Australia’s ambassador to the US Joe Hockey has a plan to rebuild the US-Australia alliance

AFTER Malcolm Turnbull and Donald Trump’s leaked phone call made world headlines, Joe Hockey has a plan to reset the US-Australian alliance.

Australia’s Ambassador to the United States, Joe Hockey, delivering a speech to the US Studies Centre in Sydney on November 2, 2016. Picture: AAP Image/Paul Miller

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EXCLUSIVE: Former treasurer Joe Hockey is looking to reset the bruised US-Australian alliance through movies with his storyboard pitch for a docudrama on the “mateship” between the nations set to be made into a cable network series.

In the wake of that cut-short call that rocked the relationship between the US and Australia, Canberra’s man in Washington Ambassador Hockey is to remind the Americans of the special closeness the nations have enjoyed through 100 years of fighting wars together.

Australian Ambassador to the US, Joe Hockey has a plan for a new docudrama. Picture: News Corp Australia

The move ironically to reinforce the strategic alliance through combat is seen as timely given the diplomatic conflict last month’s strained telephone exchange between Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and President Donald Trump on the Manus Island refugees deal created, details of which were leaked by the White House administration and sparked shock and disappointment on both sides of the Pacific.

US President Donald Trump’s phone call with Malcolm Turnbull rocked the US/Australian relationship. Picture: Pete Marovich/CNP

It is understood Mr Hockey first approached Foxtel’s CEO Peter Tonagh with his “Mateship 1918-2018” proposal for “a broadcaster’s opinion” late last year prior to the presidential inauguration of Mr Trump, but his staff has since maintained weekly discussions with the network on the project and backed up with a glossy outline.

The program, expected to include real footage and re-enactments, could now go into production as early as this May.

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade sources have confirmed the “campaign” is backed by the Australian Government and at this stage is to climax in 2018 on the Fourth of July, America’s most revered public holiday Independence Day.

Mates. Australian task force commander Colonel Gavin Keating with US Major General Gary J. Volesky in Iraq. Picture Gary Ramage/News Corp Australia

Foxtel is to act as executive producer and feature the program on its History Channel but a production house was currently being sought by tender.

The ambassador’s six-page glossy “premise” pitch outlining the idea for the documentary and obtained by News Corp Australia, begins from the first non-American to command US troops, Sir John Monash at the battle of Hamel on the Western Front in 1918, through to coalition operations in Iraq and Syria this year.

It could also now include Defence’s confirmation this week that from March 1 the Australian General Roger Noble is to be made deputy commander of the mighty US Army Pacific in Hawaii, which commands 80,000 US soldiers from Alaska to Korea, with critical mutual military reliance in the troubled region prompting the strategic Aussie appointment in the heart of the US military machine.

An inside page of the glossy MATESHIP magazine featuring an image of Australian stretcher bearer Corporal Leslie “Bull’ Allen, from Ballarat, carrying a wounded American GI to safety in Papua New Guinea during World War Two.

In his pitch Mr Hockey said the enduring image of 26-year-old stretcher bearer Corporal Leslie “The Bull’ Allen, from Ballarat, carrying a wounded American GI to safety in Mt Tambu in New Guinea during World War II — for which he was awarded the US Silver Star for gallantry — “embodies the spirit of mateship between Australia and the United States.”

“To continue to highlight the long history of Australia and the US in battle, the Australian Embassy will host as a series of major events, including a ‘mateship’ gala ball, commemorations and guest lectures in the lead up to 4 July 2018,” the pitch outlines.

The cover of the glossy magazine MATESHIP.

The program is to feature on TV in both Australia and the US.

It is understood as well as DFAT, Veterans Affairs Department, the Australian War Memorial, the Australian Defence Force and Defence Department will be involved in some form, including budget, with final sign off to be given by Mr Turnbull’s office.

Foxtel has confirmed there has been discussions and the initial 60-90 minute program, with the working title G’Day 100 years of Mateship, could be backed by a year full of features showcasing the bond between the nations through business, corporate and the entertainment industry but declined to comment further as the project was still being “scoped”.

“It was seen as important to continue to tell Australian stories and we remind younger Australians of the history of our nationhood and in this particular instance, the close ties with the United States and clearly now with Trump in all of that is all very topical and relevant now,” one network source said.