Sir Henry Wotton, 16th century ambassador, is famously supposed to have said that 'an ambassador is an honest gentleman sent to lie abroad for the good of his country'. A new book by politics professor and former army intelligence officer, Clinton Fernandes, Island off the Coast of Asia: Instruments of Statecraft in Australian Foreign Policy, argues that Australia tends to define this 'good' primarily in terms of the perceived economic interests of Australia's elites, rather than the security interests of its people.
This has been manifested in Australia sacrificing its own diplomatic interests on the altar of first British and then US priorities, especially in the areas of security and trade. He cites the 2003 Iraq war as one example where the desire for US approval and trade trumped the actual interests of Australians in being free from terror.
Fernandes' main interest is in examining how Australia's foreign loyalties have affected relations with up and coming powers in East Asia (especially where the US's economic interests clash with those of Australia in relation to China). His book, however, seems equally relevant to viewing other, equally fraught, areas.
Take Saturday's terror attack in Iran. Australia's embassy in Iran has issued an unequivocal condemnation of the attack on a parade in Ahvaz marking the anniversary of the start of the Iran-Iraq War. The attack killed ten soldiers and up to 20 civilians (including a four year old).
The embassy's condemnation contrasts markedly with other reported government statements. On 27 July, 'senior government figures' were quoted by the ABC as saying that Australia would 'likely play a role in identifying targets in Iran' for US attacks which were said to be forthcoming 'perhaps within the next month' — notwithstanding its certified compliance with the UN approved nuclear deal.
While it is not clear what, if any, role Australia had in this drama or even whether the Ahvaz attack was indeed a realisation of the threat alleged in the ABC article, it is hardly paranoid to think that more lay behind the attack than a group representing the (genuinely persecuted) Arabs of South-West Iran. The US and their Gulf allies have been rattling sabres even in the wake of the shooting.
An advisor to the government of the United Arab Emirates issued something very close to a claim of responsibility, while US President Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, boasted at a rally the same day of starving the Iranian people