Aust, affirms U.S. defence alignment

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33929, 23 August 1975, Page 15

Aust, affirms U.S. defence alignment

(N Z. Press Assn—Copyright) CANBERRA. August 22. The Australian Labour Government has confirmed its basic alignment with the United States after fending off Opposition Liberal Party claims that it had damaged the goodwill upon which the American alliance was based.

“In terms of the global deterrent, the global nuclear balance. Australia is fundamentally aligned with the United States,” said the Defence Minister (Mr Bill Morrison) in the house of representatives (lower house). Mr Morrison made the declaration at the end of a five-hour debate on changes the Australian Government had negotiated in its agreement with the United States on the American naval communications base at Exmouth in Western Australia.

During the marathon debate Opposition members, led by the former Navy Minister (Mr Jim Killen) asserted that the Labour Government had, in reality, manoeuvred to end the United States presence at the base, thus damaging bi-lateral relations between the two countries.

Rejecting the Opposition charges, Mr Morrison retorted that under the 23-year Liberal reign which ended in 1972, Australia had been an obsequious satellite of the United States. What was the “Lucky Country” had become the “Lackey Country,” he said.

The new agreement, which passed all stages in the House with Opposition support, provides for joint control of the base and effective consultation between the United States and Australia on matters associated with it. •