US military base in Australia a move to strengthen ties

By GREG ANSLEY

CANBERRA - The United States will establish a major training base in the north of Australia, further tightening the military ties between the two countries and increasing Australian access to new American technology.

The decision, confirmed by Australian Defence Minister Robert Hill, ends months of speculation and comes as the US shakes its forces free of Cold War thinking, a move that has already resulted in troops shifting from South Korea to Iraq.

After meeting US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at an Asia-Pacific defence ministers' meeting in Singapore, Hill said an in-principle agreement on a base in Queensland or the Northern Territory could be signed next month.

Although Hill said the base would be a joint facility and would not house any permanent deployment of US troops or equipment, it is clear that most of the cost will be borne by Washington.

The US has been looking for new bases, training areas and port facilities in a global shakeup of its forces that Rumsfeld said was designed to shift the US away from static defence to a more agile, more capable and a more 21st-century posture.

The US already has a significant involvement in Australia, through the electronic spy base at Pine Gap, near Alice Springs, regular port visits by its Navy ships, and large-scale training exercises.

Australia, which sees a US military presence as a key to its own security and regional stability, has been increasing its defence ties under the conservative Government of Prime Minister John Howard, one of only a few world leaders to support Washington in the Iraq war.

Canberra has signed on to the "Son of Star Wars" missile defence programme and is a member of President George W. Bush's plan to block the trade in missiles and weapons of mass destruction through blockades and interceptions of ships and aircraft.

Yesterday, three Australian warships sailed from Sydney to join the big US Rimpac Naval exercise off Hawaii, joining other vessels from the US, Britain, Japan, South Korea, Chile and Peru.

American technology is also becoming more important to Australia.

The Royal Australian Air Force will be re-equipped with a single US aircraft type, the Joint Strike Fighter, its Navy's new air defence destroyers will be based around the American Aegis warfare system that will enable them to join the US missile defence network, and the Army is buying new M1 Abrams tanks.

Defence analysts have seen little benefit in housing a permanent US force, or pre-positioning military hardware in Australia, because of the country's distance from the most likely trouble spots.

A big permanent US base in Australia would also conflict with America's new emphasis on a leaner, agile and more flexible military.

But the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's recently released annual strategic assessment said military training and exercises with the US were important for the ability of the forces to work together and as a public statement of the health of the alliance.

The institute said a joint training base would be valuable and would be a positive sign that they wanted to engage Australia in a major expression of America's continued commitment to the alliance and to a strong focus on the region.

Hill said the proposed base would involve an investment of tens of millions of dollars by the US and would give Australian forces the opportunity of training with America's most sophisticated systems.