Rudd pledges activist role on eve of trip
INSULATING Australia against growing global economic turmoil and deep-seated fears in Canberra that the world is losing the political will to tackle climate change will dominate Kevin Rudd’s foreign travels over the next 18 days.
And in a swipe at the style of his predecessor, John Howard, Mr Rudd has promised to restore Australia as a middle-power diplomacy by revitalising its engagement with Europe and such bodies as the United Nations, all while staying allied closely to the US.
“The truth is that Australia’s voice has been too quiet for too long across the various councils of the world,” he said in a speech in Sydney last night before flying to the US.
This promise to become an activist middle power will extend to trying to keep nations committed to the climate change goals they set in Bali in December.
It was agreed the world would meet again in two years in Bonn, Germany, to set global emissions reduction targets for the post-2012 period when the Kyoto agreement expires. But there is alarm within the Government that momentum has stalled since the Bali meeting because of a lack of political will and global leadership. Mr Rudd will use meetings with World Bank officials, the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, to try to push things along.
Mr Rudd has been criticised from within some quarters for embarking on the trip to the US, Europe, Britain and China so early in his prime ministership.
However, last night he said that foreign policy could not be separated from the domestic agenda and the current global economic turmoil was the main reason for his trip.
In Washington, as well as meeting the US President, George Bush, and senior members of the Administration, Mr Rudd will hold separate talks with the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, the Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson, and the World Bank president, Robert Zoellick.
If circumstances permit, Mr Rudd is also hoping to meet some or all of the US presidential candidates, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain.
There will be similar top-level economic talks in the other countries he visits, with the aim of impressing upon them that Australia’s economy is standing strong.
“A primary reason for this visit is to communicate to the economic and business leadership of the US, the UK and China the continuing fundamental strength of the Australian economy in the face of international turbulence,” he said.
“Decisions taken in all these capitals will directly shape the global financial environment and impact on Australia’s economic future.
“It is the Government’s responsibility to influence international decision-makers as we prepare the Australian economy to the greatest extent possible for the turbulence ahead.”
Mr Rudd will stress that, unlike most other economies, Australia has an independent central bank, low exposure to the subprime mortgage market, a good regulatory regime and strong demand for its resources from India and China “well into the future”.
In Bucharest next week, he will attend the NATO summit. Australia is the largest non-NATO contributor of troops to Afghanistan and will be seeking assurances that there is a strategy in place for winning the war.
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Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 at 7:34 pm under