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Where We Live – Scott Morrison’s Asialink Address On Foreign Policy

June 26, 2019

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has delivered a major speech on foreign policy, emphasising the important of the rule-based trading system and free trade.

Morrison

Morrison emphasised Australia’s willingness to engage in the Indo-Pacific region. He stressed the importance of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), whilst maintaining the relevance of the Australia, New Zealand, United States (ANZUS) alliance.

Morrison warned of “gathering clouds in the global economy”. He said a worsening trading relationship between China and the United States “is not inevitable”.

“We embrace free trade, global engagement and an international system where we agree rules, stick to them and honour our commitments,” Morrison said.

Watch Morrison’s speech (34m):

Listen to Morrison (34m):

Transcript of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s “Where We Live” Address to Asialink-Bloomberg.

PRIME MINISTER SCOTT MORRISON: Thank you to Asialink and Bloomberg for the opportunity to address you here today prior to my attending the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Osaka this weekend.

Today I want to talk about our plan to foster an open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific, consistent with our national interests.

I would like to set out the principles, consistent with our national values, that will guide my Government’s engagement with the Indo-Pacific region.

Keating Warns Against Tillerson’s South China Sea Adventurism

January 13, 2017

Former prime minister Paul Keating has criticised remarks by the US Secretary of State-designate, Rex Tillerson, regarding what he terms “adventurism” over the South China Sea.

Keating issued a statement following remarks by Tillerson at his confirmation hearings in Washington DC. Tillerson said that a “signal” should be sent to China over its access to islands in the South China Sea. He said that American allies should be there to “show back-up”.

Keating says Australia should have no part of such adventurism, as it should have had no part in the Iraq war 15 years ago.

Statement by Paul Keating.

Chinese Own Less Than 1% Of Agricultural Land; Figures Show 86% Land Australian-Owned; Half Of All Foreign Investment Is From UK

September 7, 2016

Figures released today by the Australian Taxation Office show that 86.4% of the nation’s agricultural land is held by Australians. Foreign interests hold 13.6%, whilst Chinese interests control just 0.4% of the total.

Figures from the Register of Foreign Ownership of Agricultural Land show that over half of all foreign investment in Australian agricultural land is held by the United Kingdom (52.7%), which has 27.5 million hectares, or 7.2%, of total agricultural land.

United States interests hold 14.8% of all foreign investment in land. This represents 7.7 million hectares, or 2% of the total.

The Netherlands, Singapore, China, Philippines, Switzerland, Jersey, Indonesia and Japan hold 21% of all foreign investment. Together, the top 10 countries account for 88.5% of all foreign investment in agricultural land.

The figures debunk claims by populist and fringe political groups about Chinese holdings of land. Just 2.8% of all foreign investment in land is Chinese, or 0.4% of all agricultural land.

Tony Abbott’s Weary Dunlop Speech To AsiaLink

December 5, 2013

The Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, has given a wide-ranging speech about Australia’s relationship with Asia.

Abbott delivered the Weary Dunlop lecture to AsiaLink in Melbourne.

Abbott

He reiterated his earlier remarks that his approach to foreign policy would have a “Jakarta not Geneva” focus.

In the speech, Abbott discussed Australia’s relationship with Indonesia, India and China. He touched on foreign aid, international students and the study of Asian languages in Australian schools.

Paul Keating’s Murdoch Oration: Asia In The New Order

November 14, 2012

The former Labor Prime Minister, Paul Keating, has delivered a stinging criticism of Australia’s foreign policy direction in a speech in Melbourne tonight.

Paul Keating Keating delivered the Keith Murdoch Oration at the State Library of Victoria.

He argued the era of effective foreign policy activism had passed, replaced by a flagging sense of independence and “an easy accommodation with the foreign policy objectives of the United States”.

Keating reiterated his long-held views about the decline of the “Anglosphere”. He said that as prime minister, “I rejoiced in the diversity around us and the fact that the big and old societies of the East, formerly locked down by colonialism and poverty, were free to go their own way.”

“We need to concentrate on where we can be effective and where we can make the greatest difference.”

Download the official text of Keating’s speech (PDF)

Text of Paul Keating’s Keith Murdoch Oration.

Asia in the New Order: Australia’s Diminishing Sphere of Influence

Keith Murdoch, in whose name this oration is given, represents an important position in the history of this institution. Chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1939 to1945, of what was then the Melbourne Public Library, he came to the position from an industry devoted to information, namely, newspapers.

He was appointed editor of the Melbourne Herald in 1921 and played a corporate role in the Herald acquiring the Sun News-Pictorial in 1925, becoming managing director of the Herald and Weekly Times in 1928. And so began the entrepreneurial career of the first Murdoch, building the Herald and Weekly Times, which sixty years later his son Rupert acquired.

Posts published in “China”

Where We Live – Scott Morrison’s Asialink Address On Foreign Policy

Keating Warns Against Tillerson’s South China Sea Adventurism

Chinese Own Less Than 1% Of Agricultural Land; Figures Show 86% Land Australian-Owned; Half Of All Foreign Investment Is From UK

Tony Abbott’s Weary Dunlop Speech To AsiaLink

Paul Keating’s Murdoch Oration: Asia In The New Order