What was Australian Prime Minister John Curtin referring to when he said 'Australia's traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom'?

Answer 1

When John Curtin used the phrase 'Australia's traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom' as part of a speech during World War II, he was referring to the fact that Australia no longer needed to hold on to its ties with the UK, but could progress forwards in independence, free to make its own alliances.

European settlement in Australia was established by the British, and Australia only began its path to independence from Britain in 1901 when the individual colonies federated to form the Commonwealth of Australia. Traditionally, Australia remained reliant upon Britain. Its parliamentary system was, and is, styled on the British model, and it is still a constitutional monarchy. There was a certain emotional dependence on the United Kingdom, even though the political dependence was no longer there. PM John Curtin was suggesting it was time Australia shed its emotional dependence on the United Kingdom, and stepped out to forge its own alliances (in the case of this speech, this meant a new alliance with the United States).