Relationship between Australia and Asia

This article explores the historical background, contemporary situation, and personal reflections on the relationship between Australia and Asia. It discusses the trade ties, strategic partnerships, and efforts to strengthen economic and cultural connections. The article also highlights the challenges faced in maintaining the relationship.

Relationship between Australia and Asia
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Historical background
It is notable that Australia has established ties with Asia and has even joined G-20 force
as a strong trading partner. At some point between 1957-1972, Australia was known to be one of
the countries endowed with many natural resources but lacked the capability to exploit them for
economic development (Pietsch & Aarons 2012, pp. 36). The relationship between Australia and
Asia for the past half-century has been focused on trade with the aim of strengthening its
economic agreements. The relationship has made Australia a strong trading partner with Asia in
countries like Japan. The trading relationship started immediately after the Second World War
when Australia signed a trading agreement with Japan. The trading ties have been growing with
time as it has advanced to bipartisan investment in iron ore and natural gas. By the year 1966,
Japan and Australia had established very strong trading ties and Japan had become one of the
economic giant (White 2011, pp. 86). Currently, Australia is in engagement with Asia to bolster
its trading power which seems to be declining due to China’s economic power. It is believed that
the current Australian wave would be different considering new trading blocs such as ASEAN
which brings onboard new market frontiers. It is evident that Australian largest companies have
already established in Asia but its small and medium organizations would be required to
establish strong and competitive operations to withstand strong business wave (He 2011, pp.
271). On the same note, it is expected that the service industry from Australia would play an
important role in establishing more trading relations with Asia in the current trading wave.
Besides the growth in trading relations on different economic sectors, agriculture and mining
industry remains to be the most promising export to Asian countries. This has placed Australian
in a good position to respond to Asian food demands by increasing its exports with minimal
regulations. The relationship between these two entities has not been without challenges due to

changes in the economic realignment and trading blocs (Mascitelli & O'Mahony 2014, pp. 540).
However, Australian proximity to Asian has been attributed to the continued strong relationship
which makes Australia respond to partner’s requests and needs on time.
Contemporary situation
There are several instances which can be considered to bring Australia and Asia together.
First, there was an official strategic partnership with Asia in 2014 which was aimed to reduce
Australia overreliance on countries like the United States of America and China. The Australian
inclination on Asian countries was made formal in the year 2017 when is presented in Australian
policy white paper. The policy outlined Australia commitment to maintaining its trading ties with
South East Asian countries. Besides, it has been suggested that Australia should formally join
ASEAN to make it politically and economically stronger (Rizvi 2017, pp. 110). Australia has
shown some commitment to join the group but all member states should have a unanimous
agreement. To strengthen trading partnership with Asia, Australia has invested more than $30
million in creating a knowledge bank of sustainable urban planning ideas which would be shared
by all ASEAN member states. The relationship has advanced in such a way that, even non-
federal Australian organizations are heavily investing in Asia to create reliable access to the
markets. Similarly, Australia and Asia have established knowledge transfer relationship by
signing program transfers known as cross-curriculum. It is believed that by the time Australian
student get out of school, all students are expected to have gained Asia literacy (Wilson 2015,
pp. 346). This would be achieved through the basic understanding of the skills and knowledge
required in the Asian market. Student understanding should be quite diverse to cover other areas
of the economy such as Asian geography, different languages spoken in Asia, history and
literature context involved (Gauci & Curwood 2017, pp. 163). The cross-curriculum is only

meant to make sure Australian citizens are privy of Asian cultural and economic practices which
would make it possible to fit in the Asian society. This is clear evidence that both countries are
trying to realign their academic programs to fit the market requirements for both Australia and
Asia (Wearring, Wilson & Arambewela 2015, pp. 74-75). The subjected contemporary issues
between the two trading partners are meant to establish mutual benefits in all sectors of the
economy.
Personal reflection
Australia has been establishing a trading relationship with Asian countries with the aim
of looking for its products market. The relationship between Australia and its Asian counterparts
has been structured in such a way that both partners can benefit. I concur with scholars that
Australia development can be advanced greatly by establishing entities that create a common
goal between Australia and Asia. By establishing a cross-curriculum program between the two
entities, I would agree it has been done strategically to facilitate students from Australia and Asia
gain necessary skills from the market. Since Australia has a higher workforce with limited job
creation, it has embarked on the cross-curriculum transfer agreement to make it possible for its
workforce to work from Asia without cultural challenges. Cross-curriculum has been supported
by the establishment of Australian Universities and Colleges across Asian countries and offering
scholarships to students from some of the Asian countries. It has also been made possible for
Asian countries students to study from Australia without many challenges. I believe such
incentives to Asian countries by Australia government have made it possible to sign trade
agreement successfully. On the same note, I would agree that Australian proximity to Asian has
been one of the competitive factor that makes it reliable and convenient trading partner. As a
trading partner, neighbouring countries are commonly known to be in a good position to interact

smoothly. As a result, Australia being a close partner is able to respond to Asian need
immediately. It is evident Australia economic state has greatly improved and I can support the
development of the Asian countries. Though Australia has gone through different economic
waves, it has remained a key player in the development affairs of its Asian trading partners.
Finally, I would agree with other scholars' suggestions that Australian should not hesitate to join
ASEAN bloc which is meant to contribute positively in terms of the political and economic
realignment of the member states.
Bibliography
Gauci, R. and Curwood, J.S., 2017. Teaching Asia: English pedagogy and Asia literacy within
the Australian curriculum. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, The, 40(3), p.163.
He, B., 2011. The awkwardness of Australian engagement with Asia: The dilemmas of the
Australian idea of regionalism. Japanese Journal of Political Science, 12(2), pp.267-285.
Mascitelli, B. and O'Mahony, G., 2014. Australia in the Asian century-a critique of the white
paper. Australasian Journal of Regional Studies, The, 20(3), p.540.
Pietsch, J. and Aarons, H., 2012. Australian engagement with Asia: Towards closer political,
economic and cultural ties. Australia: Identity, fear and governance in the 21st century, pp.33-
46.
Rizvi, F., 2017. Asian Diaspora Advantage in the changing Australian economy. In Journal and
Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 150(464), pp. 110.
Wearring, A., Le, H., Wilson, R. and Arambewela, R., 2015. The international student's
experience: An exploratory study of students from Vietnam. International Education Journal:
Comparative Perspectives, 14(1), pp.71-89.
White, H., 2011. Powershift: rethinking Australia's place in the Asian century. Australian
Journal of International Affairs, 65(1), pp.81-93.
Wilson, J.D., 2015. Mega-regional trade deals in the Asia-Pacific: Choosing between the TPP
and RCEP. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 45(2), pp.345-353.