It took some time for Australia to work out for itself what it was. Once freed from the yoke of convict transportation and having peacefully established democratic self-determination, Australia joined the struggle to advance the Western Civilisation and its best values.

We became a contributor, a people whose presence on earth benefited all.

It is a decision we shared with other modern nations from amongst the Anglosphere and, in the good company of the United States, Canada and New Zealand, we brought new energy to long matured beliefs. It is crucial that we now, today, understand that this was indeed a decision and not a fait accompli. 

That we chose to become the great nation we did is to our credit. There were other options.

Instead, we drew on our geography and heritage to become a bridge between the West and Asia. Although Paul Keating has spent much of his energy trying to convince his countrymen that we are part of Asia, the stark reality of the difference in quality of life — in terms of liberty, not just material wealth — we experience compared to virtually all our northern neighbours tells us otherwise.

It was also entirely possible that we could have chosen to submit ourselves to the evils of Communism. That we did not must always be seen as a choice our forefathers made and a choice we should rejoice in. There are still a minority in Australia who would try to convince us to take this path.

Although Australia has chosen to apologise to our Aboriginal brothers and sisters for the manner in which we brought them into our fold, Australian Communists and their fellow travellers have never apologised for their intention to inflict harm upon us. Knowing well the certainty of mass murder, starvation and impoverishment that follows all communist regimes, how could that apology be left unsaid?

In the abundant follies of progressives I, once again, digress.

We are here by choice and it is choice we are once again presented with in the form of an increasingly aggressive China. The fact that we dangle to China’s south like the proverbial low hanging fruit should not be discounted from our reckonings. Nor should we discount the fact that our nation and its governments have already come under the influence of the Chinese state. We are both at risk and becoming ever more so.

Australia is now at a crucial point in determining what its future self will be. Do we become an appeaser of China or do we remain a contributor to Western Civilisation? We cannot be both.

To let China have its way, persecuting its own people and others, would be to discard the beliefs and values of our Western culture as if they were of little or no account. To submit, to bend, to bow before a culture that knows only that might is right would be to turn our backs on millennia of struggles against such barbarism.

To be a contributor to Western Civilisation is a title few hold and even fewer deserve. It is now our choice to remain amongst the few, the happy few, or to leave our best years behind us. I put my trust in the Australian people to stay the path.

Further confrontation with China is inevitable.

Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.