Australia and the United States are close allies, maintaining a robust relationship underpinned by shared democratic values, common interests, and cultural affinities.

There are dozens of similarities [between America and Australia] ... migrations to a new land, the mystique of pioneering (actually somewhat different in the two countries), the turbulence of gold rushes, the brutality of relaxed restraint, the boredoms of the backblocks, the feeling of making life anew.

The political and economic changes brought on by the Great Depression and Second World War, and the adoption of the Statute of Westminster 1931, necessitated the establishment and expansion of Australian representation overseas, independent of the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

The first accredited diplomat sent by Australia to any foreign country was Richard Gavin Gardiner Casey,[2] appointed to Washington in January 1940.

In 1908, Prime Minister Alfred Deakin invited the Great White Fleet to visit Australia during its circumnavigation of the world.

[9] During World War II, US General Douglas MacArthur was appointed Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in the South West Pacific Area, which included many Australian troops.

Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies feared the expansion of communism into Asia-Pacific countries, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, if the communists won the war and a resurgence of isolationism if the United States lost.

In 1967 Holt refused to provide a larger troop commitment after a visit from President Lyndon B. Johnson's advisors Clark Clifford and Maxwell Taylor.

Australia's increasing hesitance to continue the war led to its de-escalation and eventually President Richard Nixon's Vietnamization policy.

[13] Following the September 11 attacks, in which eleven Australian citizens were also killed, there was an enormous outpouring of sympathy from Australia for the United States.

[12] Howard, Defence Minister Robert Hill, and Chief of the Defense Force Peter Leahy agreed to participate in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq through Operation Falconer in order to improve its relationship with the United States despite widespread domestic and international condemnation of the war.

A poll by the independent Lowy Institute think tank showed that a majority (55%) of Australians approving of the marine deployment[20] and 59% supporting the overall military alliance between the two countries.

[24][25] The first Australian visit by a serving United States president[26] was that of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966 to seek support for Australia's ongoing involvement in the Vietnam War.

[17] Australia's previous government, led by Liberal John Howard, refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol citing, along with the United States, that it would "damage their economies".

[61] The first phone conversation between the United States President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull took place in February 2017 and lasted around 25 minutes.

The agreement aims to take about 1,250 asylum seekers into the United States, who are currently located on Nauru and Manus Island by Australian authorities.

[72] Several other countries generally considered to have close relationships with the United States, such as Canada, Mexico, and the European Union, did not receive permanent exemptions.

[74]Although China was not specifically mentioned in the news announcements, Beijing said that the deal would "seriously damage regional peace and stability, exacerbate an arms race and harm international nuclear nonproliferation agreements.

Australia and the United States also provide significant competition for each other in several third-party exports such as wheat, uranium and wool and, more recently, in the information technology sector.

Although the US has a sizable sheep population, American imports of lamb meat from Australia and New Zealand remain stronger than the domestic output.

[81] Baseball has a minor presence in Australia, having been introduced by Americans in the 19th century and become accepted as a winter sport for cricketers.

[82] Cricket's 21st century growth in the United States has been powered to some extent by professional athletes from both countries playing in each other's leagues.

In the poll, it ranked behind Tonga, France, Ukraine, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand (who placed first with a rating of 86%).