Australian Journal of International Affairs
ISSN: 1035-7718 (Print) 1465-332X (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/caji20
Australian foreign policy: the Greens’ approach
Senator Scott Ludlam
To cite this article: Senator Scott Ludlam (2016) Australian foreign policy: the Greens’ approach,
Australian Journal of International Affairs, 70:5, 467-470, DOI: 10.1080/10357718.2016.1199656
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10357718.2016.1199656
Published online: 19 Jul 2016.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 756
View related articles
View Crossmark data
Citing articles: 1 View citing articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at
https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=caji20
, AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, 2016
VOL. 70, NO. 5, 467–470
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10357718.2016.1199656
Australian foreign policy: the Greens’ approach
Senator Scott Ludlam†
Election campaigns are mostly argued on the basis of local issues that have direct impacts on
our community—so much so that the phrase ‘all politics is local’ is considered self-evident.
However, some things are missed in our three-year electoral cycle. The biggest gap in our
national conversation is the place of Australia in the world. Foreign policy takes a back
seat during an election, and if it presents at all, it is as caricature: foreign wars, the nameless
families who flee them, or massive defence procurements to meet undefined threats. The
rest of the planet is meant to form a one-dimensional backdrop to our domestic drama.
Whether we like it or not, this is all going to change. Australia remains an island in geo-
graphical name only. In terms of culture, economics, security and even the weather patterns
that threaten our homes or ruin our crops, our lives are bound up with people all over the
world who are also trying to build safe and prosperous lives for themselves and their
families.
The Greens understand that United Nations Security Council Reform, or torture in
West Papua, or the bitter, endless siege of Gaza are subjects unlikely to make it onto talk-
back radio or into the election coverage over the next few fevered weeks. Tragedies like the
Syrian civil war seem incomprehensible from this distance. They probably seemed incom-
prehensible to people watching from Calais or Lesbos as well, until suddenly there were
tent cities, and families piled up against barbed-wire fences, and children washed up on
beaches. Here in Australia, the razor wire contains those fleeing the disintegration of
Afghanistan or the unspeakable aftermath of the Sri Lankan civil war, but their stories
have much in common. How we respond to those seeking safe harbour from collapse
will ultimately bear directly on our own survival.
As hard as it seems, we must leave behind the comfortable illusion that we are somehow
separate or that we can remain insulated from the tides of nationalism and extremism
rising around the world, or from the shock waves from wars our own government
helped start, or from the collaborations of quiet convenience with authoritarian regimes
that serve some temporary commercial end dressed up as the national interest.
Right now, the world is engaged in multiple arms races, from the military build-up in
the South China Sea to the modernisation of nuclear-weapons arsenals still deployed by
the handful of countries defying the will of the overwhelming majority of the world’s
peoples. On a troubled, overcrowded and rapidly overheating planet, these are arms
races our human family can no longer afford, with money and expertise squandered on
another generation of weapons whose use cannot even be contemplated. The real
reason we have to bring foreign policy into the heart of our political conversation is
CONTACT Senator Scott Ludlam
†
Senator Scott Ludlam is Co-Deputy Leader and spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, Communications, Nuclear Issues, Housing
and Sustainable Cities of the Australian Greens and a Senator for Western Australia.
© 2016 Australian Institute of International Affairs
ISSN: 1035-7718 (Print) 1465-332X (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/caji20
Australian foreign policy: the Greens’ approach
Senator Scott Ludlam
To cite this article: Senator Scott Ludlam (2016) Australian foreign policy: the Greens’ approach,
Australian Journal of International Affairs, 70:5, 467-470, DOI: 10.1080/10357718.2016.1199656
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10357718.2016.1199656
Published online: 19 Jul 2016.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 756
View related articles
View Crossmark data
Citing articles: 1 View citing articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at
https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=caji20
, AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, 2016
VOL. 70, NO. 5, 467–470
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10357718.2016.1199656
Australian foreign policy: the Greens’ approach
Senator Scott Ludlam†
Election campaigns are mostly argued on the basis of local issues that have direct impacts on
our community—so much so that the phrase ‘all politics is local’ is considered self-evident.
However, some things are missed in our three-year electoral cycle. The biggest gap in our
national conversation is the place of Australia in the world. Foreign policy takes a back
seat during an election, and if it presents at all, it is as caricature: foreign wars, the nameless
families who flee them, or massive defence procurements to meet undefined threats. The
rest of the planet is meant to form a one-dimensional backdrop to our domestic drama.
Whether we like it or not, this is all going to change. Australia remains an island in geo-
graphical name only. In terms of culture, economics, security and even the weather patterns
that threaten our homes or ruin our crops, our lives are bound up with people all over the
world who are also trying to build safe and prosperous lives for themselves and their
families.
The Greens understand that United Nations Security Council Reform, or torture in
West Papua, or the bitter, endless siege of Gaza are subjects unlikely to make it onto talk-
back radio or into the election coverage over the next few fevered weeks. Tragedies like the
Syrian civil war seem incomprehensible from this distance. They probably seemed incom-
prehensible to people watching from Calais or Lesbos as well, until suddenly there were
tent cities, and families piled up against barbed-wire fences, and children washed up on
beaches. Here in Australia, the razor wire contains those fleeing the disintegration of
Afghanistan or the unspeakable aftermath of the Sri Lankan civil war, but their stories
have much in common. How we respond to those seeking safe harbour from collapse
will ultimately bear directly on our own survival.
As hard as it seems, we must leave behind the comfortable illusion that we are somehow
separate or that we can remain insulated from the tides of nationalism and extremism
rising around the world, or from the shock waves from wars our own government
helped start, or from the collaborations of quiet convenience with authoritarian regimes
that serve some temporary commercial end dressed up as the national interest.
Right now, the world is engaged in multiple arms races, from the military build-up in
the South China Sea to the modernisation of nuclear-weapons arsenals still deployed by
the handful of countries defying the will of the overwhelming majority of the world’s
peoples. On a troubled, overcrowded and rapidly overheating planet, these are arms
races our human family can no longer afford, with money and expertise squandered on
another generation of weapons whose use cannot even be contemplated. The real
reason we have to bring foreign policy into the heart of our political conversation is
CONTACT Senator Scott Ludlam
†
Senator Scott Ludlam is Co-Deputy Leader and spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, Communications, Nuclear Issues, Housing
and Sustainable Cities of the Australian Greens and a Senator for Western Australia.
© 2016 Australian Institute of International Affairs
