Australian Prime Minister John Howard announced in May 2006 that his government would contribute “$25 million towards the establishment of a United States Studies Centre at a prestigious Australian university” (soon announced as the University of Sydney.)
The Centre’s ideology appears to be based on the concerns of poor old Rupert Murdoch who said last year that Australians should be more charitable towards the United States.
But serious concerns exist about the Centre. A new group has launched, United States Studies Centre Public Interest Files, and aims to provide background to the enterprise and raise legitimate ethnical questions.