{"id":56148,"date":"2020-05-26T06:00:49","date_gmt":"2020-05-25T20:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=56148"},"modified":"2020-05-26T11:41:29","modified_gmt":"2020-05-26T01:41:29","slug":"common-wealth-the-state-of-australian-foreign-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/common-wealth-the-state-of-australian-foreign-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Common wealth? The state of Australian foreign policy"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

While there is a diversity of views on Victoria\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative agreement with Beijing, there seems to be universal agreement on a solution: the federal government should simply assert its constitutional prerogative and regain full control of the nation\u2019s foreign policy. That horse has, however, long since bolted.<\/p>\n

In the first half of the 20th century, Australia\u2019s diplomacy was conducted out of the prime minister\u2019s office. In the second half of the century, the RG Casey building and the Department of External Affairs (now the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) became involved. In the 21st century, Australia\u2019s diplomacy is shaped by every state capital in the country.<\/p>\n

Over the last few decades, state governments have set up dozens of offices overseas to advance their interests. These outposts criss-cross the globe, and states may have several in big countries such as the United States. Defence industry is the hot ticket at the moment, but agriculture, entertainment and sport, and even encouraging state-specific immigration, have been key tasks.<\/p>\n

These state offices like to pledge that they are part of \u2018Team Australia\u2019, but the reality of their diverging interests means that at least some of the time national interests come second. That situation arises either because of the nature of the deals done\u2014competing against each other to drive the price down\u2014or because of the pressure state politicians are under back home to maintain good relations with potential buyers.<\/p>\n

There are regular<\/a> trade<\/a> missions<\/a> overseas led by the state premiers\u2014that often send mixed messages about national relations\u2014and every state and territory has a defence strategy (for inviting industry in, rather than keeping threats out).<\/p>\n

Competition for defence contracts has seen Queensland feuding with Western Australia<\/a>, Western Australia feuding with South Australia<\/a>, and Queensland feuding with the federal government<\/a>. As one senior defence industry official told a parliamentary inquiry<\/a> in 2018, \u2018Few could deny that the level of rivalry between the states for defence work has become almost hysterical, if not destructive.\u2019<\/p>\n

It gets worse. In June 2018, WA Premier Mark McGowan attacked Foreign Minister (and West Australian) Julie Bishop for her \u2018strange\u2019 and \u2018frankly bizarre\u2019<\/a> approach to China, an attack he returned to against federal Liberal MP Andrew Hastie (also a West Australian) in September 2019.<\/p>\n

There was funding from China to influence NSW education programs<\/a>, and, back in 2017, Victoria\u2019s opposition leader Matthew Guy declared that his party supported US President Donald Trump over the Australian government in the location of our embassy in Israel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Victoria\u2019s BRI agreement, which has caused a dispute with the federal government, is thus notable for its content and choice of partner, but not for the fact that a state government is directly influencing Australia\u2019s engagement with the world. It is instead only the most visible case of a substantial evolution in Australian diplomacy that has taken place this century. I\u2019ve spent the past few years researching this change but feel like I\u2019m only just beginning to get a sense of its scope.<\/p>\n

If this phenomenon is much more widespread than people presume, then our attempts to solve the problem (to the extent it is a problem) also need to evolve. Simply invoking section 51<\/a> of the constitution to shut down all state government international engagement won\u2019t cut it. Doing so would jeopardise hundreds of valuable agreements and bring an end to a very useful supplement to our global posture given the historic and regrettable systemic underfunding<\/a> of DFAT.<\/p>\n

Top-down solutions are unlikely to be the answer because of the size, scope and speed of this cooperation. As one official told me, the federal government isn\u2019t even made aware of most of the activity state governments undertake overseas. Forcing every agreement or interaction to be pre-approved would be incredibly laborious and slow.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear what would qualify as needing review, given that states often work to connect with and engage private companies or cooperate with other state-level governments (such as California\u2019s relations with Victoria<\/a> on disaster management). Even local councils can cause a ruckus<\/a> with seemingly harmless interactions.<\/p>\n

Instead, what\u2019s required is far more national discussion about how Australia as a single nation should view the world. Rather than trying for ever tighter control of foreign policy in Canberra, it needs to be accepted that every state and territory, and possibly every major business and non-government organisation in the country, can and will influence how we engage with the world. For better and for worse.<\/p>\n

