Australian foreign policy has undoubtedly been subject to vast changes over the past century, particularly as a response to the increasing role Asia has played in shaping the contemporary global market. Having identified the importance of multilateralism and regionalism, policy continue to be increasingly focused on our geographical position as part of the Asia-Pacific region, and the relationships with our immediate neighbours, as a means to better achieve stability. The word stability in this context does not simply refer one single aspect, but rather encompasses several different areas which are equally important if we are to continue advancing our country in both a domestic and international sense. There are several key areas of policy …show more content…
The 1997 Asian financial crisis reinforced Australia’s growing economic interdependence within Asia, evident through the assistance given to Indonesia, Thailand, and South Korea to help re-establish their economies. Regional dynamics largely shifted as a result, contributing to the demise of the Indonesia Suharto administration, and its subsequent transition to democracy. As Indonesia develops itself as a democratic country, there have been more opportunities for the traditionally different nations of Indonesia and Australia to intertwine, seeing an increase in regional policy and greater collaboration on issues of mutual importance.
As Indonesian society continues to transform, so has the national interest in global politics. This has seen an increase in regional and global affairs, triggering a growth in environmental activism, and a greater awareness for implementation of crime prevention and migration strategies. Indonesia has strongly supported the inclusion of Australia in the East Asia Summit (EAS), a conference which examines economic, political, security and environmental issues within the region. Conversely, Indonesian society has benefitted from its increasing ties with Australia, allowing it to better develop a relationship with the United States (a close and powerful ally of Australia). Australia’s relationships with
Singapore was also a gateway to other countries in South-East Asia such as New Guinea, Indonesia, Dutch-East Indies (Indonesia) and Philippines as seen in Figure 1. After this, it was the first time in Australia’s history is was the first time they were under threat from any country “Yellow
In the twentieth century after World War 2 the world was threatened by the takeover of communist that had begun to consume the globe. The Australian government identified that the fear ideology communism will take over the country if no actions were taken to stand against and stop it. The Australian government provided support and participated in several military conflicts during the Cold War to reduce the threat of communist around the world. However, the longest of Australia’s military engagement was the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1975. Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War was mainly centred on its fear of the ‘Domino Theory’, and its relations with the U.S through the Foreign policy which involved the ‘Forward Defence’ policy. The
During his time in office, Gough Whitlam was able to determine and predict that in future times the Australian people would have to rely further on their Asian neighbours. Just two weeks after being elected, Whitlam officially recognised the communist government of the People's Republic of China and opened up diplomatic relations (Source 6) as well trading and cultural links. Within a year Australia had reopened its embassy in Beijing (Source 7) which had been closed in protest when the communist government took power. Whitlam wanted to change the racially charged thoughts of Australians which had prevented interactions in its own region. Relations between Australia and South-East Asia also improved after the abandonment of the 'White Australia' policy under the Whitlam government. Not only did that prompt the arrival of Asian refugees, it also allowed a larger range of people from Asian countries to obtain tourist and education visa’s. The Colombo Plan allowed Asian students to study in Australia. The Vietnam War and major Whitlam policy reforms brought Australians out of our Anglo-centric view and realise that we had a larger part to play in Asia. As a result of many new cultural, diplomatic, trade and tourist links to Australia, the Whitlam government was able to boost exports dramatically, change the racist face of Australian society and
The bilateral relationship between Australia and Indonesia has a long but fluctuating history as ‘strange neighbours’, based on a traditional stance from Australian parties of Indonesia as the weaker state (Robert and Hadir 2015: 195). The discourse on Australia’s role in East Timor, particularly the intervention as the head of the UN sanctioned INTERFET team, has been praised or criticized depending on the narrative constructed of the events (Maley 2000: 151). Australia’s role in the East Timor crisis began through complicity in its causes, followed by a change in foreign policy which caused a deterioration of the Indonesia-Australia relationship at a time when Indonesia’s new democratic governance should have deepened relations (Sulistiyanto 2010: 125). While Australia and Indonesia have been steadily rebuilding their relationship, especially in regard to security, the
Another major aspect this limb deals with is that of Australia’s relationship with the United Nations and other major international organisations .
In 1945, after World War II had finished, Australia finally felt at peace – that was until Communism began to have an effect on the entire world. Australia had a lot to fear, with the threat likely to infiltrate the country both domestically (an established Communist Party) and internationally (a geographical location close to countries that had already fallen victim to communism, such as China and Korea). Australia responded to both of these threats in a way that caused a lot of political controversy and has created bonds with other parts of the world that are still activated today.
