[LINK] Howard in the footsteps of Menzies

[Russell Ashdown]

Prime minister Mr John Howard has made much of his admiration 
for former Liberal Party prime minister Sir Robert Menzies.

In much the same way as Sir Robert Menzies sought to pay court to 
the government of GB, so too does Mr John Howard seek to pay 
court to today's GB.  In both cases, such a servile approach does 
little to further the interests of our nation.  It only serves to tie our 
nation's destiny securely to the apron strings of the US and that 
country's domestic and foreign policy agenda.

The question in my mind is: What, if anything will Mr Howard's 
submissiveness to the whims of the US government do to affect this 
country's relationship with the US?  Will it give us as a nation more 
bargaining power with the US administration?  Will our government 
now carry more weight with this administration and future US 
administrations than domestic US lobby groups?  Will for example, 
the US administration now be predisposed to halt the "dumping" of 
US farm produce in competition with Australian produce?

And, if the answers to these questions are not in Australia's self 
interest, can someone please tell me just why the prime minister of 
this country feels the need to embarrass us by kowtowing before the 
President of the US and his cabinet?

Russell Ashdown