While Australia is still incredibly close to Britain in a diplomatic sense, the US alliance has become the primary focus of foreign policy-making. This is because the opinion of Australian society influenced the policy to a point where we eventually broke free of unbeneficial British alliance (.
The ideas of dissent from the British alliance were scattered throughout Australian society as early as the Boer War. During the Boer War, the unfederated Australian colonies were under the wing of British Imperialism and colonial rule. The Boer War, which ignited in 1899, was supported heavily by eight battalions of troops from the Australian colonies, despite public condemnation of the war . .
There were two conflicting voices at this point in Australian history, leading up to federation. The first was the voice of British loyalists who believed that our allegiance with Britain was paramount and that no other alliance should be considered. The marginalized voice, however, cried for an end to British colonial rule and an end to obligated allegiance that saw many of our troops killed abroad. The overwhelming public opinion at the time still supported the British alliance, but the seeds of doubt had been sown (Evans, 1991:18). .
Leading up to World War I, a series of regional events raised the public opinion that the British/Australian alliance was not appropriate or mutually beneficial. The Germans annexed and invaded North-east New Guinea - land very close to Australian shores. Forces from Queensland attempted to intervene and to stop the German invasion to maintain stability in the Australasian Region, but their operation was halted by British diplomats. In the same era, the French forcefully gained control of the New Hebrides (Vanuatu), and Australia was, again, not allowed to intervene by the British. .
Not long after these Australian attempts to maintain security in their immediate surrounding region, Australian forces were put on stand-by to aid British troops on the other side of the world, in Khartoum and South Africa.
