Opinion | Why Australia’s foreign relations bill should not pass parliament
- The proposed law assumes speaking with ‘one voice’ in foreign policy is a positive thing, when the modern idea of diplomacy emphasises broad engagement
- If the bill is directed at China, the irony is that fighting the Chinese Community Party seems to bring out the Australian government’s authoritarian tendencies
The government argues the bill is needed to “ensure a consistent and strategic approach to Australia’s international engagement”. Morrison has said Australia must “speak with one voice”.
But the bill should not pass parliament. Not only has the government failed to identify any specific problem with the status quo, the bill rests on a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of modern diplomacy.
For decades, Australia has had international agreements beyond the federal level. A huge number of actors interact internationally and affect how Australia is viewed. This cannot be exclusively managed from Canberra.
Over the past year, I have been researching new diplomatic actors – including sister cities, think tanks, sports diplomacy, international education, student mobility and corporate diplomacy.
There are 87 state trade and investment offices overseas and 500 sister cities, including more than 100 with China. Each university would have hundreds of international agreements, including for students to study abroad for a semester and for research collaboration.
