With only weeks left until the elections, it is clear that the campaign will be fought solely on domestic issues such as economic management. It is not unusual; perhaps it is even appropriate. But one can't help feel poorer from another contest mostly devoid of international context. What passes for foreign policy thus far is 'stop the boats', 'you will not be settled in Australia' and 'aid for trade'.
It is reminiscent in its parochialism to the previous election. As visiting Harvard University academic Niall Ferguson then observed: 'One listens to the contenders for the Australian premiership discussing in the most oblique and mealy-mouthed way issues about immigration and infrastructure that really, you know, sound more like Strathclyde Regional Council than a debate for the leadership of a major power in Asia-Pacific.'
Dr Michael Fullilove, executive director of the Lowy Institute, recently took up this point. 'Australia is not a small, isolated country. We should not conduct our election campaigns as though we are.' He emphasises that we are the 13th largest economy with a seat at two of the most important international forums, the G20 and the UN Security Council. We are definitely at the big people's table, but we don't seem to have worked out what that means.
In this respect, there is something to be envied in United States election campaigns, where foreign policy is treated as a set of topics in its own right. At least one election debate is devoted to it. It is an area that is taken so seriously that it has left many gaffe-prone candidates, including Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney, in the dust.
While this does not mean that Americans are necessarily less insular than Australians, they are at least far more self-conscious of their place in the world. Questions regarding US relations with other countries such as Israel, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, China and Russia often serve as the litmus test for savvy, however 'savvy' is interpreted by voters. For Americans and even for us, the US presidency does not exist in a localised vacuum.
It is time we position the prime ministerial office in the same way — as being more than just housekeeping. This is not only about maturity but perspective. Hot-button topics such as economic management and asylum seekers are best seen from a wide lens, yet we seem determined to keep the rest of the world out of the frame.
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