Japan was invited for the first time to discuss joining AUKUS with Australia and the United States at a meeting of defence ministers in Darwin. Paul Gregoire reports.
Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN)
The Pine Gap military spy base was established 50 years ago on the traditional lands of the Arrernte people, about 20 kilometres outside of Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory.
Pine Gap is supposedly a joint US-Australian defence facility, but very little of it is “joint” or “defence” related.
The Julia Gillard government has committed Australia to closer war ties with the US, more US bases and billions for US defence contracts at the annual AUSMIN talks in Perth on November 16.
The Gillard government is well aware of the huge public opposition to the US-led wars in Iraq and now Afghanistan. It knows that a majority is critical of Canberra’s unquestioning policy of “all-the-way-with-Obama’s next wars”.