Exceptionally strong relations exist between the Commonwealth realms of Australia and the United Kingdom, marked by historical, cultural, institutional, extensive people-to-people links, aligned security interests, sporting tournaments (notably the Ashes), and significant trade and investment co-operation.

In 1770, Royal Navy Lieutenant James Cook, during his first voyage to the Pacific, sailed along and mapped the east coast of Australia, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain.

A camp was set up and the flag raised at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788, and the British Crown Colony of New South Wales was formally promulgated on 7 February 1788.

Australia fought alongside Britain and its Allies in World War I, notably at Gallipoli (against the Ottoman Empire) and the Western Front.

Due to Australia's history as a colony of Britain, the two nations retain significant shared threads of cultural heritage, many of which are common to all English-speaking countries.

They also collaborate in ad hoc groupings like Combined Task Force 151 to counter piracy off Somalia, and the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in 2014.

Australia shared the British honours system until 1975, and so four Australians were awarded the Victoria Cross in the Vietnam War despite Britain not participating.

The partnership "will significantly deepen cooperation on a range of security and defense capabilities" including "to support Australia in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy".

[11] The contemporary political relationship between London and Canberra is underpinned by a robust bilateral dialogue at head-of-government, ministerial and senior officials level.

In September 2012, the UK and Canada signed a Memorandum of Understanding on diplomatic cooperation, with the intention of extending the scheme to include Australia and New Zealand.

[12][13] Proposed closer ties and preferential visa access between Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada named CANZUK has been argued for by numerous individuals in both countries for several years.

Following the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, Australia and the UK opened negotiations on signing a bilateral free trade agreement.

[23][24][25][26] This defection was not well received in Australia with AusCycling saying it was exploring the option of wheether to enforce a two-year 'non-competition order' on Richardson which would effectively ban the three-time Olympic medallist from competing for British team on the international stage until 2026.

[27] There is a long history of cultural exchange between the two countries, and Australians often use Britain as a stepping-stone to international success, whether these are artists such as Barry Humphries or businessmen such as Rupert Murdoch who controls flagship newspapers such as The Times and has a large stake in pay-TV company BSkyB.

Academic Germaine Greer played a leading role in British gender politics after the publication of The Female Eunuch in London in 1970.

Ties are strong in the media industry; Rupert Murdoch's involvement in British newspapers and BSkyB is mentioned above, but Fremantle has gone the other way to acquire and merge Crackerjack Productions with the creators of Neighbours.