Australia As Trump’s Minion

Donald Trump is posting maps showing Canada, Mexico, Greenland, Iceland, Central America and the Caribbean under the American flag. This isn't normal. It's not funny. And it shouldn't be brushed off as just another outrageous social media post from a man who thrives on outrage.

Other countries are looking at what the US is becoming and asking serious questions. Can it still be trusted? Does it respect the sovereignty of its allies? Will it follow international law, or simply do whatever it believes is in its own interests?

Australia should be asking these questions too. But instead, we're doing the opposite. At the very moment the US is becoming more aggressive, more unpredictable and more openly contemptuous of the international rules, the Albanese government is promising it an even greater military presence on our soil.

Defence Minister Richard Marles just confirmed that the American military posture in Australia is growing across every military domain, with more initiatives still to come. More access. More integration. More dependence. And far less public debate than any of this deserves.

The Guardian newpaper has revealed that the US military already controls 17 facilities on mainland Australia and has access to another 75 Australian-run military facilities. American defence corporations have access to a further 18. That's 110 Australian facilities with some form of US military or corporate control or access.

Now to be precise, that doesn't mean the Trump Regime owns all 110 sites or can simply seize any Australian airport it chooses. But the Force Posture Agreement has with the US, gives it's forces and contractors extensive access to Australian defence facilities, including for deployments, logistics, refuelling and storing military equipment. And the problem is bigger than what the agreements say on paper.

Declassified Australia’s reporting on Pine Gap shows why. Australians may work inside the facility, but the US controls the satellites, systems and global military architecture that give the base its purpose. Australian participation is real. But that doesn't make the relationship equal. The US is in charge. The head of Pine Gap is always American.

So when our government says Australia remains fully sovereign, we need to ask what sovereignty actually means. Does Australia know about every operation conducted through these facilities? Can we refuse an American request? Can we stop our territory being used in a war we don't support? And could we make that refusal stick given that our military, intelligence systems, weapons and supply chains are so deeply integrated with America’s?

These are not anti-American questions. They're pro-Australian questions. And before anyone trots out the tired line that stepping back from the Trump regime means “aligning with China”, no. It doesn't. We don't have to choose between being subordinate to Washington or Beijing. Australia is a sovereign country. We are rich enough to have an independent foreign policy, defend our own interests and work with countries across our region without becoming anybody’s military outpost.

As a former diplomat, I watched Australia reinvent the argument for sticking unquestioningly with the US for decades. When a Republican comes into power, we tell ourselves the alliance is bigger than one president. When a Democrat takes over, we say the adults are back and the alliance is safe again. Then another Republican arrives and our strategy is to wait it out, keep quiet and avoid upsetting Washington. The explanation changes. The conclusion never does: Australia must follow.

But this time it's very different. Trumpism isn't simply the usual Republican script. And it's no longer credible to treat it as a temporary aberration that will disappear if Australia waits patiently enough. It's a political movement built around power without restraint, hostility towards international institutions and contempt for allies that don't fall into line. Even when Trump eventually goes, Trumpism will remain part of American politics.

Australia can't build its security around the hope that the US will return to normal. The costs are too high: billions diverted into deeper dependence, Australian facilities turned into potential targets, and the growing risk that reckless decisions made by Trump in Washington could determine whether Australia becomes involved in another disastrous war.

We need an immediate, independent review of the entire US military presence in Australia. We need full public disclosure of the principles governing access and control. We need Parliament to have a meaningful say before Australia supports or joins any more wars. And until Australians receive honest answers, there must be no further expansion of the US military footprint here.

This is our country. Our soil. Our sovereignty. Our decision. We're not Trump’s minions.