The topic of political and economic arguments for Australia’s engagement with Asia has been discussed keenly in media over extensive period of time. However, no matter who you ask, or what article you read, it is a fact that Australia’s relations with South East Asia and Asia in general went through a significant change over past 20 years. This relationship started with a complicated and cautious view of Asia as a risk. Risk in both direct aggression and military sense, as well as a hazard to Australia’s way of life. Later on, the relationship evolved to viewing Australia as an integral part of Asian society, as a country that should position itself as a strong, reliable and vital partner in region that is able to benefit from growth in the area and, in turn, benefit the region itself.

There are numerous political and economic arguments for Australia’s engagement with Asia, Australia economy is connected to economies of other countries in the world and prosperity of Australia nation depends on where Australia will position itself in future. Politics in this age a highly influenced by economic factors and are usually mended and driven by economics, hence I will start with the later.

As Asia’s economy continues to expand rapidly and Asia is poised to become the powerhouse of the next century as suggested by Dr Emerson (2012), Australia will only find itself more interconnected with these economies, building its own wealth as they grow. Already, DFAT (2013) indicates Australia top 4 export partners are in Asia with China, Japan, South Korea and India accounting for 63% of Australia’s exports in FY2013. The proximity of Australia to Asia and specifics of resources we have will see the economy further integrate with that of the region. As influence of Asia grows so the political motivations to associate Australia as integral part of Asia, early examples include Prime Minister Howard’s policy to position Australia as a key player in the region.

The absolute need to position Australia as a key, central and crucial regional player forced the government to work on policies that emphasise regionalism at times, or fostering bilateral agreements with others according to Capling (2008). Moreover rising dependence of Australian prosperity on growth and trade with Asian economies further stressed the need in forward looking strategy, which culminated in numerous governmental studies, with publication of the “Australia in the Asian century” white paper. The enormous growth in Asian economies has already provided Australia with extraordinary benefits, most notably in mining and energy sectors, and while growth in China seems to be slowing there is no reason why other economies, India for example, are not able to fill any void left by Australia’s main trade partner.

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There is absolutely no reason why Australia cannot continue monetising on the growth its neighbours are experiencing. And this incredible growth is only expected to continue, with multiple sources and studies, including The Standard (2012), indicating that by 2030 Asia will become the economic centre of the world. It is expected that closer to 2030 Asia’s GDP will exceed GDP of the United States and Europe combined. As a result of that middle-class consumers population in Asia is expected to be the largest in the world.

Even as some economies in Asia start to moderate in growth, as their middle class grows so will the demand of this wealthier population for higher end goods and services. A diverse range of products can be exported, starting from education to health, organic food to wine. According to the Commonwealth (2012) the global centre for economic and wealth gravity will only continue shifting to the region.

The signs are already apparent, Australian educational sector has been a net exporter to Asia, turning this country into Asia’s classroom according to Griggs (1993). Full Fee paying students are contributing over A$1.1 billion a year into Australian educational sector. As the wealth of these economies grows, we can only expect growth in demand for high quality, unbiased western education. This is reinforcing desired position of Australia being a certain bridge between the East and West, positioned in the East with a robust Western system of education, culture, economy and customs. In addition to tertiary education numerous student arrive to Australia to study English or attain vocational and school qualifications. Australia has been successful so far in its approach to internationalise education (Beazley 1992). Students from overseas are becoming not only an important source of knowledge and cultural exchange, they are also important in funding Australia’s university system. The growing importance of international students, and their dollars, has resulted in a significant shift in Australian politics. As Asian wealth grows international competition for students grows as well, these resulted in need to streamline and relax requirements for entry into the country. There is a noticeable change in requirements to obtain international student visa to travel and study in Australia, a large number of requirements have been streamlined, the procedures simplified and processing times improved significantly.