Anthony Albanese just got lucky and Australia has once again proved that we are the lucky country.

Although that’s not as great a thing as you might presume. I’ve spoken before about the fact that Donald Horn, who wrote the book The Lucky Country, wasn’t being nice. He was observing that so much of Australia’s success was actually just a function of our geography and remoteness, our luck. What Donald Horn actually said was, “Australia is a lucky country run by second rate people who share its luck.” Ouch.

And that luck was on full display as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with US President Donald Trump earlier this week.

Let me begin by saying that I was wrong. I previously predicted that Albanese wasn’t going to get a meeting with Trump for as long as he kept Kevin Rudd on as the ambassador to the USA. Well, clearly Albanese did get his meeting, although Trump was quick to skewer Rudd’s ego in that meeting. More on that at the end of this video. But it must be said that the meeting went well for Albanese and for Australia, even if not for Ambassador Rudd. But the success of the meeting was not because Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is a master diplomat, although he will try to spin it that way. It was because, once again, we got lucky.

Australia was built off a sheep’s back. The wool trade plus the gold mining rush cemented our prosperity in the 1800s and the first half of the 1900s. Since the 1950s, it’s been the resources sector that has kept us going nicely through economic dips like the dotcom bubble, Asian financial crisis, and global financial crisis. We’ve been lucky because we are a big place with lots of very valuable minerals in the ground. And Elbow’s meeting with Trump proves once again that even though we are most definitely run by second-rate people, we’ve gotten lucky thanks this time to our critical minerals and rare earths, the ones that are most essential to electronic technology.

And the reason we got lucky now, well, that’s because China are now restricting the global supply of those same critical minerals.

The USA needs to cement its supplies of critical minerals against a rising China where at least at this moment in time 70% of the world’s rare earth minerals are mined and the Chinese control the production of about 90% of the world’s critical minerals thanks to their hegemony in mineral rich African countries. China will of course cut off supply of these minerals to the USA should there ever be a serious conflict. And in fact, they’ve already begun export restrictions on 12 of the 17 critical minerals in what appears to be an effort to force other countries like the US and Australia to buy Chinese-made electronics and to stifle our own tech industries domestically.

China used its belt and road initiative to gain control over parts of Africa where those minerals can also be found, leveraging its disregard for human rights to dominate the production of cobalt in the Congo, to mention just one example out of many. This is a national security risk to the United States of America, which lacks large-scale domestic deposits of many of these minerals. And Australia, well, we have plenty, which means we get lucky. Again, I’ll get into the details in a minute, but first, my name’s Topher Field. This is the Topher project and I help busy people like you to cut through the crap and keep up with the world as it changes around us. I am 100% viewer supported. So, please help me to keep the Topher project going by buying me a coffee via the button at topherfield.net.

And if you like my videos, then you’ll love my books where I pull no punches as I discuss government, power, human rights, and the role of civil disobedience in a modern society in my first best-selling book, Good People Break Bad Laws. Then I discuss the theology of civil disobedience in my second also best-selling book, Good Christians Break Bad Laws. You’ll also find the DVD of my multi-award-winning documentary, Battleground Melbourne, plus my t-shirts and hoodies in a range of designs, all available at goodpeoplebreakadlaws.com. And everything you buy will help me to keep the Topher project going and help me to keep bringing you stories like this one.

Here are the details. Australia has the fourth largest reserves of these critical minerals at 5.7 million metric tons. India has slightly more, but they’ll need them for their own domestic needs as they grow and industrialize. Brazil, well, they’re a huge potential supplier to the United States of America, but there are some serious political challenges in that relationship from a US perspective. And then at the top of the tree with the largest reserves in the world is China themselves with a claimed 44 million metric tons of these critical minerals, more than double the next highest. The US, well, they have 1.9 million metric tons, making up just 4% of the Chinese domestic reserves and representing a very real risk for the most powerful military on Earth.

China’s restrictions on their exports, well, they are explicitly for their own geopolitical leverage.

With the Chinese Commerce Ministry stating point blank, rare earth related items have dual-use properties for both civilian and military applications. Implementing export controls on them is an international practice. Except that it isn’t international practice to restrict the raw materials, but it suits the Chinese to restrict their exports because they control so much of the global supply.

Now, I will credit Albanese’s government with spotting their opportunity for Australia to once again get lucky. Yes, it is only dumb luck that we have these minerals in the ground, but credit where it’s due, the Australian government did not sit on their hands. On September 24th, the Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell met with his US counterpart Jameson Greer during talks in Malaysia. And the ABC reports the encounter this way. How can we help America become great again? The trade minister asked Greer in a gesture of goodwill. Give us your critical minerals, the US trade representative responded, acknowledging how seriously the administration now views this issue.

