Australia has such a close spying relationship with the US that in the opening scene of his autobiography, former director of the US National Security Agency and Central Intelligence Agency Michael Hayden describes himself in the "hot sun of the Australian outback" at the joint US-Australia Pine Gap spy base near Alice Springs.

Hayden once told then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd it was the "most comfortable intelligence relationship we had, bar none".

In the era of Trump, intelligence sharing could become decidedly less comfortable for foreign partners.

They may fret about whether sensitive intelligence they forward to US counterparts will be handled with enough care inside the Oval Office to protect the cover of their agents, sources and spying methods.

President Donald Trump with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak last week. Russian Foreign Ministry

Five Eyes partnership

Council on Foreign Relations president Richard Haass said that any disclosure of sensitive intelligence to Russia could jeopardise security and "make allies wary of intel sharing".

The crucial Five Eyes partnership – comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States – is built on trust.


The Australian Financial Review reported in February that some Five Eyes members were anxious about Trump likening America's leaky intelligence agencies to "Nazi" Germany and innuendo over his campaign's possible links to Russia, citing sources from three of the partner countries.

Now comes the Post's claims that Trump broke longstanding protocol – not the law – by disclosing classified information without the permission of a foreign intelligence partner source about the Islamic State to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador last week.

The Pine Gap facility, pictured in 1985. Australia has a close spying relationship with the US.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is considering a request from NATO to contribute more military personnel in Afghanistan to deal with a resurgent Taliban and threat from Islamic State fighters.

That is the same terror group Trump reportedly divulged classified information about to Russia, a traditional rival of the Western world.

Australia's geographical position also allows local spies to provide invaluable information to the US about Asia. The region is preoccupied by North Korea's nuclear weapons program, China's island-building in the South China Sea, and south-east Asia being identified as a potential jihadist terrorism target.

Pause for thought

Persistent stories about Trump's controversies with US intelligence agencies, including his firing of FBI chief James Comey, must at least give Australia pause for thought about the wisdom of intelligence sharing with the US.


A former senior Australian intelligence official said that, if there were to be any restriction on information flows, it may only be for very sensitive items if there was a particular risk it could be mishandled by the new, inexperienced administration.

The US-Australia intelligence relationship was severely tested by the damaging leaks in 2013 by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden via WikiLeaks that the Australian Signals Directorate tapped the mobile phones of then Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife.

The embarrassing revelation put enormous strain on Australia's relations with its nearest neighbour. Then-communications minister Turnbull expressed scepticism about government spying and called for a cost-benefit analysis of intelligence operations.

Turnbull's views as Prime Minister have evolved since he took over responsibility for national security.

Nevertheless, the brash Trump is not known for his discretion so foreign allies may need to consider this when sharing secrets with the big-talking real estate mogul.