The British government formally launched its new National Security Strategy last Monday. Publication of the much-anticipated document came on the heels of the NATO summit a fortnight earlier, at which Britain, along with all other NATO members (except Spain) pledged to lift their defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP by 2034.

Given domestic pressures on the budget in Britain and other NATO countries, that is probably unachievable. Nevertheless, there is now bipartisan agreement in the UK on an urgent need to significantly elevate defence spending over the coming decade. The National Security Strategy is premised on that expectation.

Keir Starmer and Anthony Albanese during the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis, Canada, in June.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

With Anthony Albanese visiting China this week, and as we await the outcome of the Colby review of AUKUS, Australian eyes are rightly focused on Beijing and Washington. Why should strategic decisions made in London matter to Australia?

The United Kingdom has long been, second only to the United States, our most important strategic partner: through the Five Eyes security network, the Five Power Defence arrangements, and now through AUKUS. This has also been our most longstanding military and intelligence relationship and – at a time of American unpredictability – our most reliable one.

A significant reorientation of the foreign policy of such an important ally – particularly when it involves a change of its approach to our region – matters a great deal.

The launch of the National Security Strategy coincided with the first anniversary of the........

© The Sydney Morning Herald