Australia: Background And U.S. Relations
Australia: Background and U.S. RelationsBruce VaughnSpecialist in Asian AffairsThomas LumSpecialist in Asian AffairsDecember 14, 2015Congressional Research Service7-5700www.crs.govRL33010
Australia: Background and U.S. RelationsSummaryThe Commonwealth of Australia and the United States enjoy a very close alliance relationship.Australia shares many cultural traditions and values with the United States and has been a treatyally since the signing of the Australia-New Zealand-United States (ANZUS) Treaty in 1951.Australia made major contributions to the allied cause in the First and Second World Wars, andthe conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. During his visit to Australia in 2011,President Obama announced the rotational stationing of U.S. Marines in northern Australia. Thisinitiative and others, which are viewed as part of the United States’ rebalance to Asia strategy,have continued to develop through the annual Australia-U.S. Ministerial (AUSMIN) process. Acornerstone of Australia’s strategic outlook, which is shared by the leading political parties, is theview that the United States is Australia’s most important strategic partner and is a key source ofstability in the Asia-Pacific region. The ANZUS alliance also remains very popular with theAustralian public.While Australia has a complex array of relations with many state and non-state actors, itsgeopolitical context is to a large extent defined by its economic relationship with China and itsstrategic relationship with the United States. Australia’s political leadership believes it does nothave to choose between the two and that it can have constructive trade relations with China whilemaintaining its close strategic alliance relationship with the United States. However, afundamental shift in the geostrategic architecture of Asia may be underway as regional states maybe hedging against the perceived relative decline of U.S. power in the region. This is oneinterpretation of what is behind the recent strengthening of ties between Australia and Japan andbetween other regional powers in Asia. Australia also plays a key role in promoting regionalstability in Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific, and has led peacekeeping efforts in theAsia-Pacific, including in Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands.Under the former Liberal Party government of John Howard, Australia invoked the ANZUS treatyto offer assistance to the United States after the attacks of September 11, 2001, in which 22Australians were among those killed. Australia was one of the first countries to commit troops toU.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Terrorist attacks on Australians in Indonesia inthe 2000s also led Australia to share many of the United States’ concerns in the struggle againstIslamist militancy in Southeast Asia and beyond. Australia is part of the global coalition to defeatthe Islamic State (IS). There are renewed concerns in Australia about domestic Islamist terroristthreats due to the resurgence of Islamist militancy and in light of recent attacks in Paris and SanBernardino. Dozens of Australians are believed to have gone to fight for the Islamic State.The Australian economy has done relatively well when compared with other developedeconomies in recent years. Its economic growth rate has been approximately one third faster thanthat of the United States over the past 20 years. Australia’s developing trade relationship withChina has been a key source of growth. However, there is an ongoing debate in Australia onwhere the Australian economy is headed as commodity prices slide and the “China boom”subsides. While profits from iron ore and other mineral exports to China may slow, otheremerging exports including exports of Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG) potentially to amore diversified set of export partners may provide a continuing source of growth. Australia,which has signed free trade agreements with the United States, South Korea, Japan, and China, isa signatory of the 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement that was concluded inOctober 2015. Despite criticism from some labor groups and economic interests, both majorAustralian political parties support the TPP arrangement.Congressional Research Service
Australia: Background and U.S. RelationsContentsU.S.–Australia Relations: Background and Recent Developments . 1U.S.-Australia Force Posture Agreement . 2AUSMIN 2015 . 32015 International Forums: G-20 Meeting, APEC Summit, and Climate ChangeConference . 4History and Politics . 5Government Structure . 6Political Developments . 6The Alliance . 7The ANZUS Alliance and Changing Strategic Contexts. 7U.S. Arms Sales to Australia . 8Australia’s Strategic Outlook . 8Strategic Geography . 9The Indo-Pacific . 9Defense Policy . 10Defense White Paper. 11Foreign Affairs . 11Australia’s Identity and Asia . 11Indonesia . 12China . 13Japan . 15India . 16The Pacific . 17Australia, Islamist Militancy, and Counterterrorism . 18Economic and Trade Issues . 20Australia “Beyond the Boom”. 20U.S.-Australia Trade and Investment . 21Trans-Pacific Partnership . 21Looking Ahead . 22FiguresFigure 1. Map of Australia. 23TablesTable 1. Australian Senate Composition. 6ContactsAuthor Contact Information . 23Congressional Research Service
