Blog
It was a year in which we hardly caught our breath
Written by Julie Bishop Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Published on Fairfax's National Times website
According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2011 was the year of the Golden Rabbit, a year in which you are meant to catch your breath and calm your nerves.
There were many events during this past year that tested that astrological prophecy to the limit.
Natural disasters such as the earthquake that struck Christchurch in February and the earthquake and tsunami that devastated coastal Japan in March captured the world's attention with dramatic footage of the ravaged landscapes.Rudd-Gillard feud trumps national unity
Written by Julie Bishop Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Published on Fairfax's National Times website
Former Labor Foreign Minister and current Defence Minister Stephen Smith said in September 2010 that, ''. . . you can never have a crack of light between a Foreign Minister and a Prime Minister''.
He was making the self-evident point that it is critical for any nation to present a united and consistent front to the world.
It can be damaging to our national interest if our allies and trading partners hear one message from the Foreign Minister and another from the Prime Minister.Network tender caught in tit for tat feud
Written by Julie Bishop Wednesday, 07 December 2011
Published on Fairfax's National Times website
The sorry tale surrounding the Prime Minister's corruption of the $223 million tender process for the Australia Network tender is evidence that when faced with a choice between a principled course of action and an unprincipled one, the Prime Minister heads for the unprincipled path.
The announcement, by way of media release on Monday evening, that the government had decided to scrap the whole tender process, is the culmination of months of unacceptable political interference by the Gillard government to avoid due process and to underhandedly manipulate an outcome.The perils of taking the mining boom for granted
Written by Julie Bishop Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Published on Fairfax's National Times website
Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them.
With the government's carbon tax now law, and its mining tax all but assured passage in the Senate, it is just a matter of time before the predictions of the longer term impact on investment in Australia's mining and resource sector become a reality.
It is true that the mining industry in Australia has gone through many challenging phases since the first gold rush in 1851 near Bathurst.The USA is here to stay
Written by Julie Bishop Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Published on Fairfax's National Times website
China's extraordinary economic growth in recent decades has led to considerable speculation about whether its rise will continue to be peaceful and the impact it will have on the existing world order.
Its strong performance has been contrasted in more recent times by the economic struggles of the world's super power, the United States.Belated backflip on uranium sales
Written by Julie Bishop Wednesday, 16 November 2011
Published on Fairfax's National Times website
The government's monumental backflip to embrace Coalition policy on selling uranium to India is a long overdue admission that its policy was wrong, and that it has caused unnecessary harm to our relationship with an important nation in the region.
That Labor's policy was illogical, irresponsible, ideological, hypocritical and was contrary to Australia's national interest does not seem to have bothered the Labor leadership since the day former prime minister Kevin Rudd reversed the Howard government's 2007 decision to sell uranium to India subject to appropriate bilateral and international safeguards.Australia Network is the latest victim in Gillard-Rudd war
Written by Julie Bishop Wednesday, 09 November 2011
Published on Fairfax's National Times website
An important element of Australia's engagement with our region is the taxpayer-funded international television service Australia Network which broadcasts to more than 44 countries in the Asia/Pacific/Indian Ocean.
The broadcasts are a powerful tool of public diplomacy, furthering and promoting our foreign policy and national interests through the dissemination of ideas, information, values and beliefs and building greater understanding among the billions of people who live to our north, east and west.Innovation in effective aid delivery
Written by Julie Bishop Wednesday, 02 November 2011
Published on Fairfax's National Times website
Across the world there is an ongoing debate about aid effectiveness - how, when, where, for whom and for what outcomes, the aid dollar should be spent.
In Australia, the Independent Review of Aid Effectiveness published a report in April with a number of recommendations to improve the Australian aid program.Capture the essence of the Colombo Plan
Written by Julie Bishop Thursday, 27 October 2011
Published in The Australian's Higher Education supplement
As a nation Australia is exquisitely positioned to reap the benefits of the re-emergence of Asia as a global economic and strategic powerhouse.
Already the influence of Asia’s economic development is reaching into Australia society, altering the balance of our economy and the composition of our workforce.
The total number of middle class consumers in Asia is expected to grow by more than 1.2 billion people by 2020, which will present significant opportunities for Australia beyond the mineral resources sector.Constructive responses needed in EU debt crisis
Written by Julie Bishop Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Published on Fairfax's National Times website
The scale of the European sovereign debt crisis is causing concern throughout the world as speculation mounts that Greece may ultimately default on its debts.
There are also ongoing concerns about the ability of other European nations to service their debts, including Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain.
European leaders have known about the rise of sovereign debt for some time, cautioning France, Ireland and Greece in April 2009 about the size of their budget deficits.Page 1 of 12
