Former defence force chief says US is no longer a reliable ally to Australia

A former defence chief has warned Australia must “reconsider our priorities” in the face of Donald Trump’s reign in the White House.

Donald Trump’s divisive brand of leadership has continued to ruffle feathers inside the upper echelons of politics around the globe.

Flare-ups over tariffs have thrust Australia’s relationship with the superpower into the limelight, with political figures raising concerns about what the future between Canberra and Washington looks like after another four years of Trump’s America.

Former defence chief Admiral Chris Barrie, once among Australia’s most decorated champions of the US alliance, says he is no longer convinced the relationship between the two rusted-on allies holds firm.

Now an honorary professor at ANU, Barrie boldly declared to the media this week that “the vandals in the White House” have pushed the alliance to the brink of irrelevance.

“What is happening with the vandals in the White House is similar to what happened to Australia in 1942 with the fall of Singapore,” he said, via The Guardian.

“Frankly, I think it is time we reconsidered our priorities and think carefully about our defence needs, now that we are having a more independent posture,” he said.

“Our future is now in a much more precarious state than it was on 19 January. Trump 1.0 was bad enough. But Trump 2.0 is irrecoverable.”

‘Trump 2.0 is irrecoverable.’ (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)

While he stopped short of calling for Australia to walk away from the AUKUS pact, Barrie flagged real concerns about the viability of the agreement’s first phase — the delivery of US-built nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.

With US industry capacity stretched and Washington’s political winds shifting, he warned there is no firm guarantee the submarines will arrive, and no clear backup plan if they don’t.

“Let’s define why we really need nuclear submarines in the first instance, given a new independent defence posture for Australia,” Barrie continued.

“If they still make sense in that context, fine. But they might not. There might be alternatives. There might be alternatives with conventional submarines if we didn’t want to go any further than the Malacca Straits.”

While he stopped short of calling for Australia to walk away from the AUKUS pact, Barrie flagged real concerns about the viability of the agreement’s first phase — the delivery of US-built nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.

His remarks echo a recent warning from former foreign minister Bob Carr, who described the potential failure of the submarine transfer as a “colossal surrender of sovereignty.”

Carr, who held the foreign affairs role in 2012–13, said the AUKUS deal exposes Australia’s dependence on an increasingly erratic ally.

“The US is utterly not a reliable ally. No one could see it in those terms,” he said. “[President] Trump is wilful and cavalier and so is his heir-apparent, JD Vance: they are laughing at alliance partners, whom they’ve almost studiously disowned.”

Speaking on ABC’s 7.30 last week, Mr Carr warned Australia had become complacent in assuming the strength of the ties between Canberra and Washington.

“We shouldn’t delude ourselves that America regards us as special,” he said.

“Poland, France, the UK and Israel above all see themselves as special.

“We delude ourselves if we think Australia has a special relationship with the US.

“Trump is simply confirming we don’t count for that much at all and we better adjust to that reality.”

Carr, who held the foreign affairs role in 2012–13, said the AUKUS deal exposes Australia’s dependence on an increasingly erratic ally.

“Australia has grown very lazy and the partnership with America has become the biggest part of our international character.

“We need to reduce that and become more nimble and a more powerful diplomatic presence (that) we’re entitled to, given our economic strength.”

Mr Carr said the world is now witnessing what the new brand of US diplomacy looks like, claiming the Trump administration is wilfully abandoning a sense of international community it once proudly led by upsetting the waters with long-held allies.

“This America is not going to go back to normal,” he continued.

“It’s not going to back to liberal internationalism.

“It’s not going to be the America we recognised providing leadership in the Cold War (being) proud of its alliance system.

“We should recognise this America is very brutal, very hard-headed and very self interested. And we should be the most courted girl on the block.”

Mr Carr says AUKUS is “fading fast” and urged Australia to be proactive in this particularly tense moment in history.

“I don’t think we should have retaliatory tariffs directed at America. But I do think it’s an opportunity to begin to explore with the French the alternative to AUKUS.

“Because it’s now accepted wisdom that in the early 2030s, America won’t be building enough Virigina-class submarines to peel off three to five and give them to us.

“I think that, given the inevitability, we’re entitled to say we’re reopening discussions with the French about getting lethal and affordable submarines that would make this country untouchable.”