No.

M33

Date

15 February, 1993

ASIA AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE AND ITS PLACE IN THE WORLD

Fib-goad wail 4 x; M—day, February 15, 1993

The following highlights will assist your coverage of Senator Evans' speech The Asia

Australia Institute and its place in the world in Sydney later today. [A copy of Senator Evans' speech (in full) is attached (check against delivery).]

*in the last 16 months, the economic, political and cultural dimensions of Australia's relationship with Asia have continued to broaden and deepen: eg. teaching of Indonesian language in all NT primary schools, direct Australia—Taiwan air links, ABC Television International, translation into Korean of Tree of Man etc (at p.3);

*Australia's increased international competitiveness (at p.4);

*APEC -- now recognised as the region's pre—eminent forum for economic cooperation (pp. 4/5);

*Opposition's nostalgic glances towards an imperial past (at p. 5).

CANBERRA. COMMONWEALTH

PARLIAMENTARY LIBRARY M ICAN

IHE ASIA AUSTRALIA _INSTITUTEAND ITS_ !LACE IN THE WORLD

Speech by Senator the Hon Gareth Evans QC on the occasion of the transfer of the Asia Australia Institute to new premises, Sydney, 15 February 1993.

Let me say at the outset that this is by no means my first exposure to "Cliffbrook". When I was Minister for Resources and Energy back in the mid 80s, I supported the proposal from the Atomic Energy Commission, as it then was, to sell

"Cliffbrook" - for about $4 million we thought - in order to fund a research project on the disposal of radioactive waste. I recall having a barney about this with Tom Uren who thought "Cliffbrook" would make a perfect old people's home and should be converted into one without delay. Although I eventually did get Cabinet approval to underwrite the research project

through the proceeds of the sale, in the end all our plans came to nought because the Sydney property market decided to collapse just as we were about to advertise the place.

I trust the AAI's tenancy of the building will be more propitious and that at the very least, Institute personnel won't treat it as a retirement home, let alone producing hazardous waste!

I don't expect this to be the case of course. I am well aware of the fine work that has emerged from the Institute in its old premises and am confident that this will continue. Since

its establishment by the University of New South Wales in 1990, the Institute has been at the forefront of the debate on how Australia should manage its relationship with Asia.

of all the activities undertaken by the Institute, probably the best known is its Asia lecture series. It is through this

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series that prominent Australians and Asians have been given a platform from which to air some of the most important issues facing our region. The list of speakers at these lectures is

starting to resemble a mini "Who's Who" of the region.  It includes two Australian Prime Ministers, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Leader of the Opposition, the Malaysian Minister for International Trade and Industry, the Secretary for Trade and Industry of the Philippines and both the Vice Premier and Foreign Minister of China: not a bad list after only two and a half years of the AII's existence. It is also an indication of the respect in which the Institute is held both here and in the region.

But just as important have been the Institute's other, less well known, activities.  By this I mean its seminars and briefing papers on Asia-Australia relations, its courses on

the skills required for professionals and managers to operate successfully in Asia and its networking with similar bodies throughout the region.

Through all these activities the Institute has encouraged a more creative and informed debate about regional issues, has moved us further along the path towards a network of contacts between key decision makers in the region, has provided

information to Australian decision-makers whose own education and careers have not embraced any Asian countries and has helped give some important Asian visitors a more accurate and up-to-date picture of the modern Australia.

When I last addressed the Institute my theme was "Managing Australia's Asian Future". I discussed the political, economic and cultural dimensions of our relationship with Asia and how we should manage that relationship. I am pleased to be able to say that in the 16 months since that address, Australia's relationship with Asia has continued to broaden and deepen. There have been many developments, big and small,

throughout Australia in the past 16 months which demonstrate this.

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For example, in that time the Northern Territory has introduced a scheme whereby all its primary school students study the Indonesian language. The National Gallery of Australia has staged an unprecedented, internationally acclaimed and deeply moving "Age of Angkor" exhibition from Cambodia. Direct air links have been established between Australia and Taiwan. Patrick White's Tree  Man was translated into Korean two months ago and already seems likely to go into its third print run. The Prime Minister will also launch the ABC's international TV service to South-East Asia this Wednesday. The list goes on.

