Australia must stand up to US and UK pressure over Aukus

Australia could persuade its Anglo-American allies to take a more rational approach to Hong Kong and mainland China in the interests of global peace and stability. Instead, the Australian political elite, seemingly in thrall to the United States, continues to fuel tensions with China. This positions the remote island nation as a potential pariah in its region.

Indeed, both my grandfather, Alan Frederick Green, and his brother, my great uncle Frank Clifton Green, were sent, as young men from a rural working-class Australian family, over 10,000 miles from home to fight for the British Empire in Europe and the Middle East during the first world war (1914-1918).

Both men returned to Australia disturbed, hardened and shaped by the horrors they experienced. My grandfather went on to re-enlist in the second world war at the age of 45 and was subsequently captured and imprisoned for more than three years by invading Japanese forces while defending Singapore for the British Empire. Frank went on to have an extraordinary career in the Australian public service, culminating in his record as the longest-serving Clerk of the Australian Federal Parliament, from 1937 to 1955.

As perhaps the most notable Clerk of Federal Parliament in Australian history, my Uncle Frank was coincidentally a close adviser and friend to prime minister Curtin. He famously provided round-the-clock support for Curtin when he, defying the wishes of Great Britain’s iron-willed prime minister Winston Churchill, ordered Australian troops to return from the Middle East in 1942. Curtin insisted on bringing Australian soldiers home to defend Australia from invasion – advancing Japanese forces were creeping up on Papua New Guinea.

As prime minister, Curtin had made the