Australia Matters for America

By Professor Gordon Flake, Satu Limaye and Bates Gill 

In defence and security, trade and investment, travel and tourism, and the exchange of ideas, Australia increasingly matters to America. This report explores the breadth and depth of the US–Australia alliance, producing a detailed portrait of the state of the relationship. It includes a finding that exports to Australia support more than 300,000 US jobs and that Australian visitors to America in 2013 spent a total of almost US$7 billion. Published in partnership with the East – West Center in Washington DC and the United States Studies Centre (USSC) in Sydney, it was released at an event in Washington organised by the US Chamber of Commerce celebrating the 10th anniversary of the US–Australia Free Trade Agreement. The event was attended by Alliance 21 program director James Brown, US ambassador to Australia John Berry and Australia’s ambassador to the US Kim Beazley, and US Senator Ben Cardin (D–MD), a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

This report aligns with the Perth USAsia Centre’s Australia-U.S. Partnership in Emerging Asia program.