Wednesday, 25 February 2026 14:00

New Order

Written by The Hound

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OPINION: If old Winston Peters thinks building trade relations with new nations, such as India, isn't a necessary investment in our future, he has rocks in his head.

Our dependence on the US and China with the rapid changes in the world order is fast becoming a liability.

Australia has already discovered what this means in practice.

In October, Canberra signed an $8.5 billion minerals deal and the mining industry celebrated.

The agreement included American guarantees of minimum prices, so that if China flooded the market with cheap supply, Australian mines would still be worth the investment.

In the first week of Feb, those guarantees were quietly withdrawn.

Australia played by the rules, signed a big deal and trusted that the relationship would hold.

It now carries the risk on its own.

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