Ann: Investor Presentation - 121 Mining Investment Forum, page-26

The mine is in Uganda, so the distances from Perth are irrelevant.
No one is begging the Americans. They set their terms, you either meet them or dont.
As for aiding the US war machine, who would you rather aid ? The Chinese or Russian war machines ?
Clearly the Chinese are a malevolent force in the South China Sea, and in some level of dispute with many nations - Japan, The Philippines, India, Taiwan etc. They have also proven themselves the master of the carrot and the whip, using trade power to punish nations that don’t dance to their tune.
The Chinese are the number 3 military strongest nation, with a bullet towards number 1. So they have their destructive toys too.
https://www.globalfirepower.com/country-military-strength-detail.php?country_id=china

And yes, the US is no global angel, I get that.

But we have a choice of who to supply RE to. Pragmatically I would choose the seppo’s everyday. More trustworthy imo, current military #1, better defense pacts with likeminded nations, better values currently, and they don’t represent a threat to Australia unlike some others who have actually vocalized such threats.