THE LUCKY. LAZY COUNTRY SHOWSHOW NOT TO WIN FRIENDS IN ASIAFORMER DIPLOMAT ALISON BROINOWSKI OF THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONALUNIVERSITY EXAMINES AUSTRALIA'S ROCKY RELATIONSHIP WITHITS ASIAN NEIGHBOURS

THE CDNVERSATION

Australia

hasnt been here before," declared the

Prime Minister as she announced aWhite Paperpreparing the country for the Asian Century. We

have, in fact. Her conceptual shift, and sudden interestin the affairs of our Asian neighbours are welcome, but

Julia Gillard needs to catch up quickly.The Asian Century is already eleven years old, But

for much longer than that, observers in many countrieshave been charting the irresistible shift of global powerto the East, as Professor Kishore Mahbubani described

in essays in the 19905 and his subsequent book.

Land of opportunityAustralia, of course, has always been located where

it is, and where our great and powerful friends are not.Ever since the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, that

isolation has been deplored by some, while for others,proximity to Asia has been opportune and stimulating.

Many Australian politicians have tried to foster greaterengagement with Asia. Former minister for externalaffairs, R. G. Casey cultivated friends and neighbours, asPrime MinisterGoughWhitlam proposed an Asian Forum,

12 H Australia's Engagement with Asia

his successors Bob Hawke and Paul Keating fostered theAsia~Pacif1c Economic Cooperation (APEC), and Kevin

Rudd briefly flew an Asia-Paci c community kite.

Rediscovering AsiaAlthough the Asian Century was a newfound notion

for Treasury in May this year, the process ofAustral ia-Asiaaccommodation and acceptance has gone on for muchlonger.

Yet every generation of Australian leaders, it seems,has to rediscover Asia.

Between the peaks of enthusiasm therehave been plenty of troughs, when Australians

reacted to Asia with degrees of fear,ignorance, and hostility.

Between the peaks of enthusiasm there have beenplenty of troughs, when Australians reacted to Asia withdegrees of fear, ignorance, and hostility.

But time and again, from the 19605 on, as the Japanese

miracle was succeeded by the fast growth ofAsian tigersand dragons, and then by the rise of China and India,one Asian economy after another came to the rescue of

the lucky, lazy country that happened always to be in the

right region at the right time.

Educating AustraliaThe process was not only economic. From the 1960s,

Australians eagerly went to Asian countries to studylanguages and cultures.

Under Fraser and Hawke, at least, we took in refugees

from our Asianwars who then and since have successfullyturned into Australian citizens.

Yet the more Australia prospers from Asian demand

for our resources, goods and services, the less empathy

we seem to display towards our region.We still invest more elsewhere. We waste our wealth

on unwinnable wars of our allies making, withoutconsulting others in the region about why they see no

need to fight them.

How not to win friendsWe insult neighbouring countries such as Malaysia

by choosing them as the most unappealing places ofdeportation, even while we breach the international

obligations we urge them to uphold.We also allow a generation of teachers of Asian

issues in Society [Volume 350