Etiam non princeps sed usque ad genua, Principis Pacis!
Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)
I think the early days of WWII were a turning point for Australia as a whole, when US Marines were sent to protect them because Britain wouldn’t release their soldiers from service in the desert. After Gallipoli, then the second war, I think they’ve really come into their own as a country; they still have ties to Britain, but look more and more to Asia and the Pacific (including the US) in terms of trade and policies.