Australian prime minister Scott Morrison didn’t waste much time when Joe Biden won the US election. Less than a week after Biden’s confirmation as president-elect, Morrison invited him to celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS), describing the treaty as “the bedrock of our security foundations in Australia since that alliance was first established.”

The Australian ruling class has long championed the US alliance as being vital to Australia’s defense. In the name of that alliance, Australian soldiers have fought battles on almost every continent on Earth. Yet Australian military analysts and multiple defense white papers agree on a point that should already be obvious to anyone with a basic knowledge of geography: Australia is hardly a likely target for invasion.

So why maintain ANZUS? It’s common, especially on the Left, to view Australian foreign policy as an extension of US foreign policy. To be sure, many of Australia’s military adventures have defended and extended American imperialism. However, as historian Tom O’Lincoln has argued, it’s incorrect to see Australia simply as a US proxy.