'It won't be a US military base': Cook stands firm on HMAS Stirling future The Western Australian Premier, Roger Cook, has reiterated that the naval facility at HMAS Stirling will not become a full fledged US military base.
However, his assurance has done little to alleviate concerns about the true nature of the agreement between Australia and the United States. At its core, the issue revolves around semantics.
Words like "base" and "framework" are being used interchangeably, masking the complexities of the deal.