There’s no doubt that French President Nicolas Sarkozy needs the votes of the far right in the second round run off of the French elections this weekend.
In the first round, right wing Front National…
Gillard maintained the status quo in Seoul.
AAP/Office of the Prime Minister
Prime minister, Julia Gillard joined 52 other world leaders at the second round of the Nuclear Security Summit in South Korea.
In her address to the summit, she joined other participating states in advocating…
Running an economy on oil is a risky business.
behang/Flickr
When you’re complaining about the price at the bowser next time, consider this. Australia’s oil imports amount to a little over 1% of GDP. In Fiji, the oil import bill was around 14% in 2010. It’s probably…
Aung San Suu Kyi's release from house arrest in November last year was a very significant step towards reform in Burma.
EPA/Mizzima News
Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is cautious, but says we are seeing the first signs of change in Burma, but the government there still needs to do more for its people. He is correct in saying “It is in our…
The less Australia reaches outwards, the less it will reap the rewards.
Sean MacEntee
Have you used your mobile phone, taken medicine or banked online today? As consumers, we benefit directly from the increasing pace of innovation.
But ten years into the Asian century, the source of innovation…
Indonesian police chief Timur Pradopo has dismissed payments from Freeport McMoran as "pocket money".
AFP/Bay Ismoyo
President Barack Obama is being urged to raise human rights abuses with the Indonesian President during his visit to Bali. Indonesia is a key ally of the US, now America’s security focus has shifted to…
A warm welcome for the President from Julia Gillard and the Governor General, but Australia should take care not to give too much away to the Americans. AAP/Stuart McEvoy
It’s third time lucky for President Obama. He’s cancelled his trip to Australia twice before, but now he has finally made it to Canberra. Julia Gillard has struck up a friendship with the US President…
China's government has made a massive investment in research, and student funding. Australia can learn a lot.
AFP/Information Services Department
In recent weeks two commentary strands have intertwined and are extremely important to Australia’s future, and with special resonance for the higher education sector.
Beginning with the announcement of…
Australia would do better to shed light on Indian affairs. Media coverage of the country is dominated by corruption scandals, terrorism or cultural festivals like Diwali.
EPA/Sanjeev Gupta
CHOGM As Julia Gillard chairs the Commonwealth Heads of Government in Perth, she would do well to pay special attention to her Indian colleague at the table, Vice-President Hamid Ansari. Brian Stoddart…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Chinese Premier Hu Jintao.
AAP
AUSTRALIA IN ASIA: In the fifth part of our series, Kathe Kirby of the University of Melbourne examines whether our education system is preparing children for the future.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard…
The Australian Ambassador is doing everything he can for the Australian boy detained in Bali, but Indonesian children aren't so lucky.
AFP/Sonny Tumbelaka
This week the nation has been in an uproar over the arrest of a 14 year old Australian boy in Indonesia, accused of buying drugs.
TV news reports discussed the terrible conditions of the prison, where…
Julia Gillard has to strike a balance between forging meaningful links with Asian countries, and managing relationships with older allies.
EPA/Rungroj Yongrit
AUSTRALIA IN ASIA: In the third part of our series, former diplomat Alison Broinowski of the Australian National University examines our rocky relationship with our Asian neighbours.
“Australia hasn’t…
Julia Gillard could play a pivotal role in ensuring Asia's security, and improve Australia's economy in the process.
AFP/Minoru Iwasaki
AUSTRALIA IN ASIA: In the second of our series Nick Bisley of La Trobe University examines the responsibilities Australia must take on to ensure security in Asia.
Asia’s economic powerhouses are booming…
Australia will have to try something new, and align itself more closely to Asia.
AAP Image/Adam Gartrell
AUSTRALIA IN ASIA: In the first of The Conversation’s series on Australia’s relations with Asia, Professor Tony Milner of the Australian National University examines whether we are prepared for the “Asian…
What is Australia's responsibility for low-lying neighbours like Palau?
CasaDeQueso
The Pacific Island State of Palau recently announced it will seek an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), asking whether countries have a responsibility to avoid their emissions…
New Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda faces major challanges
AAP
Former Finance minister Yoshihiko Noda has become Japan’s sixth prime minister in five years after winning a leadership vote in the parliamentary wing of his Democratic Party of Japan.
Noda replaces Naoto…
Australian veterans of the Pacific theatre in WWII attend a VJ Day memorial
AAP
Sometimes an historian will challenge one of the key ideological myths of Australian capitalism.
Henry Reynolds does it in his work on the colonial treatment of Aborigines, a treatment some go so far…
Pacific nations participated enthusiastically in the Shanghai Expo last year.
Flickr/thoth188
China’s relations with its Pacific neighbours are nothing if not complex. Its trade in the region quadrupled between 1999 and 2006. And if it delivers all of the promised resources, it will become second…
Designer shopping in China can lead to an experience like no other.
Flickr/Gadgetdan
China’s phenomenal economic growth during the last three decades has significantly altered its pattern of social stratification. One of the most equal countries in the world has become one of the most…
India will need to look after its own slum areas, now Australia is starting to withdraw aid.
Flickr/lecercle
The Australian aid program is a multi-million dollar enterprise. It has doubled in size over the past five years to $4,836 million in the current budget, and it’s still growing.
A comprehensive look at…
The hospitality of the Pacific people is well-known, but they need help to lift themselves out of poverty.
AAP/Torsten Blackwood
It’s easy for the tourists thrilled by the beauty of the Pacific Islands to miss the flourishing squatter settlements just away from their resorts and buzzing nightlife. Many of the friendly islanders…
The right of citizens to remain in their homeland must be protected.
AAP
The Pacific Islands are powerful icons in the politics of climate change.
Headlines such as “Sinking islands, vanishing worlds”, “Climate refugees in a drowning Pacific”, “Rising seas … washed an inhabited…