Al Jazeera reports that it was shortly after this exchange in Malaysia that the White House then confirmed that Albany would be meeting with President Trump on the 20th of October. That’s the meeting that just took place earlier this week. Unsurprisingly, Trump really only had one thing on his mind, Australia’s critical minerals. Albo got nowhere on the issue of tariffs on Australian steel and aluminum, the things that he said he wanted concessions on. But the US and Australia did quickly make a deal regarding our minerals, an $8.5 billion deal to ensure reliable supply to the USA, sidelining the Chinese export restrictions and ensuring that US national security could not be so easily threatened again in the future.

The other big talking point to come out of that meeting, the Orcus deal and specifically nuclear submarines for Australia. Trump is all for it. Now, this is the big bonus that comes with our minerals and this supply deal to the US because the USA once again has a keen vested interest in Australia’s national security. Now, Trump criticized the Orcus deal for being too slow. And I agree. So hopefully now that the US national security is tied directly to Australia’s ability to defend itself and protect those minerals from I don’t know the Chinese, we might see some faster progress on the defense front.

Although I will also note that Albanese has refused to raise Australia’s defense spending to 3.5% of GDP, which is what Trump has pushed for. We’re on track for our defense spending to remain quite low, between 2% and 2.5% of GDP for the foreseeable future. I do wonder if Trump will use this minerals deal as leverage to get Australia to invest more in our defense forces because if US national security depends on Australian resources, then it depends on Australian national security. I’ll keep an eye on that story and update you if that shows any signs of happening.

So, to sum it up before we get to the fun bit with Kevin Rudd, Australia just got lucky again.

Now credit where it’s due, the government did help to make its own luck approaching the US government at the right moment, finally securing Albanese his long awaited meeting. And to be fair, that meeting did go well for Trump. Trump got everything he wanted. Albanese got nothing in terms of the tariffs on Australian steel or aluminum, but we still came out of it ahead simply because once again, we are a lucky country run by second rate people who share in our luck.

And speaking of second rate people, I’ve been very critical of Albanese’s insistence on keeping Kevin Rudd as the ambassador to the US. It’s an unbelievably stupid diplomatic appointment. Not least because Rudd is anything but diplomatic, but also because Rudd in the past has tried to bolster his own image with undiplomatic attacks on Donald Trump personally at a time when Rudd thought that those words would not come back to haunt him. Well, they did. And they hurt him right where he’s most vulnerable in his ego.

There in front of the world’s waiting media, Trump. Well, you’ve probably already seen the video, but let’s watch it again just for fun, shall we?

[From video]

There’s been concern in Australia that it’s taken 9 months to get this meeting. Have you had any concerns with this administration with the stance on Palestine, climate change, or even things the ambassador said about you in the past, the Australian ambassador? I don’t know anything about him. I mean, if he said bad, then maybe he’ll like to apologize. I really don’t know. Uh, did an ambassador say something bad about it? Don’t Don’t tell me. I don’t Where is he? Is he still working for you? Yeah. Yeah. You said bad. Before I took this position, Mr. President, I don’t like you either. I don’t. And and it probably never will. Go ahead. [End video]

Can we just pause for a moment and appreciate the contrast between the look on Rudd’s face at that moment with the look on Albo’s face at that exact same moment? Our prime minister is laughing along with the rest of the world at Rudd’s expense. Yeah, he’s going to be replaying that moment in his mind for years to come. So, I was wrong about two things. first that Albanese wouldn’t get a meeting with Trump for as long as Rudd remained the ambassador and second that if he did then Albanese would regret it. Turns out thanks to Australia’s status as this undeserving lucky country, Albanese did get his meeting and it turns out that it’s Rudd who’s regretting it.

My name’s Topher Field. This is the Topher Project and I help busy people like you to keep up with the world as it changes around us. I’m 100% viewer supported. So, if you appreciate what I do, then please help me to keep the Topher project going by buying me a coffee via the button at topherfield.net. And if you like my videos, then you’ll love my books, my DVDs, and my thought-provoking merch in a range of different designs, all of which you’ll find at goodpeoplebreakbadlaws.com.

Thanks for watching all the way to the end. The algorithm loves you and so do I. Please like, comment your thoughts on Rudd’s humiliation and also what you think this new minerals deal is going to mean for Australia’s defense. Make sure you’ve subscribed

And as always, think free.