A natural power: Challenges for Australia’s resources diplomacy in Asia

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) today released a new report, A natural power: Challenges for Australia’s resources diplomacy in Asia.

This report, authored by Richard Leaver and Carl Ungerer argues that Australia’s role as a stable, low-cost supplier of key commodities to the emerging great powers of Asia, China and India, gives Canberra a greater diplomatic bargaining tool than previous governments have been willing to acknowledge.

The report makes four key recommendations:

• Australia should reassess the idea that commodity marketing is a purely commercial issue that should be removed from state intervention

• Australia should immediately raise the current bilateral discussions with China on a free trade agreement into a ‘strategic economic dialogue’ that would aim to produce acceptable principles for foreign direct investment as well as greater stability in iron ore trade

• Australia should then seek to broaden that bilateral dialogue into a global campaign directed against speculation in commodity markets

• Australia should move to deepen our strategic partnership with India through the direct sale of uranium.