It's important to first challenge the assumptions & mindset we have accumulated, as earlier described in our background section ... and to replace them with some new bases :

• Australia has evolved into a nation with broad consensus on social values, language, and self-assurance and should regard itself as a middle-ranking power in the South-West Pacific, with direct interest in this region's and its individual countries' stability;
• we do not have direct interests in more distant parts of the world - while we might have some dependence on many suppliers of strategic resources in different places, this does not justify our invading them even if that might be an impulse or tendency of some of our former allies; it is more relevant that we diversify our resource usage and its suppliers, increasing our flexibility & independence - to reduce our vulnerability to any changes in supplier countries or their regions;
• Australia will benefit by developing closer links with other middle-ranking countries for reasons other than trade - countries like Sweden, Chile, Canada - with whom our international world view can be enriched to mutual benefit, as we share and exchange opinions and knowledge. Support for multi-lateral projects and agreements needs to replace Australia's predominant focus on bi-lateral bonds with major powers.
• as demonstrated in the past sixty years, apparent strength of major powers like the USA has not guaranteed their success in utilising such 'hard' power unilaterally, without regard to broader world opinion - these constraints will not change; it is futile to prescribe our strategic needs that way
• even when Australia, and another country like the USA have some shared ethical & political values, sharing with them some need to impose such values on other countries cannot be effective nor justified;
• both these two nations have expected to aid and be aided by the other in the event of need against military threat - with the ANZUS treaty defining this expectation; this has led to high conformity by Australia with US decisions for wars and compatible equipment and methods for these wars; such a conformity has not proved in Australia's benefit - and needs to be replaced by broader and more realistic links with other countries - whether major or (other) middle ranking powers.
• both nations share commercial interests, such that trading links have been expected to 'outrank' those with other nations, as well as conflicting domestic pressures within each country. Again, bilateral agreements (like 'Free Trade' agreements) should be replaced longer-term by stable and realistic multi-lateral arrangements into which further nations may be encouraged to join.