PM’s grasp of a changing world

At a dangerous time in parts of the world, Scott Morrison used his Lowy lecture on Thursday night to affirm that “Australia has never been in a better position to influence international events and to benefit from them”. It was a measured, thoughtful address, showing the Prime Minister’s keen appreciation of Australia’s place and potential in the world. That has been honed across the past 13 months, when circumstances and the national interest have seen him complete more overseas trips in his first year than any of his five most recent predecessors. We are living, as he said, in a world in transition, with a new economic and political order taking place at “an unusually delicate moment”, to quote former US Treasury secretary Hank Paulson. As Australia’s future is shaped by circumstances and relationships beyond our borders, the nation cannot be an indifferent bystander to events that affect our livelihoods, our safety and our sovereignty.

Fresh from his successful visit to Washington, Mr Morrison reiterated that “our alliance with the United States is our past, our present and our future”, the bedrock of our security. Nor is Australia leaving all of the heavy lifting to the US, pointing to the “greatest peacetime recapitalisation” of the Australian Defence Force, funded by an increase in defence spending to 2 per cent of gross domestic product. That expansion is timely and overdue. Mr Morrison also emphasised Australia’s role in building a secure, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific of “independent, sovereign and resilient states”. Australia’s security and that of our Pacific family, he said, were intertwined. Our Pacific partnerships were practical, supporting economic stability.

Mr Morrison took a constructive, mature approach towards China, which he described as “our comprehensive strategic partner” and the second largest economy, accounting for 16 per cent of world GDP last year. In negotiating rules of the future of the global economy, Australia reasonably would expect China’s obligations to reflect its greater power status. “This is a compliment, not a criticism. And that is what I mean when describing China as a newly developed economy.”

To the Coalition’s credit, in six years it has secured duty-free or preferential access for Australian exporters to an extra 1.7 billion consumers, with 70 per cent of two-way trade now covered by trade agreements. With the current account in surplus for the first time since 1975, Mr Morrison anticipated further progress, including a trade agreement with Britain post Brexit. Mr Morrison also looked ahead to Australia’s ASEAN partners and other regional nations concluding a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, embracing 16 economies with a combined population of 3.5 billion. That agreement, he said, was especially important as it would draw India more substantially into the Indo-Pacific economy. India, he said, was a natural partner for Australia, with durable institutions and shared values.

As a politician whose “instincts and passions have always been domestic”, Mr Morrison is showing the value of government furthering Australians’ interests by looking outwards. Next January he will cement India in the top tier of Australia’s partnerships on a visit there with a business delegation. Mr Morrison also will travel to Japan early next year and plans to “put more effort” into Australia’s relationship with South Korea.

In a landmark speech, Mr Morrison showed vision and optimism, sharing the outlook of Sir Frank Lowy, whose “eyes have always remained defiantly bright with hope for the future”. Sir Frank, whose childhood was darkened by the Holocaust and whose father suffered to death in Birkenau because he would not be parted from his tallit (prayer shawl) and tefillin (small leather boxes containing parchment with verses from the Torah), had nothing but “built an empire that reached far beyond our shores”. Sir Frank was a reminder, as Mr Morrison said, that “our most valuable inheritance is always found within, in our character”.