End of an Era? Anti‐Americanism in the Australian Labor Party

Abstract

Anti‐Americanism, sometimes called the “last acceptable prejudice”, is a common phenomenon in the modern era. This paper explores the ebb and flow of anti‐Americanism in the Australian Labor Party in the post‐Second World War period and argues that while at times it was reasonable or proportionate, at others such criticism became unreasonable, disproportionate and therefore prejudicial. When this occurs the Australia‐US alliance can become strained, the Australian electorate tends to become sceptical of the ALP's credentials on national security and the party's electoral prospects also tend to suffer. Nevertheless, following the brief leadership of the stridently anti‐American Mark Latham, such sentiment in the ALP has been widely discredited and is unlikely to emerge again in its prejudicial form for some time, marking the end of an era.

Explaining the Turmoil at the Top of Australian Politics and the Implications for India

“…Indeed, Labor’s Mark Latham lost the 2004 election and then destroyed his political career in part by revealing the depth of his anti-Americanism. This outcome (Bloomfield & Nossal, 2010), and the fact that polls show public support for ANZUS rarely dips below 80 per cent (Bloomfield, 2016), reinforces bipartisan agreement on the importance of maintaining close links with Washington.…”

“…Things were not always thus. The key plank of this foreign policy orientation is Australia’s alliance with the USA, and at times—especially during the 1970s and 1980s—important groups, led by Labor’s left faction, wanted to scrap Australia New Zealand United States Security Treaty (ANZUS) (Bloomfield & Nossal, 2010). But after the Cold War ended, this positon largely faded into irrelevance.…”

The evolution of the US—Australia strategic relationship

“…In 1969, however, the Nixon Doctrine had made clear the US expectation that its Asian allies should shoulder more of the burden for their own defence (Frühling 2018: 206). General anti-US sentiments in Australia had also been fuelled by the war in Vietnam and the Moratorium Movement (Bloomfield and Nossal 2010). Although defence matters and the alliance were not a high priority for the new Labor Whitlam Government (1972Government ( -1975, self-reliance was debated and then formally articulated under the subsequent Fraser Gov ernment in the first Defence White Paper Australian Defence in 1976 (Brabin-Smith 2016: 180).…”