Australia: Background and U.S. RelationsU.S.–Australia Relations: Background and RecentDevelopmentsAustralia’s strategic position has moved from peripheral, as it was during the Cold War, to centralas the globe’s geopolitical center of gravity shifts to Asia and the Indo-Pacific region.1 During theCold War the Fulda Gap and Central Europe were of central concern to strategic analysts whiletoday the Straits of Malacca and the maritime trade and energy routes of the Indo-Pacific are.While developments in the Middle East and Europe will continue to demand the attention of theUnited States and others, the potential for conflict in the Indo-Pacific region positions Australia inan increasingly strategic corner of the globe. Because of this, some have gone so far as to assertthat the U.S.-Australia relationship may be the United States’ “special relationship” of the 21stcentury.2 At the 2011 Australia-U.S. Joint Ministerial (AUSMIN) meeting, then-Secretary of StateHillary Clinton stated the “ties between our two nations are as close as any in the world,” whilethen-Foreign Minister Rudd stated, “No one can overestimate the importance of the sharing ofcommon values” when discussing the alliance.3 The Obama Administration announced in 2011 a“strategic rebalancing” of U.S. foreign policy priorities to the Asia-Pacific region, an approachthat entails deeper diplomatic, economic, and security engagement with Asia-Pacific countries.Australia, a traditionally staunch U.S. ally, has in recent years strengthened its long-standingalliance with the United States. This was demonstrated by former-Australian Prime Minister TonyAbbott’s October 2014 decision to send eight Super Hornet fighter/bomber aircraft, 200 specialforces and 400 support troops to the United Arab Emirates to join the coalition forming to halt theadvance of Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq.4 The United States and Australia share strategicinterests in the Indo-Pacific region and globally and have worked closely together to promotetheir goals and objectives. Australia’s worldview overwhelmingly sees the United States as aforce for good in the world and in Australia’s Indo-Pacific region. There is also strong bipartisanelite and popular support in Australia for bilateral defense cooperation with the United States.Cultural TiesThe close relationship is also highlighted by the popularity of Australianperformers, artists, and authors in the United States. The success ofAustralian actors and actresses in America dates back to Errol Flynn and morerecently is demonstrated by Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving,Mel Gibson, Geoffrey Rush, Eric Bana, Hugh Jackman, and Heath Ledger.Australian musicians and performers such as AC/DC, Midnight Oil, INXS,Kylie Minogue, John Williams, Dame Edna, and Dame Joan Sutherland are alsopopular in America, as are Australian authors such as Thomas Keneally, JillKer Conway, Peter Carey, Robert Hughes, Germaine Greer, and PatrickWhite.Australia’s continuingemphasis on itsrelationship with theUnited States makes it avaluable partner of theUnited States in the IndoPacific region. Australia’spolitical leadership doesnot see Australia’seconomic relationshipwith China, which has1Rory Medcalf, “A Term Whose Time Has Come: The Indo-Pacific,” The Diplomat, December 4, 2012. The IndoPacific is generally considered to encompass the Indian Ocean and western Pacific maritime and littoral regions.2Jim Thomas, Zack Cooper, and Iskander Rehman, “Gateway to the Indo-Pacific: Australian Defense Strategy and theFuture of the Australian Alliance,” Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment, 2013.3“Transcript of Joint Press Conference with Defence Minister Stephen Smith, Foreign Minister Rudd, U.S. Secretaryof State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Secretary of Defense Panetta,” San Francisco, September 15, 2011.4“Islamic State: Abbott Warns Troops May Be Forced to Fire in Iraq,” ABC News, September 17, 2014.Congressional Research Service1
Australia: Background and U.S. Relationsbeen its largest trading partner since 2009, and its strategic relationship with the United States asincompatible.5 While 31% of Australians polled in a 2014 public opinion survey by the LowyInstitute6 viewed China and Japan as Australia’s “best friends” in Asia, 48% of those polledbelieve China is likely to become a military threat to Australia in the next 20 years. In the sameLowy Institute poll, the alliance with the U.S. was found to remain important to Australians, with78% polled stating that it is either very important (52%) or fairly important (26%).7 A 2011 LowyInstitute poll of Australian public opinion found that 55% of Australians favored allowing theUnited States to base military forces in Australia.8 There appears to be support in Australia forclose relations with Anglosphere countries.9 In one 2013 poll on Australian attitudes towardsselect countries, Australians ranked Great Britain first with a rating of 77 and the United States70, as compared with China, 54; Iran, 38; and North Korea, 31.10U.S.-Australia Force Posture AgreementFormer-Prime Minister Tony Abbott met with President Barack Obama in Washington in June2014. After their meeting they announced the U.S.