IAN HALL |

The report in the Washington Post that President Donald Trump berated Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull over the refugee settlement deal and angrily ended their phone call has rightly caused consternation on both sides of the Atlantic.

Inevitably, it has also brought the Australia-United States defence alliance under scrutiny once more, but if one positive thing could come out of all the turmoil of the first few days of this Presidency, it might be that Australians start to think more creatively — and not just along the well-worn lines laid out in the last few years — about its interests and how to secure and extend them.

The first is that the relationship with the United States is hard to break. It is unlikely — though, in a sign of the times, we also have to recognise that it is far from impossible — the US would abrogate the ANZUS Treaty or cut Australia out of the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence sharing arrangements. Nor is the level of US investment into Australia likely to diminish anytime soon, unless a major economic crisis occurs. And nor will all the close people-to-people ties between the Australian and American political, business, and military elites.

To read the full “Advance Australia Where?” article by Griffith Asia Institute Acting Director and Centre for Governance and Public Policy Professor, Ian Hall, please visit The Policy Innovation Hub (The Machinery of Government).