By Kim Beazley*
This is the year of significant anniversaries marking the Australia–US relationship. In May we commemorated the 75th anniversary of the battle of the Coral Sea and more recently the 50th birthday of the joint facilities, led by Pine Gap, which the late Des Ball aptly described as the ‘strategic essence’ of the American alliance. Last month Defence Minister Marise Payne gave a shout-out for the 50th anniversary of the first of the joint facilities, the North West Cape Naval Communication Station, named for the late Harold E. Holt, one-time Australian prime minister.
