Australia/US alliance

1. Stephen Smith is the defence minister in the Australian government and is in charge with matters relating to Australias defence and armed forces
2. The Brookings institute is an American organisation made to find ways to strengthen American democracy, foster economic and social welfare and secure a more open, safe, prosperous and cooperative international system
3. Austrlia's security arrangements rely heavily on the US for the nations defence against any invasion or large war. Strategicaly the US needs Australia to back it in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places in the Middle East as well as giving it a base of operations in South East Asia.
4. Australia is in the perfect spot for America to set up navy stop off points bridging the gap between the Pacific and the Indian oceans. It is also a good spot to keep an eye on developing powers like China, India and Indonesia in a stable environment
5. In the past 50 years Australia has supported this alliance by fighting in the Korean war, the Vietnam war, the first and second Gulf wars as well as giving them access to various test ranges and bases.
6. There are 9000 companies who work within the US and have an average wage of $63490
7. He uses this to highlight the point that Australia helps the US as much as the US helps Australia economically
8. America is the superpower supporting Australias interests in the region and is a large deterant to anti-Australian regimes in the region
9. Australia is trying to foster closer ties with the US which will help with Australias global goals
10. As Australia is an important Western democracy in the region its ties with the worlds most powerful democracy and largest economy will help us foster relationships with other countries and protect us from attack

1. The US wants to build military bases in Northern Auustralia and have more access to Australias military ranges. This will help build the relationship between Australia and the US as well as working as a deterant to other nations
2. The agreement will help with training exercises between our forces and will help battlefield coordination in places like Afganistahn and Iraq

Immigration

1. Australia and Malaysia have signed a deal in which 800 asylum seekers in Australia will be sent to Malaysia in return for 4000 UN approved refugees
2. They will have access to education, work and will not be caned
3. Illegal immigrants in Malaysia are normally not allowed to work and can be jailed
4. They may not be sent but it is still possible and the government aren't giving any promises
5. The Asylum seekers who have arrived after 7th May 2011 are to be processed in Australia
6. Refugees advocates are afraid the asylum seekers may not be given full human rights in Malaysia as they have not signed the UN resolutions and may be caned
7. It is designed to slow down the amount of boats arriving in Australia as they may be sent to Malaysia instead
8. The deal may not work if people decide that they may as well go for it and see what they get or they might see the 500+ asylum seekers who are staying and think they can make it

Diplomatic relations

1. Kevin Rudd is the Foriegn Minister and is responsible for Australias diplomatic relations with other countries
2. Kevin Rudd is concerned that North Korea'a long range nuclear missile campaign is a threat to Australia and that North Korea needs to re-engage with reality
3. He expressed his concerns in the ASEAN regional forum where countries from South East Asia come to discuss relations
4. Recent events like North Korea torpedoing a South Korean warship, shelling a South Korean island and continuing with a nuclear program prohibited by the UN security council
5. The threat of North Australia being in range of North Koreas long range nuclear missiles is a direct threat says Kevin Rudd
6. By doing this he is trying to put pressure on North Korea to calm down and aligning our selves with our allies the USA and South Korea over the matter. It is also promoting Australia as a more dominant country in the region by taking more of a leadership role
7. By blaming North Korea for the stability problems in the region he puts us on the side of our Allies the USA, South Korea and Japan over the matter, and tells them whose side were on if further acion is needed.

Australian Aid

Article summary

• by 2015 we will be spending $8 billion a year on aid
• spending money on aid may not be a good thing as world poverty is decreasing rapidly
• the developing world now has some of the worlds largest economies
• giving money to Indonesia for schools isn't needed as their GDP is larger than ours and they can afford it
• instead of being happy about Indonesia no longer needing our aid we choose to ignore it

The writer makes many valid points about Australias aid program, though world poverty is decreasing the aid we give to other countries is increasing. There are some points though that he misses, when he talks about Indonesia's GDP he must remeber that this doesn't reflect the amount of money put on schools and that even if Indonesia didn't spend money on schools it doesn't nessesarily mean they're spending on less important things. Also when he talks about PNG and says even though we've been giving money to PNG for 40 years they are still no closer to economic sustainibility. The aid we give to PNG isn't meant t make PNGs economy stable but to help the nation's population which a lot of live in small self sustaining villages not used to making money for themselves. I agree that giving too much aid without enough thought doesn't neccessarily cure poverty but aid is still an important thing to do to sustain people not as fortunate as ourselves.

3. Giving more aid to countries like Indonesia and India help us maintain close relations with these countries especially as they are becoming major players on the world stage. Indonesia especially as they (along with China) are our biigest rivals in the region.
Other countries like PNG and islands in the pacific lack a means for many of the population to making a sustainible income. Many other rich nations look after poorer ones in their regions and it could damage our relations with them if we didn't do the same. PNG was part of Australia until 1975 and if we don't look after them then many would see it as a breach of trust and wouldn't trust us later on. Islands in the pacific may aline themselves with Indonesia and may be more hostile to Australian buisness interests.
Giving more aid will help with all these things with only a minor cost to an already rich nation.