Australia's risky gamble in aligning with Japan's military expansion | The Manila Times

AUSTRALIA'S government must be mad! At least, this is the view of many people in the know. Sky News, in its own inimitable fashion of crafting a narrative to suit a purpose, describes the announcement of regular joint military drills among Australia, United States and Japan as "likely to anger China." What it is more likely to do is anger a great number of Australians, people who vote in the election for the decision makers in this crazy decision.

Just a few days ago, a reputable poll cited by former prime minister Paul Keating demonstrated clearly that the majority of Australians do not want to get involved in a US tussle in the Indo-Pacific region. The Political Resolve Poll found that 57 percent of Australians polled would rather stay away from the US' potential conflict with China. Meanwhile, the government is providing space for the US to build marine bases, allowing the refueling of bombers. Australia will spend up to $245.8 billion by 2055 on Aukus nuclear submarine shipyard. And now, Defense Minister Richard Marles has gone one step further to announce that, instead of working to increase cooperation with its largest trading partner, Australia will commence regular military drills with Japan. There is a very good reason why this could be seen as a serious political misstep for the government.