As China rises, Australia is increasingly enmeshed in the US war machine. Is the alliance still worth the risk?

Kevin Rudd said Australia must ‘re-embrace national self-reliance to anticipate the full range of future uncertainties’ in an address at the National Press Club on Thursday. Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA

“Physical security matters,” said Kevin Rudd, at his axiomatic best before the National Press Club this week.

“Our first responsibility is to secure our people’s future in this most contested region of the world.”