Immersing Australia in Asia

BY NoEl G dE SoUZA

The new white paper entitled Australia in The Asian Century released by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, has been welcomed by both Government and Opposition circles. This is the one area where there is a lot of bipartisan overlap. It is a blueprint for Australia’s Asian future.

Julia Gillard laid down the rationale for the work by stating that “our region will be the world’s largest producer of goods and services and the largest consumer of them.” And she further elaborated this by saying that “our nation has benefitted from Asia’s appetite for raw materials and energy. The challenge we must now address is how Australia can benefit from what Asia will need next.”

Australian schools is a tribute to India. India has seventeen constitutionallyrecognised national languages; the White Paper has chosen Hindi which is the most prominent of these. Like most other languages, there is an official Hindi, which prevails in the Hindi-speaking states in India, and a popular Hindi which is the staple of the immensely successful Bollywood movies. Spoken Hindi is akin to the Urdu spoken in Pakistan and in Bangladesh.

That Hindi has been chosen as one of four Asian languages to be encouraged in Australian schools is a tribute to India

Popular Hindi is replete with words from Persian, Turkish and Arabic; it also contains English words. It is also understood well in Nepal. It is practically the lingua franca of much of the subcontinent. It is also spoken by a sizeable percentage of the inhabitants of Fiji, Mauritius and the three Guyanas. School children can be taught new languages, along with new scripts at an early age. However, teaching popular spoken Hindi can be effective if taught in the Roman script.

There are no detailed foci in the White Paper for individual countries. However, some countries are prominently mentioned, India being one of them. That brings a sense of relief, because in many forums which I attended, there was invariably a comment such as, “I do not consider India as being in Asia.” Things became a bit more defined but not in India’s favour, when the term ‘Asia-Pacific’ was introduced. Fortunately, that term does not figure much in this document.

When courses on Asia were introduced for teacher trainees, many students wanted to know why there were courses on Asia at all. “Why are we learning about Asia when we should be learning about Australia?” was a common comment. Courses on Australia were introduced when employers found students fresh from HSC to have little knowledge about Australia.

As the Asian Century document states: “Australia’s agriculture and food sector is extraordinarily well-placed to build on its strengths proximity to markets in Asia, complementarity in production systems, a robust biosecurity system, a record of innovation and reputation for producing high-quality and safe food products, and a skilled workforce.” The economies of Asia were once traditionally largely agricultural. There has been a shift though, to manufacturing whilst simultaneously agriculture has become modernised.

Australia has increased its export of sophisticated products such as wines, which are in demand from a modern Asian clientele

Noting that “only a small proportion of Year 12 students study anything about Asia in the subjects of history, literature, geography, economics, politics and the arts under existing State-based curriculums” and that “the building blocks to develop knowledge of the history, cultures, societies and languages of nations in Asia are laid at school”, the Asian Century document emphasises that the focus on Asian literacy will be at the school level.

To satisfy the aims of the White Paper, school level courses in most subjects can have an integrated model. For example, a single course can look at the climate of both Australia and Asia. Likewise with regards to history and economics.

That Hindi has been chosen as one of four Asian languages to be encouraged in

Despite the high exchange rate of the Australian dollar, Australia is still well placed to benefit from the region’s agricultural needs. A good example of the growing needs of India is sugar. Though being the world’s largest producer of sugar as well as being the largest consumer of that commodity, India needs more sugar to fulfil its needs which Australia, being the world’s largest exporter of sugar can fulfil.

Australian supermarkets stock mangoes over a large part of the year. Mango production from the Northern Territory extends the local mango season. Mangoes also come from several countries in Asia, including Vietnam.

Australia once exported large quantities of basic agricultural material, such as wheat, to Asia. Because of the high dollar, Australian agriculture and manufacturing industries find it difficult to cope with foreign competition. In response, Australia has increased its export of sophisticated products such as wines, which are in demand from a modern Asian clientele.

Indian-Australian relations have moved to a more sophisticated level. India is now being considered on par with China.