“The Americans are very good at seduction, they make people feel important and unfortunately our politicians are not immune from it,” Ms Vallentine said.

This is a good point in general this ex-senator has brought up. Australians should be alert to it with this AUKUS deal. If we’re to have it, then we need to keep level heads about the interests of our American friends.

Also, have the councillora and executives heard of video chats? Give that a go, any serious questions can be answered through that.