Rudd’s out of place in foreign affairs

AUSTRALIA’S links internationally are all-important to the people’s standard of living.
China is crucial to Australia’s exports, regional agreements are important to the country’s competitive standing and security issues require deft management of the relationships the country have with the US and China, not to mention an emerging India.
When Rudd was prime minister, his handling of business interests, here and overseas, was subprime at best and there is no reason to think he has learned any lessons since then.
A major component of good foreign affairs is enhancing Australia’s economic links with other nations.
Rudd likes to think the foreign affairs portfolio is his opportunity to appear statesman-like on the world stage – just as he tried to do on his first trip in flood-ravaged Pakistan and when meeting the US secretary of state Hillary Clinton – or to press his claims for an overseas appointment.
While international diplomacy for the cameras is an inevitable part of any foreign minister’s role, it really is just the window dressing.
The more important task is forging overseas links which help Australian interests, and that usually involves paving the way for economic cooperation and trade links.
In a globalised world, international affairs is more than the preserve of theoreticians and ideologues who dream of a world government.
It is an anarchical environment where countries push self-interest with the veneer of rules governing the game.
It requires government representatives to massage those rules to national advantage, and to ensure Australia has not just a seat at the table when agreements are being drawn up, but the capacity to use such positioning.
Rudd just is not up to that task.
He is not a people person, never has been.
He does not understand economics, never really has.
He does not respect business, all the more so after his ill-fated mining tax contributed to his downfall.
That all adds up to Rudd being the wrong person in the wrong job at the wrong time for the nation.
When you consider the job Rudd did on foreign affairs when he was prime minister, it belies his strong interest and training in the field.
On his first Asian trip he did not even visit Japan, one of Australia’s major trading partners.
He violated the confidence of former US president George W. Bush by passing on the contents of their private conversation about the G20 simply to big-note himself.
China, the new saviour of Australia’s trading, was insulted by Rudd’s handling of its stance at the Copenhagen conference, purely because he had domestic political interests in mind.
India, a major growth economy, has been denied access to Australian uranium under his watch, damaging the relationship.
The only thing right about Rudd’s appointment as foreign minister is that it avoids his having a dummy spit and forcing a by-election in his Queensland electorate, which could bring down the minority Gillard government.
(Perhaps an added benefit is that he will be overseas a lot – plenty of his colleagues worry he will be a constant source of cabinet leaks).
Can anyone for a moment imagine Rudd putting his best foot forward on behalf of Australian businesses when traversing the globe?
This is the man who thought the global financial crisis was a turning point in history which would lead to a new epoch, one that would end the Hayekian approach to economic liberalism businesses rely on. – The Australian