An inconvenient question The question of “who rules Australia?” is always answered with pet ideas and different theories. We can see symbols of power all around us, but the exercise of real power and influence is rarely a public event. Defining and identifying who really rules Australia is like trying to pinpoint where consciousness exists within our brain. It is complex and illusive. We may have some idea about different entities who potentially exercise power, but can’t put any single entity under any precise scrutiny. Besides the formal means of power through authority, ownership and control over regulation, etc., much power is the result of inducement, compromise, promises, flattery, coercion, threats, favors, and even goodwill. Making the situation more complex is that different groups exercise power and influence over different aspects of society.
Tag: Australia
PERTH, Australia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton encouraged Australia on Tuesday to increase its military ties with India, but added that America also supports the peaceful rise of Asian economic powerhouse China. Clinton and U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in the west coast city of Perth on Tuesday on the eve of a bilateral security summit with their Australian counterparts. The annual summit is the first since President Barack Obama visited Australia a year ago and riled China, Australia’s biggest trading partner, by announcing that up to 2,500 U.S. Marines would rotate through a joint military training hub in the northern Australian city of Darwin.
Just one week after winning a second term Barak Obama is about to make a trip to Thailand, Burma, and Cambodia to bolster support for US competition in the region against China. Normally such a trip to countries like Burma where there is still a long way to go in human rights and economic reforms would not be made by a US President. However Long standing US government principles are being tossed aside in the interests of increasing US influence in the region, reminiscent of the “Cold War” days of the 1960s. Obama has put the new Chinese Administration on notice that his coming term will be one of competition in winning the ‘hearts and minds’ (read handouts) of the nations surrounding China.
Although Australia is listed in the top 10 least perceived corrupt countries in the world by Transparency International, an ongoing bribery case involving the companies Securency International and Note Printing Australia, which are jointly owned by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is causing embarrassment to the Australian Government. The RBA is Australia’s central bank and as such is responsible for money supply and the setting of interest rates, an integral part of any country’s monetary policy. Consequently the banker to the government other banks must not just act with integrity, it must be trusted as an institution beyond reproach if the financial system and public are to maintain confidence in the institution.
The Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard released a long awaited white paper Australia in the Asian Century yesterday, which has been “wowed” by the Australian media. The white paper basically affirms that Australia’s future lies with Asia and consequently immense economic opportunities exist for Australia to grab. The paper hinges the nation’s strategy of becoming a competitive force within the region through skills development, innovation, infrastructure, the tax system, regulatory reform, and environmental sustainability. However before a nation can become a competitive force, it must have an accepted place in the region. On this key strategy the White paper does little more than make a “rally call” to Australians to come out and make it happen.
With Washington becoming increasingly concerned about China’s increasing power in the Asia-Pacific region Australia has told the United States it will not be hosting permanent military bases. AFP has reported that Australia’s Foreign Minister Bob…
The Australian government denies a US aircraft carrier will be based near Perth. AAP/US Department of Defence. Defence Minister Stephen Smith has been saying long and loud that there are no US military bases in Australia, and that anyone who says otherwise is misinformed. Last week, after Australian media reported the recommendation to the Pentagon from a leading Washington think tank to consider basing a US Navy aircraft carrier task force at HMAS Stirling in Perth Mr Smith repeated his mantra: We don’t have United States military bases in Australia and we are not proposing to. What we have talked about in terms of either increased aerial access or naval access is precisely that – greater access to our facilities. What we are looking at down the track is the possibility of further or enhanced naval access to HMAS Stirling. Mr Smith, like so many of his predecessors, is misleading the public on a matter of vital interest to Australians. There are US bases in Australia – they are just not called that. All that is at issue is the degree of “jointness”.
Smith: No US bases in Australia The Defence Minister Stephen Smith has flatly rejected a proposal to expand a naval base in Perth to accommodate US nuclear powered aircraft carrier groups. The idea is one…
For a nation which has historically subordinated itself to larger powers, Australia’s Labour-led foreign policy shows little divergence away from being wholly complicit to American full spectrum dominance in the region. For all of its…
Housing affordability is an issue of basic human rights. A recent report in the UK, A Silent Killer by Sheffield University commissioned by a charity organisation, Crisis (21 Dec 2011) reveals that: “People who live…