Dennis Altman at his book launch at The Bookstore Darlinghurst. Photo: supplied
Trump is the “saddest word” for human rights, Australian author Dennis Altman said at the launch of his new book Unrequited Love: Diary of an Accidental Activist last month.
Best known as an influential global gay rights activist, Altman’s new book deals with human rights and is a memoir on his experiences in the era of US President Donald Trump.
“It’s scary that the United States under Trump has said they don’t care about human rights and are happy to deal with a government that has a terrible record on the human rights,” Altman said. “It’s no longer an issue for our foreign policy. The bigger issue is that Australia’s assumption is that we share all values with the United States, and that we all always see the world in the same way. I think that is wrong.
“I call that ‘unrequited love’ since we have this constant need to be loved by the US, whereas the reality is we are a small and unimportant country. The United States can’t possibly, given its size and power, be interested in Australia as much as we are interested in them.”
Opinion polling from Lowy institute indicates that two-thirds of Australians think Trump has weakened the alliance but also showed most Australians value the importance of the alliance for Australian security.
Dr Jonathan Symons with Dennis Altman. Photo: supplied
Dr Peter John Chen, an expert on international relations at the University of Sydney, said both the Labor and Liberal parties have within them key figures who strongly support the US and are particularly attached to US-style conservatism.
“Historical alignment with the US for security in the region has tended to see Australia operate as a ‘client state’ of the US,” Dr Chen said.
“The [Australian] elites are often aligned towards key countries in the Anglosphere because of cultural and linguistic diversity. We see this in Australian discourse, for example the Home Affairs Minister’s recent use of the US-centric expression ‘anchor baby’.”
Dr Chen also commented on Altman’s observation in his book that Prime Minister Scott Morrison seems “closer in spirit to Trump than most other democratically elected foreign leaders”.
“I think that Morrison personally sees aspects of Trump that he admires and would like to emulate in his own conduct,” he said.
Altman said he agrees with this comparison.
“I said Trump is the saddest word. When I said that I wasn’t thinking specifically about queer issues. I think in the case of both Trump and Morrison, there are many reasons why I dislike them. The attitude to sexuality is part of that, but certainly not the central reason,” he said.
Macquarie University international relations academic Dr Jonathan Symons said one benefit of the US lack of attention is that international debates over sexuality and human rights have become much less high profile.
“This might create some space for activists to work on more local campaigns. A series of recent legal decisions, such as decriminalisation of homosexuality in Botswana earlier this year, are one source of hope,” Dr Symons said.
