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The case for complacency about Australia’s engagement with Asia

By Benjamin Herscovitch - posted Tuesday, 12 February 2013


In today’s divisive political climate, each side of parliament seems to have an uncontrollable impulse to contradict the other. That the opposing party supports a policy has become reason enough to oppose it, and vice versa.

There is, however, one particularly glaring exception to this prevailing partisanship.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott both want Australia to ‘engage’ more effectively with Asia.

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Writing in On Line Opinion on Friday, Neil Thomas and Thomas Williams make the case for putting some meat on the bones of this commitment to engage with Asia. They argue that ‘Asia engagement ... just needs to finally be done.’

Although calls to do more to seize Asian Century opportunities might look intuitively plausible, they ignore a defining feature of modern Australia: Our Asian embrace is already extensive and only getting deeper.

From the resources sector to tourism and higher education, Australia is tied to Asia’s surging economies.

Seven of the top 10 destinations for Australian exports are Asian countries, and almost 55 per cent of Australia’s total exports go to China, Japan, South Korea and India alone.

The dependence of Australian businesses on Asian economies is set to grow.

New markets for Australian goods and services are being opened up across Asia: We recently concluded a free trade agreement (FTA) with Malaysia and are currently negotiating FTAs with China, Japan, South Korea, India and Indonesia.

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Our two largest service exports—education and tourism—exemplify the extent of Australia’s economic engagement with Asia.

Twelve of the top 15 countries of origin of student visa holders in Australia are from Asia, while 7 of the top 10 markets for Australian tourism are in the region.

Not only do hundreds of thousands of Australian jobs now depend on Asian consumers but Australia’s education and tourism exports bring millions of Asians to Australia each year.

As inextricably tied to Asia as the Australian economy might be, we are also deeply politically engaged with the region.

From Paul Keating’s enthusiasm for the idea of Australia as a member of the community of Asian nations, to John Howard’s emphasis of our Asian geography, Australia has long been politically part of Asia.

Both sides of politics recognise that Beijing, Jakarta and New Delhi are now as vital to Australia as London and Washington ever were.

The spread of our diplomatic efforts reflects Australia’s clear focus on Asia: Australia’s 251 diplomats in Asia dwarf our 92 diplomats serving in Europe and the 67 posted to the Americas.

The argument that Australia needs to engage with Asia also fails to see that Australian society is in a crucial sense already Asian.

The 2011 Census showed that there are 1.7 million or so Asian-born Australians, representing 8 per cent of the population.

Added to this, there are approximately 2.2 million Australians who speak Asian languages at home, which equates to around 1 in 10 Australians.

Engaging with Asia is not something Australians are yet to do; millions of Australians already have strong familial and cultural connections with Asian countries.

This large pool of Asia-savvy Australians is set to grow. In Australia’s permanent migration program, 7 of the top 10 source countries in 2011–12 were from Asia—India, China, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, South Korea and Vietnam.

Australia’s integration into Asia is clearly not a national project that requires the heavy hand of government to be completed.

It is already well and truly underway in our boardrooms, classrooms and backyards.

And given the irresistible economic, political and social forces binding Australia ever closer to Asia, our engagement with the region will continue apace.

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About the Author

Dr Benjamin Herscovitch is a Beijing-based research fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies and previously worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Follow him on Twitter @B_Herscovitch.

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All articles by Benjamin Herscovitch

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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