Obama flies into Canberra

US President Barack Obama boards Air Force One for the flight to Canberra, where he will arrive this afternoon. Picture: AP

AUSTRALIA'S geographical position as the "southern pier" of the emerging global political system makes it crucial to its US ally, says Australia's ambassador to Washington and former defence minister, Kim Beazley.

Of all the alliances the US had been involved in since World War II, the most stable was its relationship with Australia, Mr Beazley told The Australian.

Mr Beazley is back in Australia with US President Barack Obama who, with Julia Gillard, will this week announce a significant increase in defence co-operation, with more ship, aircraft and troop visits to existing Australian bases.

Mr Beazley said that through the Cold War and the 1980s, Australia was in a strategic backwater and owed its influence to its hosting of the joint intelligence and communications facilities and its strong commitment to the alliance.

"Now things are different," he said. "We are the southern pier of the focal point of the global political system which, for the foreseeable future, will be the Asia-Pacific region.

"If you look across the globe at the US system of extended deterrence, including this region's alliances with Korea and Japan and so on, across to Europe and NATO, all the alliance systems have changed in content since the end of the Cold War and often struggled hard to find a mission.

"The only relationship which you could say ... has definitely been enhanced to a more intense partnership than it was during the Cold War is the Australian-American relationship.

"The US is a great power and we are a substantial power. We are an increasingly important power."

The Prime Minister yesterday stressed Australia could be an ally of the US and a friend of China. "It is well and truly possible for us in this growing region of the world to have an ally in the US and to have deep friendships in our region including with China," Ms Gillard said.

Mr Obama arrives in Canberra today and will leave tomorrow for a short stopover in Darwin.

Parliament House will be cleared of non-essential staff for the US President's visit. In a major security crackdown, advance parties of US Secret Service agents examined the building yesterday.

Tourists will be barred from Parliament House and roads closed around the building.

Air Force One will touch down at Canberra's RAAF Fairbairn base about 3.30pm today, where Mr Obama and his wife Michelle will be greeted by Governor-General Quentin Bryce. 

You should be able to watch his speech to the Aussie Parliament here: http://media.smh.com.au/news/national-news/live-now-barack-obama-in-parliament-2777116.html