Australia’s assistant treasurer, Andrew Leigh, is moving quickly to shore-up economic relations with Asian neighbours in the wake of the AUKUS pact, spelling out strong links with the Republic of Korea as the focus increasingly falls on the geopolitics of sustainable energy.
As military concerns increasingly pivot towards the overt protection of sovereign industries, Leigh is arguing that a defence of free trade is needed to keep competition alive not just in the region, but globally as a force for the general uplift of prosperity away from hand-to-mouth models.
It’s a somewhat delicate mission given Australia has just pivoted away from Korean-designed Hanwha self-propelled howitzers in favour of tactical missiles the US has now made available.
Still, Korean brands aren’t exactly hard to spot locally: Samsung, Hyundai and LG just to name a few. Heavy manufacturing has been a Korean stock in trade for the past 50 years. Trains, cranes, boats and electronics — Korea does the lot.
Leigh’s big pitch is to the Asian Development Bank meeting in Incheon, Korea, which ordinarily would attract Jim Chalmers were it not for the rather necessary pressure testing of Labor’s first full Budget in a decade.
“It is vital that Australia is well represented at this important meeting for the Asia-Pacific region as we prepare to hand down the Budget next week, Leigh said.
“Economic conditions are challenging throughout the world, including here in our own neighbourhood. Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine, a worsening food crisis and extreme weather events all threaten the region’s post-COVID recovery.”
The thrust of Leigh’s speech is that “openness isn’t a panacea” but it’s a lot better than the alternatives like a basic lack of choice and diversity like a choice of one or two computer monitor brands, batteries, solar panels or anyone looking for a car bow $50,000.
“Openness on its own won’t solve climate change, social inequality or a lack of trust,” Leigh will say.
“But openness helps push societies in the right direction. As the United States’ founding father Benjamin Franklin famously put it, ‘No nation was ever ruined by trade’.”
The great unwritten in the many ADB missives is that the so-called West now wants an alternative to Chinese manufacturing of advanced electronics that Korea once used to supply in abundance.
“In 1972, South Korea was considered an electoral autocracy. Now it is a rated a liberal democracy, ranked among the top fifth of democracies worldwide,” Leigh said.
“The South Korean people faced hardships on their path to liberal democracy and economic success — occupation, wars, coups and geographical division.”
Leigh said a key factor in South Korea’s economic success “was its decision to follow the policy of outward-oriented economic development over import substitution in the early 1960s.”
“This is also true for the other seven Tiger and Tiger Cub economies. Export markets and global economic engagement have proven a reliable path to prosperity, Leigh said.
Better renew that golf membership.
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