51st State?

This important new book poses the question: are Australian politics being Americanised? While Australian prime ministers since Harold Holt have all desired close relationships with the White House, John Howard has initiated economic, geo-political, and military policies that link the two countries even more closely. If Australia is becoming the 51st state, its domestic politics, not just its foreign policy, should reflect this trend.

Certainly, the weakening of social safety nets, the privatisation of areas long seen as government responsibilities, and the move to a mixed public/private university system all grow out of major changes in the dominant ideology – Howard's overturning of the Australian Settlement parallels the collapse of the New Deal.

Yet there are also some very salient differences. In some ways, even as the rhetoric seems to immerse Australia further into the US world view, Australians are becoming less like Americans. Given the nature of the Australian social contract there are real limits to how far the current government is able to apply the US neo-liberal model. Despite his enthusiastic membership of the coalition of the willing, Howard has assiduously cultivated economic and political ties within Australia's region; and, as the global balance of power shifts, the ties between Australia and Asia may become increasingly relevant. It may be that the Howard/Bush era marks the high point of these developments, rather than a continuing trend.

As cracks open up in the conservative governments in both countries, we can start to imagine alternative political futures which may well mean a greater divergence, as well as more significant alternative influences.