Never known for pulling his punches, former prime minister Paul Keating in The Australian Financial Review this week painted an unflattering picture of Australia as a “timid” and “prideful” country, lacking confidence and unwilling to re-imagine a “different idea of itself” or pathway forward.

Following the analysis of his former senior advisor, the late Allan Gyngell, Keating is right that “fear of abandonment” has long underpinned Australia’s international psychology, particularly in its relationship with the United States.