DIPLOMATIC relations are the equivalent of friendship on a mass scale.
There are nations Australia naturally gravitates to, others where relations are lukewarm and some countries where the connection is downright frosty.
So it was interesting to witness the reaction to the official visits from both Queen Elizabeth II and the American President late last year.
The two leaders represent nations which have a longstanding friendship with Australia as well as warm but separately distinct cultural and historical links.
Great Britain is considered the “mother country” to some, we share the same head-of-state and many cultural similarities.
The United States is the slick new friend we acquired while battling the Japanese in the Pacific during World War II and it’s plain to see that its cultural influence has permeated Australian society since the late 1950s through rock music, films and television.
Our friendships are strong but opinions have changed and developed during the past decade.
The link between the Queen and Australia has surprisingly strengthened in the years since the failed 1999 republic referendum.
Huge crowds gathered in Federation Square, in sunny Perth and at Canberra’s Floriade to wave flags and greet the sprightly monarch, whereas in the 1990s there would have been widespread lack of interest.
Maybe it was the royal wedding. Maybe the republican debate has run out of puff.
Whatever the reasons, the turnaround in public sentiment has been remarkable.
Meanwhile, the same media frenzy was whipped up for Barack Obama’s fleeting visit Down Under.
Television reporters covered every second of the President’s speech to Australian Parliament.
US commentators claimed Mr Obama’s two-day trip to Australia was noticeably frugal (by American presidential standards at least) because he was worried about how the visit would reflect back home to voters.
There were no trips to take in the sights of Sydney or Perth, no photo opportunities with marsupials or even a short trip on a Melbourne tram.
Mr Obama may be popular in most Western countries but his standing with the American public is waning, if opinion polls are anything to go by.
The only thing keeping him from being kicked out of the White House next year is the poor showing of his opponents.
Widespread interest across Australia in the royal and presidential visits relates to our fascination with two styles of leadership that, on one hand are familiar to us and, on the other, are quite foreign.
Informal Australia has long had a quirky relationship with the British royal family. The American presidency, with all its bells and whistles is also a tad odd by Australian standards.
Being average and unassuming is a virtue when it comes to appealing to Australians.
We prefer our prime ministers to be a tad, well, dull. Among other reasons, voters turfed out Paul Keating in 1996 because he was too much of a showman, preferring instead the “suburban solicitor” (in Keating’s words) management of John Howard.
When Howard was replaced in 2007, the voting public opted for someone equally as bland and straightlaced, Kevin Rudd.
Governor-generals, on the other hand, are seen but rarely heard. Of course Quentin Bryce has taken the limelight a little more often than her predecessors but who really remembers Jeffery, Cowen or Stephen?
So while we’re intrigued by the razzmatazz of a monarch or president, we’re also happy we don’t have one employed here full-time.
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