Though Australia is a powerful country and is considered a main player in the surrounding area yet it is does not hold a primary rank in the global environment. Australia's contribution in military interventions beyond the Asia Pacific is smaller and follows the lead of another country such as the United States. The Australian Defense Force (ADF) has the capability to tackle with the crises in its neighborhood, because of emergence of security concerns constantly from Indonesia and many other smaller states. Australia has adopted a strategy to support and strengthen the presence of United States in the region. This mutual cooperation is very important for Australia as regards economy and security. Its alliance with United States has been due to many reasons.
Achieving external stability is an important objective of economic policy, achieving this stability ensures that imbalances in Australia’s economic relationships with other economies do not hinder achieving domestic economic policy goals such as lower rate of unemployment, higher rate of growth and lower inflation. There are three main factors that effect external stability the deficit on the current account (CAD), net foreign liabilities and the Australian dollar. Australia’s experienced times when overseas investors decided that the economy’s external position was unstable, and when investors like such decide to withdraw their
The phrase of globalisation is becoming very popular around the world, and it gives free movement to communicate with people regarding cultural, economic, social, technological, political, educational and businesses. In the modern society globalisation has impacted on many human lives, which started in the western countries in (1492), according to Kevin H. O'Rourke, Jeffrey G. Williamson, and then it expanded all over the world. The word of globalisation can describe many different aspects such as globalisation of nothing, the making of the global society and the globalisation of wealthy and poor. According to Robert Shuey in (2001), ‘’globalisation is widely and somewhat loosely used a term, intended to describe the recent and rapid process of international, economic, social, and political integration’’. The idea of his words that globalisation is giving an opportunity to people, so they can travel, invest internationally, and communicate this can help many businesses people especially in Australia to invest more widely and internationally. Globalisation has impacted on Australian society in all terms of life, for instance, it has an enormous impact on health and education system, on technology, and on the Australian economy. But one of the categories is increasing so widely among Australian people who affect many young people’s lives is the impact of racism on the health and wellbeing of young Australians. The word racism is the very phenomenon aspect in the Australian society, especially between young people. On the very high percentage of many young Australians are experiencing racism between the nation, most of these racists are because of skin colour, cultural beliefs, different traditions from different countries, speaking another language and gender. Racism plays a significant role in the society, and many people are aware of this because when they face radical discrimination from any individual, they feel angry and frustrated, and sometimes they feel of not belonging to the local community.
In handling bilateral relationships, the Government often claims to have adopted an integrated approach taking into account the totality of Australian interests. But, a closer analyses of this claim reveals it would be almost impossible to meet the totality of Australia’s interests in any bilateral relationship and this is especially true of China which has such a different socio-political system. This close relationship continues to raise political questions for Australia to grapple with, such as her relations with Taiwan, Tibet and Chinese human rights issues. In some instances Australias interests will be confined mainly to trade and investment; in the more substantial bilateral relationships, the Government will implement comprehensive strategies
The U.S. and Australian alliance share an interest in maintaining the peace and stability in the Asian- Pacific
Indonesia is the largest country in South East Asia and the third most populous in the world. Indonesia’s geographic proximity to Australia makes its bilateral relationship with Australia an important one for both
Indonesia is one of Australia's most important bilateral relationships. With the benefits of Indonesia being closest neighbour to Australia. There is a highly productive and broad based partnership through the areas of business, education, security, culture, education, arts and people-to-people links. A few perspectives has been pointed out on the understanding of the bilateral relationship.
The Australia–Japan partnership is one of Australia‘s strongest and most mature international trade relationships. The success and strength of the partnership can be attributed to the commonly held values of both countries, including a commitment to democracy, human rights and the rule of law, along with similar approaches to international security. Japan forms Australia's second-largest export market and third-largest source of foreign investment. Australia is a critical supplier to Japan of clean and safe food products as well as minerals and energy.
From being ruled by an authoritative government, Indonesia now has become a model for democracy in Asia. Over the years, Indonesia has slowly made the transition to democracy. Its new presidential election is clear evidence of this transition because the Indonesians chose to elect a common man to be the president: an official who they thought would understand their struggles. Within 15 years, Indonesia has transitioned from a bureaucratic-authoritarian regime to a formal presidentialism. The newly elected president has already taken steps toward implementing his reforms which consists of pushing to cut down fuel subsidies, getting rid of corruption and encouraging new businesses to invest in Indonesia by giving them tax incentives. These are clear signs that consolidated liberal democracy in Indonesia has already taken place and that Indonesia will continue to be a democratic country in the future.