Diplomacy is more than a passing phrase

Canada has taken a different view and as a result will not attend the CHOGM to be held in Sri Lanka in a few weeks time. It is unlikely that the Australian and Canadian High Commissions in Colombo are sending back different information on the situation in Sri Lanka. It might therefore be assumed that the Australian government is formulating foreign policy with respect to Sri Lanka solely on the basis of domestic political considerations.

Formulating foreign policy within such a framework has the potential to blow back in the governments face in light of the reality the Australian government is denying. This applies to PNG, where Julie Bishop, in opposition, managed to anger Prime Minister O’Neill over the question of aid and where plans and policies relating to asylum seekers held on Manus Island could sour relations as it could with Nauru for similar reasons.

With the Republican Tea Party faction pushing economic policy in the US to the right and with foreign policy in the US already to the right, Abbott and Bishop have challenges ahead which so far they have demonstrated little aptitude to handle. Abbott has indicated a preference for dealing with Japan over China and India is not on his radar. Backing Israel to the exclusion of Palestine is dumb policy in the context of the Middle East and Indonesia.

On present performance Coalition foreign policy would be better placed in the hands of Malcolm Turnbull and/or Andrew Robb.