Australia’s defence alliance with the United States seems to be a given. 

But do we really need the Americans to protect us? The former Prime Minister Paul Keating doesn’t think so. 

He insists we can defend ourselves and he wants us to tear up the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal. 

Paul Keating also dismisses Taiwan as ‘Chinese real estate’, a characterisation that veteran US politician, house speaker Nancy Pelosi describes as a ‘stupid statement’. 

Today, Richard McGregor from the Lowy Institute on what walking away from the US would mean for our security. 

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Richard McGregor, senior fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute