There's a reason the federal government's leaders aren't particularly keen to talk about Greenland.
Asked this week about US President Donald Trump's escalating threats to seize control of the huge icy country with a tiny number of people, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese handballed to Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who spent just five seconds on it.
"Look, the future of Greenland is a matter for Denmark and the people of Greenland, and Australia's made that clear," she said.
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Despite some growing calls for the government to speak out, Australians probably shouldn't expect a big shift from Wong and Albanese, one leading foreign policy expert says.
Australian National University Professor Wesley Widmaier Jr explains when it comes to foreign policy, Australia has long-standing priorities.
"I think two are particularly relevant here," he told 9news.com.au.
"I mean, the Australian foreign policy priorities are always maintain the ties to the great and powerful friends, have some kind of attachment to the rules-based order."
So what do you do when your "great and powerful friend" is suddenly threatening to weaken the rules-based order that Australia and other so-called middle powers rely on for security?
When Trump insists the only limits on his powers are not international law but his "own morality"?
Former foreign minister Bob Carr told The Guardian that the "fiercely unpredictable" ally had become a "colossal challenge" for Australia, and Gareth Evans, who also spent time in the role, called again for the AUKUS security pact to be reconsidered.
Writing for the Lowy Institute, national security strategy expert Dr Peter Layton raised questions about the trustworthiness of the US as an ally and argued it might soon be time for Australia to "join European and NATO nations in expressing concern" over Trump's comments.
"If there is no pushback, the administration will assume that allies are content with its treatment of Denmark," he said.
"This style of destructive alliance management might then spread to European nations and the Indo-Pacific. Better outcomes may come from middle powers standing together, rather than waiting to be assaulted individually.
"If the Greenland situation worsens, the Australian government will eventually be forced to take a stand."
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Widmaier said the issue would force Australia to reflect on its relationship with the US but didn't see it as a serious threat to the ANZUS treaty that binds the two countries.
"There's a lot of things to keep Australia and America together," he said.
"And you know, Australia is not Greenland, and so I don't think it's at the level of high-level concerns.
"But it is those two things. It's the strange change in the orientation of our great and powerful friend and the implications for the rules-based order that mean that Australian foreign policy is much more uncertain."
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But he didn't expect to see any toughening of the rhetoric coming out of Canberra.
"It's wait and see and it's ambiguity and it's how you say what you say," Widmaier said.
"We've seen Australia be, Albanese be, really careful.
"That's what you'll see them continue to do. It's the most important relationship. They're being cautious and not getting ahead."
A US congressional delegation is headed to Copenhagen later this week in an attempt to show unity between the United States and Denmark as Trump continues to threaten to seize Greenland, semiautonomous territory of the NATO ally.
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Tensions have grown between Washington, Denmark and Greenland this month as Trump and his administration push the issue and the White House considers a range of options, including military force, to acquire the vast Arctic island.
Trump reiterated his argument that the US needs to "take Greenland" otherwise Russia or China would, in comments aboard Air Force One on Sunday.
He said he'd rather "make a deal" for the territory, "but one way or the other, we're going to have Greenland".
Danish and Greenlandic envoys are expected in Washington this week for talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
- With Associated Press
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