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Comment by bGl2YW5j | Hacker News Reader

I'm Australian and am increasingly ok with this approach. I'm growing slowly out of a protectionist mindset, toward one of cautious, and considered collaboration. Singapore follows this approach and it has worked well for them so far.

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I've never really understood the protectionist mindset. It kinda only makes sense to me as a fading shadow of WWII paranoia. The invasion of Australia by a foreign adversary has never been something I've worried about (but, maybe, that's _because_ of the alignment with the US). I've also struggled with the practical logistics of it.

100%. The only conceivable threat of invasion would be China, and they can just buy Australian resources [0] for far cheaper than it would cost them to invade us.

I don't understand who the cookers think we're defending against.

[0] https://shunculture.com/article/what-australian-companies-ar... it's about 2% in 2025

It is said that if you are resource rich it is best to sell your resources to others than to hoard them even if you sell them basically at cost.

It is better to have an economic alliance than a potential enemy.

Singapore is a city, Australia is a continent. Singapore is a poor analog for pretty much every other country. It was founded precisely because it sits near a busy sea route. It makes sense for Singapore to be very open to trade. That does not mean it works for Australia.

(I'm not arguing that the reverse is true, just that Singapore proves nothing.)

its not just a city

its an island and a country on it's own.

but its posistioning is relevent yes.

What do you reckon would work well for Aus?

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