Nowhere is the change in Australia's outlook more dramatic than in the Australian business community. Since I last spoke to the Institute, ASEAN has overtaken the EC as the second biggest destination for our exports and there has been a diversification of our exports to Asia as a whole. We have begun to diversify more and more into higher value-added exports of both manufactures and services. Of the ten largest markets for Australian manufactures exports, seven are now in Asia. The fastest growth in our exports of Elaborately Transformed Manufactures has been to Asia - over 700% in sales to North Asia and over 350% to South East Asia, in the past ten years. Overall, Asia is now well and truly our dominant trading partner.  Sixty per cent of our exports now go to North East and South East Asia. And the importance of Asia

for Australia can only become more pronounced as the economies of the region continue to grow: by the end of the decade, for example, South Korea is likely to have overtaken the United States as our second largest export market.

Australia is excellently placed to take advantage of the opportunities these markets present.  For the first time in our history, distance no longer handicaps our trade: as it has recently been put, 'The Tyranny of Distance becomes the Advantage of Proximity'. This factor is particularly

important for trade in services, an area of strong import

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growth for the region, which requires intensive people-to-people contact and intimate knowledge of individual markets.

The new complementarity which has emerged between Australia and South-East Asia - very different from the 'old' complementarity between ourselves and North East Asia, based on demand for our commodities - is based essentially on Australia's comparative advantage in human capital. As a higher income, more developed economy, Australian manufactured exports and services are based on relatively high levels of education and training which are, moreover, in the English language, the international language of business.  These are just the types of goods and services for which demand is growing most strongly in the region as incomes rise. And as I have already said, the Institute is doing its bit in this regard with the courses and seminars it runs on doing business in Asia.

The high growth phase of the Asian economies is occurring, moreover, just as the economic reforms the Government carried out over the past ten years  - the deregulation of our financial market, the cutting of tariffs, the reduction in

transport and communication costs and the near elimination of inflation - are beginning to show up in the form of increased international competitiveness.  This conjunction of high growth on our doorstep and improved productivity at home offers enormous hope, and enormous grounds for economic confidence and optimism, in Australia in the 1990s and beyond.

Our engagement with the region is also being strengthened by the APEC process which I hardly need remind you was an Australian initiative. APEC has made substantial progress in the past year - a secretariat has been established in Singapore, an Eminent Persons Group will meet shortly to begin developing what we hope will be a bold new vision for regional trade liberalisation and the APEC work program continues to produce practical results.  All in all, APEC is now without doubt regarded throughout the Asia Pacific region - including,

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albeit belatedly, by the Opposition? - as the pre-eminent forum for economic cooperation, and the measure of its success can be found in the long line of applicants for membership.

All of these developments reflect the fact that we have reached a watershed in our national self awareness, as the great mass of ordinary Australians now accept that our future is inextricably linked with the region to our north. Perhaps nothing symbolises this better than the fact that since Paul Keating became Prime Minister 15 months ago, all 6 countries that he has visited have been in the Asia Pacific region, and no one finds this even remotely strange, let alone short-sighted.

We have reached this point in our history for a variety of reasons - because of historical trends in other parts of the world, because of the changing composition of our population, because of new opportunities for travel and because of market

forces. We have also got there because of leadership: leadership by the Government, with the invaluable assistance of non -Government bodies, of which the Asia Australia Institute has been a leading example. I can assure everyone here today that the Government remains committed to this process.

Only members of the Opposition seem to want to cast a few last, nostalgic glances towards an imperial past which no longer has any resonance for the vast majority of Australians.

Or in some cases, the realities of Australia's Asia Pacific future -- long promoted by the Government - have suddenly burst upon the Opposition, and like most converts, they loudly proclaim their new beliefs and claim that they themselves have written new gospels according to 'Saint' John the latter-day economist. Well, they can have their road to Damascus, but

the rest of us know that 'Saint' Paul has already kicked against the pricks...*

For the benefit of Senator Bishop, who seems to think this kind of language is obscene and, in a biblical context, blasphemous as well, the reference is Acts 9:5.

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As I have to concede on occasions to my Asian interlocutors, democracy is not without its dangers for even the best-intentioned and best-performed of governments, though I certainly hope that the Fates - and the Australian electors -will allow us to continue - with all the experience we have now accumulated, and all the continuing total commitment we have - the process of engagement with Asia which is already progressing so well.

Whatever the fate of the present Government may be, the role of the Asia Australia Institute will remain very important indeed in that process of engagement, and I look forward to continuing to make whatever contribution I personally can to the work of the Institute.

I wish the Institute well in its future work and lots of inspiration in its new premises.

