Thread. Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese @AlboMP is giving a pretty interesting speech tomorrow on the US-Australia alliance. He'll open with a blunt assessment of the events of Jan 6. He says US democracy has "shown its resilience" but "America came close to the brink" 1/

Albanese will also accuse Morrison of getting too close to Trump. This is familiar ground here- Albanese will argue that Morrison failed to condemn Trump's conduct on Jan 6 because he didn't want to enrage the "Trumpist" rump in the Coalition 2/

Albanese- "Labor’s support for the alliance will remain stronger than ever under a government I lead." A strong statement. But there's a note of caution too. He'll say the Trump era gave the world a glimpse of a US "no longer interested in being the indispensable power" 3/

Albanese acknowledges the rise of China will constrain (and has already constrained) US power. He says if the US wants to continue to project power and show leadership it will "have to work collaboratively with allies" in the region 4/

So, how should the Biden Administration do this? Albanese says the US and Australia should work to uphold sovereignty in the region and aim to address climate change and pandemic recovery 5/

There is a not very subtle swipe at the Trump Administration here. Albanese calls for "steady and predictable engagement" with countries in the region. He does not want "attempts to force them to pick sides" (no names mentioned, but paging Mike Pompeo ) 6/

Albanese says "Australia’s interests call for greater, more strategic effort from the US in Southeast Asia." In brief - less rhetoric, more action. Australia should "encourage the US to be more engaged" and lead by example 7/

He also urges the Biden Administration to reconsider joining the CP-TPP, pointing out the US is now missing from "key regional trade architecture" in the region 8/

Now, China. Gets interesting here. Albanese basically says the US needs to pick its battles with Beijing. He would like to see some "clearer definition" around the terms of future competition. Albanese also says the US is more likely to succeed if it plays to its strengths 9/

Albanese argues this approach will not only help the US succeed, but also ensure that cooperation between the two great powers does not wither away entirely. And he hopes the US and China can reach a "settling point" which accounts for the interests of smaller states 10/

Albanese - "Australia needs to lead, including within our alliance with the US, and not just rely on old assumptions" 11/

There's more in the speech but I won't run through it all here - a copy will no doubt be online before too long. I've also written a piece for @abcnews here for those interested https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-19/albanese-calls-for-australia-to-be-assertive-in-us-relations/13071046