Alexander Downer (Mayo, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Kingston for his question and his interest. Over the years Australia’s links with foreigners have been very beneficial to this country. One job in five in Australia is created as a result of trade. That is links with foreigners. They are not all bad; they are okay. Twenty per cent of our GDP comes from exports, and our exports have doubled since 1996 to $210 billion. The point I make is that to achieve these sorts of things requires a foreign policy which builds close relations with key countries. We have never been apologetic for building a strong relationship with the United States of America, and with Japan, China, Indonesia and India. These five key relationships have been crucial to us. When things have got difficult in international economics those key relationships have been especially important to us. I think back to 1997-98 and the Asian economic crisis. Not only did Australia weather that crisis with very great distinction, if I can put it that way—and the Prime Minister and the Treasurer deserve great credit for the way Australia did weather that crisis—but also, importantly, we were able at that time to provide assistance to countries in Asia and help them get out of difficulties; countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and the Republic of Korea. The point I make is that strong bilateral relationships help you through difficult economic times, particularly with key countries.

Today we have volatility and uncertainty in global financial markets. That is of concern. The Prime Minister and the Treasurer have spoken about that. It is yet another occasion when we need to use our strong relations to make sure that Australia can weather this storm as best it can, and I am sure we will.

The simple point I make is this: to run a successful foreign policy in Australia, amongst other things you need to have strong relationships with five key countries, including: with the United States, a relationship that the Labor Party wishes to downgrade; with Japan—and the Labor Party, by the way, opposed the historic security agreement that we reached with Japan recently; and with China. The Leader of the Opposition has spoken highly of his relationship with China, which is, by the way, fine, and that he is going to make a great visit to China.

See this speech in context