Hawke Supports Enhanced Cooperation with the US Military
Thursday, 17 November 2011
An announcement by The President of The United States of America, Barack Obama, that 2,500 American marines along with US Air Force and other personnel will be deployed to Australian military bases will benefit Australia’s economic and security future and should be welcomed by all Australians.
Alex Hawke MP, The Federal Member for Mitchell, was in Parliament House when President Obama became just the 4th US President in History to address our parliament.
“The announcements made by President Obama to deploy defence forces to Australia will strengthen our ties with this great nation as well as securing our position in the Asia-Pacific region.
“When former Prime Minister Menzies and President Truman signed the ANZUS treaty it formalised the very important relationship that our two nations have. The Coalition has always been a strong supporter of strengthening our military ties with the United States.
“Former Prime Minister Howard deserves a lot of credit for President Obama’s announcement. Mr Howard paved the way for Australia by increasing economic relations and trade with China whilst maintaining our relationship with the United States.
“This announcement by President Obama should be seen as vindication for Mr Howard’s work in this area.
“The deployment of United States service men and women to Australia is in our nation’s security interests. The United States are the bedrock of global security and stability and this placement will allow them to maintain a strong presence in the Asia-Pacific region whilst they continue to grow their diplomatic relations with China.
Alex Hawke is a long standing supporter of the United States and believes that Australia will play a significant role in determining the future relationship between the world’s two largest super powers.
“By taking an active role in the Asia-Pacific region the United States is opening the door to more bilateral discussions with China. As two of Australia’s largest trading partners we have a lot of economic prosperity to gain from a strong working relationship between these two nations,” Alex Hawke concluded.