The way to ensure that the right kinds of behaviour occur without direct control is to have a clearer sense of who we are as a nation, what we want from the world, and what values we will and will not accept. Foreign affairs and defence policy can no longer be an elite conversation\u2014because it\u2019s no longer an elite practice. The state of Australia\u2019s foreign policy has changed. Our conversation needs to change with it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While there is a diversity of views on Victoria\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative agreement with Beijing, there seems to be universal agreement on a solution: the federal government should simply assert its constitutional prerogative and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":56152,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2212,416,285,365],"class_list":["post-56148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-australia-china-relations","tag-australian-government","tag-foreign-policy","tag-trade"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCommon wealth? The state of Australian foreign policy | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/common-wealth-the-state-of-australian-foreign-policy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Common wealth? The state of Australian foreign policy | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While there is a diversity of views on Victoria\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative agreement with Beijing, there seems to be universal agreement on a solution: the federal government should simply assert its constitutional prerogative and ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/common-wealth-the-state-of-australian-foreign-policy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-25T20:00:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-26T01:41:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/GettyImages-1226691441.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andrew Carr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andrew Carr\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/common-wealth-the-state-of-australian-foreign-policy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/GettyImages-1226691441.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/GettyImages-1226691441.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683,\"caption\":\"SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MAY 24: Teenagers chain-surf at South Curl Curl ocean pool as a large southerly swell hits the Sydney coastline on May 24, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. Winter weather including rain and strong winds is expected to continue through the weekend after Sydney and surrounds experienced a relatively mild May. (Photo by Cameron Spencer\/Getty Images)\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/common-wealth-the-state-of-australian-foreign-policy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/common-wealth-the-state-of-australian-foreign-policy\/\",\"name\":\"Common wealth? The state of Australian foreign policy | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/common-wealth-the-state-of-australian-foreign-policy\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-25T20:00:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-26T01:41:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/19cb730a84d9961a3fae5b9dc3b8d508\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/common-wealth-the-state-of-australian-foreign-policy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/common-wealth-the-state-of-australian-foreign-policy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/common-wealth-the-state-of-australian-foreign-policy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Common wealth? The state of Australian foreign policy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/19cb730a84d9961a3fae5b9dc3b8d508\",\"name\":\"Andrew Carr\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/35b718b25b13a3c25ed5e6e29290bf5f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/35b718b25b13a3c25ed5e6e29290bf5f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Andrew Carr\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/andrew-carr\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Common wealth? The state of Australian foreign policy | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/common-wealth-the-state-of-australian-foreign-policy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Common wealth? The state of Australian foreign policy | The Strategist","og_description":"While there is a diversity of views on Victoria\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative agreement with Beijing, there seems to be universal agreement on a solution: the federal government should simply assert its constitutional prerogative and ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/common-wealth-the-state-of-australian-foreign-policy\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2020-05-25T20:00:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-05-26T01:41:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/GettyImages-1226691441.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Andrew Carr","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andrew Carr","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/common-wealth-the-state-of-australian-foreign-policy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/GettyImages-1226691441.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/GettyImages-1226691441.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"caption":"SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MAY 24: Teenagers chain-surf at South Curl Curl ocean pool as a large southerly swell hits the Sydney coastline on May 24, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. Winter weather including rain and strong winds is expected to continue through the weekend after Sydney and surrounds experienced a relatively mild May. (Photo by Cameron Spencer\/Getty Images)"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/common-wealth-the-state-of-australian-foreign-policy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/common-wealth-the-state-of-australian-foreign-policy\/","name":"Common wealth? The state of Australian foreign policy | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/common-wealth-the-state-of-australian-foreign-policy\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2020-05-25T20:00:49+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-26T01:41:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/19cb730a84d9961a3fae5b9dc3b8d508"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/common-wealth-the-state-of-australian-foreign-policy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/common-wealth-the-state-of-australian-foreign-policy\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/common-wealth-the-state-of-australian-foreign-policy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Common wealth? The state of Australian foreign policy"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/19cb730a84d9961a3fae5b9dc3b8d508","name":"Andrew Carr","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/35b718b25b13a3c25ed5e6e29290bf5f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/35b718b25b13a3c25ed5e6e29290bf5f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Andrew Carr"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/andrew-carr\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56148"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56148"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56164,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56148\/revisions\/56164"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}