Explainer | Explained: Australia's history, politics and ties with China

Australia has gone through 27 years without a recession, breaking the record for the longest period of uninterrupted growth. It recently overtook Switzerland as the world’s wealthiest country on the basis of median wealth per adult, according to the 2018 Global Wealth Report published by Credit Suisse. The country’s first inhabitants, the Aboriginals, migrated from Asia between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago. They now represent 2.8 per cent of Australia’s population. Captain James Cook is credited with the discovery of Australia, claiming the land for Britain in 1770. In 1901, the six Australian colonies federated, forming a nation that remains a member of the Commonwealth. Australia’s revolving door of prime ministers Since 2007, Australia has had seven prime ministers – including two terms for Kevin Rudd. Elections aside, leadership challenges in the country’s two main political parties have resulted in a rapid turnover of prime ministers. After John Howard’s 11-year tenure from 1996 to 2007, Rudd, who is from the Labor Party, became prime minister but was replaced by his deputy Julia Gillard in June 2010. Almost three years to the day after this happened, the reverse occurred with Rudd supplanting Gillard to gain a second term as leader. Fears of China and WeChat as Australia heads to the polls Another election followed and Labor’s leadership chaos allowed the conservative Liberal-National coalition to return to government and Tony Abbott to become prime minister. He lasted two years. In September 2015, Abbott lost a leadership vote to Malcolm Turnbull, who remained in the post till August 2018, when he decided not to contest a second challenge to his leadership. Scott Morrison emerged as a compromise candidate and become Australia’s seventh prime minister in less than 11 years. In the 2019 federal election, Morrison defied expectations to retain power after his Labor challenger Bill Shorten conceded defeat. Morrison had entered the election as an underdog, but after a hard-fought campaign beat the odds to extend the Liberal-National coalition’s six-year rule. “I have always believed in miracles!” he told supporters in Sydney. “How good is Australia!”? Australia-China ties China is Australia’s largest trading partner in terms of both imports and exports. It is also Canberra’s biggest international student market. However, concerns about Chinese influence over Australian politics have led to Morrison taking a tough stand, souring bilateral relations between the two countries. Australian media reported that a classified probe into Chinese meddling in domestic politics commissioned by Turnbull in 2016 found the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had attempted to influence Australian policy, compromise political parties and gain access to all levels of government for a decade. Chinese billionaire political donor Huang Xiangmo was stripped of his Australian permanent residency and denied re-entry into the country after his links to the United Front Work Department, a CCP-linked body, came under scrutiny. In 2017, former Labor senator Sam Dastyari was forced to resign after it emerged that his personal legal bills were paid by Huang’s company. This prompted Canberra to pass sweeping reforms to its espionage and foreign interference laws amid diplomatic tensions with Beijing in June 2018. In another blow to Beijing-Canberra ties, Australia banned Chinese telecom giants Huawei and ZTE from bidding for 5G network contracts, citing national security reasons. US allegations that Huawei facilitates Chinese espionage have prompted other members of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance – Britain, Canada, and New Zealand – to evaluate the company’s participation in setting up their superfast, next-generation communication networks. Huawei has denied these allegations. In March, Australia announced the new National Foundation for Australia-China Relations, which supersedes the Australia-China Council, would receive A$44 million (US$31 million) over five years to “turbocharge” diplomatic relations between the two countries. Shorten has pledged better ties with China, saying on Chinese social media messaging app WeChat recently that he saw the country not as a “strategic threat” but as a “strategic opportunity”. Australia’s controversial asylum policy Both the ruling Liberal-National coalition and the Labor opposition support hardline asylum policies. For years, asylum seekers who attempt to reach Australia by boat are detained in offshore processing centres on Nauru and Manus islands, which are both part of Papua New Guinea. Human rights watchdogs have widely criticised the conditions and high incidence of mental health problems in the detention centres. The Australian government, however, has defended its offshore detention policy, arguing it deters human traffickers and prevents migrant deaths at sea. Since 2013, more than 3,000 asylum seekers have been sent to Australia’s offshore detention centres, according to statistics from the Refugee Council of Australia. Since 2014, 12 refugees and asylum seekers have died while in Australian immigration detention, many from self-harm. In 2016, the Australian government agreed to close the Manus Island detention centre after Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court ruled that the detention of asylum seekers was illegal and unconstitutional. Basic facts Population: 24.6 million Capital: Canberra Area: 7,682,300 sq km Official language: English Currency: Australian dollar GDP: US$1.32 trillion (according to 2017 World Bank figures) Key dates 1700 – Captain James Cook charts the Australian east coast and claims it as a British possession, naming it “New South Wales” 1901 – Australia becomes an independent nation by virtue of the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia on January 1 1914 – Australia enters the first world war; the Australian Imperial Force suffered 26,111 casualties, including 8,141 deaths at Gallipoli in 1915 2002 – Bali bombing kills 202 people, among them 88 are Australian nationals 2008 – The Australian government issues a formal apology for past wrongs committed against the country’s indigenous peoples 2013 – Australia agrees to pay Papua New Guinea A$400 (US$282) million deal in exchange for its Pacific neighbour to resettle asylum seekers 2016 – Australia agrees to shut down the Manus Island asylum seeker detention centre 2017 – Same-sex marriage is legalised in Australia