From Our Major Ally
There’s international politics.
The Albanese government prides itself on being more independent from the United States than its predecessor. So this could be signalling to Beijing, as part of an effort to retain access to Chinese markets for key exporters.
That would be consistent with the subservient tone Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has adopted in his meetings with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping and other CCP officials.
Then there’s positioning on the war in Gaza.
Australia has two populations that are broadly anti-American and pro-Palestinian. One is ethnic—Australian Muslims—and the other political—Australian Greens voters.
And there is another population influenced by relations with China—expat-Chinese.
Of the 12 electoral seats with Muslim populations over 5 percent, 10 are Labor-held (centre-left), one is Liberal (centre-right), and the other is held by a Liberal-leaning independent.
Of the 15 seats where the Greens win more than 20 percent of the first preference vote—which under Australia’s preferential system, can put you on the path to winning over time—the Greens have five, Labor holds nine, and the Teals (an alliance of centre-left independents) holds one.
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Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
