The relationship for decades has been so close that a foreign secretary has been considered largely redundant. While the obvious intent is to draw an image of Australia being considered the poor cousin and still a colony, I doubt there are any real life examples.

This is at best a work of fiction.

Interesting article.

What alliance?

I'm also rather sceptical as to the real reason for the sudden British desire to 'strengthen ties' with Australia. What's the real agenda? Asia? After the UK joined the Common Market in the 1970s it appeared that Australia and the UK would go our separate ways. Britain's entry certainly indicated the low priority that the British placed on relations with Australia.

The British didn't place any value on their 'cultural affinities' with Australia during WW2,neither should Australia in the 21st century. They had national interests to consider,we should consider ours.

Perhaps membership of the EU hasn't worked out so well.

What a very confused piece.

It doesn't quite know whether it is bitter at the neglect purportedly shown by the UK to Australia...

"...the British government has elevated Australians from 'penal progeny' to 'commercial cousins'."

...or to be bitter about the fact that Australia still retains such strong political ties with the old country...

"How can one seriously consider a relationship "bilateral" when the two countries share the same constitutional custodian? Or when the governing charter of one country was "permitted" by the parliament of the other?"

On balance, the author seems more annoyed with his fellow-countrymen, mainly for their laziness in allowing the constitutional status quo to survive so long past its use-by date.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the pair were on a mission to sell us an aircraft carrier. Whether this is true or not, Britain is just another country with whom we trade. I assume - I hope, rather - that we trailed a few of our own goods and services in front of them while they were here.

If we didn't, then we are allowing our ambivalent emotional attitude towards the Poms to override our commercial judgement.

Which wouldn't surprise me much.

This visit might be motivated by the declining influence of the US and the need for Commonwealth nations to become more involved in world affairs (not always at the behest of America).

The British and Australians are more akin than their US counterparts on many issues including around concepts of social democracy and it is only as a unified group they can hope to influence the more aggressive aspects of US foreign policy. The Brits want more influence in Asia and Australia is a good place to start.

One thing we know for sure, it is not to discuss the growing discontent of the some 200,000 or more British pensioners living in Australia and whose pensions have not risen since their retirement. Indexation of British pensions is long overdue. The Brits expect the Australian Government to top up the pensions of ex-pats but are happy to index the pensions of ex-pats in the US ...a good start to a closer relationships - I would think not. As one British Association argues, the cost of indexing the pensions could easily be covered using the unclaimed health service entitlements.

A bitter, cynical article indeed. He touches on all the major points one would expect of a Leftist "intellectual." The notion of "Invasion Day" of the "inconveniently inhabited island." The fact that Australia is not a Republic and we still have the Union Jack on our flag. The underlying self-racism of the bemoaning that so many of our migrants come from England, and especially the argument that this undermines our multiculturalism- this is an indication of how deeply entrenched the ideas of "Whiteness Studies" have become amongst the left. The statement that "The British do not suffer from an identity crisis," is quite contestible.

Ultimately, you get the impression that Madden doesn't give a stuff about the state of Australia's relationship with Great Britain. This article is just an excuse to bag out Australia, England, and the West in general, for all the usual Leftist reasons.

but it is 20 years since they sent a foreign minister - how seriously do they treat the relationship?
Matthew maddem,
Australian pollies are in Britain most of the time plus we have teleconferencing, internet etc. There is not the slightest excuse to send a minister here.
Do you go & see your family every time you need to discuss something with them ? It appears only Australian politicians can't communicate via modern technology.