-Australia Force Posture Agreement. In jointremarks with Abbott, Obama stated the following.There are a handful of countries in the world that we always know we can count on, notjust because they share our values, but we know we can count on them because they havereal capacity. Australia is one of those countries. We share foundational values aboutliberal democracies and human rights, and a world that’s governed by international lawand norms. And Aussies know how to fight, and I like having them in a foxhole if we’rein trouble.11Statements issued at the time also pointed to bilateral cooperation in the areas of cyber defenseand cyber security incident response and expanded cooperation on ballistic missile defense(BMD) in the Asia-Pacific region.12 A bilateral working group is to look at ways Australia cancontribute to a BMD system.13 Such a system could network U.S., Australian, and allied assets toincrease shared capabilities and could potentially include the Australian Jindalee Over theHorizon Radar.14 (For more on BMD, see CRS Report R43116, Ballistic Missile Defense in theAsia-Pacific Region: Cooperation and Opposition, by Ian E. Rinehart, Steven A. Hildreth, andSusan V. Lawrence.) The HMAS Hobart is the first of three Australian air warfare destroyers withthe Aegis missile defense system. It is expected to come into service in 2016.15 The reportedexpansion of a base near Geraldton, West Australia, would upgrade access to a next generation5“Australia,” The Economist Intelligence Unit, Country Report, June 2013.The Sydney-based Lowy Institute is one of the leading public policy institutions in Australia.7“The Lowy Institute Poll 2014,” http://lowyinstitute.org.8Fergus Hanson, “2011 Lowy Institute Poll,” http://www.lowyinterpreter.org.9The Anglosphere concept includes Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, and Canada.10“The Lowy Institute Poll 2013,” http://lowyinstitute.org.11Office of the Press Secretary, The White House, “Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Abbott,” June12, 2014.12The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, “The United States and Australia; An Alliance for the Future,” June12, 2014.13Brendan Nicholson, “Joint Plan to Take Out Missiles,” The Australian, August 13, 2014.14John Kerin, “Iraq Leads the Agenda,” Australian Financial Review, August 14, 2014.15Greg Sheridan “US Plan to Fire From Our Ships,” The Australian, August 9, 2014.6Congressional Research Service2
Australia: Background and U.S. Relationsmilitary satellite communications system for U.S. and Australian troops to communicateworldwide.16Under the Force Posture Agreement, U.S. forces in Australia are set to increase from 1,150 to2,500 by 2017. The agreement provides a legal basis for the presence of U.S. Marines in thenorthern Australian city of Darwin—one of the key strategic pieces of the Asia rebalancing—andprepares the way for a rotational presence, and possible home porting, of U.S. Navy vessels andmilitary aircraft in Western Australia in the years ahead. Some analysts viewed the signing of theForce Posture Agreement as marking a further “maturing and institutionalizing of a more robustU.S.-Australia security relationship.”17 In discussing the Force Posture Agreement, which has a25-year time frame, the 2014 AUSMIN Joint Communiqué stated that it “demonstrates the UnitedStates’ strong commitment to the Asia Pacific and the Indian Ocean regions and Australia’s firmsupport for the U.S. rebalance” to Asia strategy. The communiqué also stated that AUSMIN“welcomed the larger U.S. Marine Corps presence” in Northern Australia and “discussed the wayforward for enhanced aircraft cooperation” and “the potential for additional bilateral navalcooperation.” The communiqué discussed how the two nations were committed to workingtogether on BMD and developing common approaches to regional security challenges. It alsodiscussed the need to “harness opportunities for greater defense cooperation across the AsiaPacific and Indian Ocean regions” and called for “upholding freedom of navigation and overflightin the East China and South China Seas” and “opposed unilateral attempts to change facts on theground or water through the threat or use of force or coercion.”18AUSMIN 2015At the core of the ANZUS alliance is the Australia-United States Ministerial (AUSMIN) process.This annual meeting of the U.S Defense Secretary and Secretary of State and their Australiancounterparts, the Minister of Defence and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, guides and shapes thealliance relationship. In October 2015, Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of DefenseAshton Carter met with Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop and DefenceMinister Marise Payne in Boston for the 2015 AUSMIN consultations. The Joint Statementincludes a number of principles, initiatives, and accomplishments in the areas of militarycooperation, regional stability, counterterrorism, economic integration, and climate change. Thetwo sides reaffirmed the “strong state of bilateral defense and security cooperation . bolstered bymore than a decade of operations together” in Afghanistan and Iraq and more recently through theGlobal Coalition to Counter the Islamic State. They reiterated their commitment to theimplementation of the U.S. Force Posture Initiatives. The two defense leaders signed a JointStatement on Defense Cooperation, which articulates the principles underpinning defensecooperation.19The governments expressed “strong concerns” over Chinese land reclamation and constructionactivities in the South China Sea and called on all claimant states to “halt land reclamation,construction, and militarization.” They emphasized the importance of the “rights, freedoms, and16C. Stewart, “Expansion of Remote Spy Base Will Catapult ADF into the Future,” The Australian, July 9, 2014.Gregory Poling, “AUSMIN Takes the Long View of U.S.-Australia Security Cooperation,” CSIS Pacific PartnersInitiative, August 28, 2014.18State Department Press Release, ”Joint Communiqué AUSMIN 2014,” Federal Information and News Dispatch,August 12, 2014.19“2015 Australia-United States Ministerial (AUSMIN) Joint Statement, Washington DC, October 13, 2015,http://www.sta
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