Australia's changing Asia
trajectory By Purnendra Jain
Following discriminatory migration
policies for more than six decades since its
federation in 1901, Australia officially abolished
the vestiges of its long held "white Australia"
policy in the 1970s. Now, four decades on, the
government has issued a White Paper outlining
Asia's increasing economic and strategic
importance to Australia and offering a roadmap for
engagement.
The leap from policies
restricting the arrival of Asians, to the
"Australia in the Asian Century" White Paper is a
remarkable political trajectory for a nation whose
cultural and historical ties naturally bind it to
the West but whose changing circumstances mean
geography is increasingly significant.
Australia's position and the location of
fast-growing economies in its region are destined
to define its future, but will these growing ties
move beyond economic imperatives to a broad-based and
genuine engagement with
Asia? What would that mean?
Even after the
1970s, except at the diplomatic level, average
Australians had little contact with Asia. Despite
increasing trade, the Colombo Plan bringing some
of Asia's best and brightest to Australia and the
slow build-up of Asian migration including
refugees, many Australians tended to regard Asia
as a threat and there was little, social and
cultural interaction. Australia remained a
predominantly Anglo and white nation.
Remarkably though, Japan, the country's
bitter World War II enemy, emerged as one of
Australia's leading trade partners from the late
1950s. Based on trade, the relationship also saw
growing social, cultural and even strategic links
develop to an extent not seen with any other Asian
nation.
In more recent years, China then
India have become the two most prominent Asian
nations for Australia, a process again driven
primarily by commercial interests. Their
exponential growth in the first decade of the 21st
century is propelling demand for Australian raw
materials such as coal, iron ore and so on, into a
mining boom.
First China in the 1980s and
1990s, and more recently India, have also become
the two principal sources of students to
Australian tertiary institutions and vocational
colleges, to the extent that these institutions
have become largely dependent on income from the
two Asian sources. Many of these students are
lured purely by the attraction of permanent
residence on completion of their education.
Migration from Asian countries has
continued steadily since the 1970s, but in more
recent years the number from Asia has spiked,
especially from China and India. In 2011, India
became the largest supplier of migrants to
Australia, surpassing traditional suppliers such
as the United Kingdom and New Zealand.
Given that two-thirds of Australia's trade
is now with Asia, the number of Asian students and
migration from China, India and other Asian
nations has swollen and tourists and short-term
visitors from Asia are on the rise. It is apparent
that Australia's future has become increasingly
intertwined with that of Asia's.
As the
economies of Indonesia (which is now bigger in
gross domestic product terms than Australia),
Vietnam and other Asian countries develop rapidly,
the region will become even more important.
Some of these economic imperatives are
highlighted in the Australia in the Asian Century
White Paper with a large number of recommendations
that would put Australia in an advantageous
position. Five countries - Japan, China, South
Korea, Indonesia and India - have been identified
as the most important, and the White Paper
recommends that their cultures, societies and
languages should be taught in schools and tertiary
institutions. Teaching of Japanese, Chinese,
Indonesian and Hindi have been identified as
priority areas.
While many of these
recommendations were previously highlighted in a
number of documents and reports, the fact that
these have been put together for the first time in
a comprehensive government report sends a signal
of the national government's seriousness in
connecting to Asia.
While many have hailed
this as an important document, critics point out
the lack of detail on implementation. It is not
clear how these aspirations will be delivered and
who will fund the massive educational push
intended to make Australia's population "Asia
literate" and "Asia capable". And indeed why do
Australians need to learn Asian languages beyond
economic imperatives. Why is Hindi more important
than Korean?
The White Paper exhorts that
by 2025 one third of Australia's top 200 publicly
listed companies and one third of the senior
leadership of the Australian public service should
have deep experience in and knowledge of Asia, but
nowhere does it recommend such requirements for
politicians.
If deeper experience and
knowledge is required in one single organization
in Australia, it is in its educational
institutions. No Australian university has a vice
chancellor of Asian origin. At the senior
management level and in university councils,
representation of Asian Australians is so small
that it is hardly noticed. Is Australia really
ready and willing to take the full advantage of
its Asian asset? Probably not.
The White
Paper primarily emphasizes "opportunities" in Asia
and how these opportunities can be exploited to
keep Australia a high-income, developed society
with its generous social welfare with little
regard for social and human issues that challenge
many Asian countries.
What this White
Paper lacks is acknowledgement and guidelines on
how to build Australia-Asia relations that are
beneficial to both sides. This will happen only
when Australia treats Asia more than a site for
"making money" and seeking economic opportunities
while keeping policy-making the privilege of those
who come from more familiar historical and
cultural backgrounds.
While the White
Paper is a welcome document, it is also time to
think hard about how to move Australia's Asia
engagement beyond the Asia rhetoric.
Purnendra Jain is professor in
Asian Studies at Australia's University of
Adelaide
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