The Trump administration has abandoned plans to appoint a new ambassador to Australia, 18 months after the last U.S. envoy finished his assignment.
The last permanent U.S. ambassador to Canberra was John Berry, who left the post in 2016. The position is seen as a desirable appointment, given Canberra’s leafy surroundings and the relative calm of Australian politics.
Many in Australia see the move as a snub, although the government in Canberra says it is not offended.
The Trump administration had planned to nominate Admiral Harry Harris from the U.S. Pacific Command as the next United States ambassador to Australia. That decision has been reversed, and Harris, a high-ranking Japanese-American naval officer, will instead become Washington’s envoy in South Korea.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he was disappointed his good friend would not be taking up a senior diplomatic role in Canberra, but that he understood the decision given the admiral’s expertise and experience.
Allies feel snubbed
But there is disquiet in other quarters.
Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says President Trump is in danger of taking Australia, a long-standing ally, for granted.
“I think the bottom line is the administration has decided that South Korea, demonstrably, is strategically more important. Given what’s happening with the inter-Korean summit, you can understand that reasoning,” Rudd said.
“But for Australia, I think, it does indicate that, at least from the view of the Trump administration, we are seen as something as a second-rate ally. President Trump is not a popular figure within Australia, for a whole range of reasons on the right and the left of politics. But the bottom line is all Australians expect any administration in the United States to take our alliance seriously,” he added.
Most important alliance
Australia signed a formal security treaty with the United States in the early 1950s. The agreement has underpinned Australia’s national security ever since. While it has close trading ties with China, and a historic relationship with its former colonial masters in Britain, Australia considers its alliance with the United States to be its most important.
Every year since 2012, U.S. Marines have been routinely stationed in Australia’s Northern Territory. The next contingent, almost 2,000 strong, is scheduled to arrive in Darwin next month.
Announced in 2011, the so-called Force Posture Agreement between Canberra and Washington is designed to “enhance military cooperation.”
The English-speaking nations have fought on the same side in various conflicts for a century, including Vietnam and Iraq.
