Australia needs a complex economy ‘to ensure future growth and reduce vulnerability to foreign powers,' report says
The country's current development is resulting in 'rising political polarization, deepening inequality and heightening exposure to the deeper geopolitical tensions emerging between the U.S. and China,' according to an Australia BGI Report on the country's governance performance, released eight days before the May 3 election.
Based on the Berggruen Governance Index (BGI), the report was conducted by researchers from the Los Angeles-based Berggruen Institute think tank, the Luskin School of Public Affairs at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Hertie School, a German university.
According to the report, Australia has long benefited from favourable economic, geopolitical and demographic conditions, scoring highly on almost all governance measures in the BGI. But cracks are starting to show.
Eroding public trust in government is providing 'the backdrop for a hotly contested federal election,' during which the centre-left Labor Party is seeking to defend its majority against the centre-right Liberals.
While the Labor Party was previously projected to lose after a lacklustre post-pandemic economic recovery, it has recently risen in the polls — a reversal mirroring a similar trend in Canada, in which U.S. President Donald Trump has amplified negative associations with conservatism. Now, the Australian Labor Party is projected to win by a slim margin.
However, the stresses that have plagued the Labor Party 'will persist regardless of who prevails in May,' said the Australia BGI Report.
Despite ranking 9th globally in GDP per capita, Australia ranks only 99th worldwide in the Economic Complexity Index (ECI).
'Its reliance on extractive industries has reduced the incentive to diversify and weakened other parts of the economy,' said the report. Iron ore, coal, petroleum, gold, and other minerals comprise the five largest products sold abroad, accounting for more than half of all exports.
Instead of moving away from this reliance, 'Australia has in many ways doubled down.' And one of its biggest customers is China.
During Elections
Get campaign news, insight, analysis and commentary delivered to your inbox during Canada's 2025 election.
While Australia is increasingly economically dependent on China, it's also long relied on the U.S. security guarantee. In the context of a growing U.S.-China rivalry, this puts Australia in a precarious position.
Only with a more complex economy, the report said, 'can Australia ensure future growth and reduce vulnerability to foreign powers like China and the U.S.'
———————————————-
This text and the accompanying material (photos and graphics) are an offer from the Democracy News Alliance, a close co-operation between Agence France-Presse (AFP, France), Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA, Italy), The Canadian Press (CP, Canada), Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa, Germany) and PA Media (PA, UK). All recipients can use this material without the need for a separate subscription agreement with one or more of the participating agencies. This includes the recipient's right to publish the material in own products.
The DNA content is an independent journalistic service that operates separately from the other services of the participating agencies. It is produced by editorial units that are not involved in the production of the agencies' main news services. Nevertheless, the editorial standards of the agencies and their assurance of completely independent, impartial and unbiased reporting also apply here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
36 minutes ago
- CBC
'Lots of turbulence': Air Canada flyers describe cancellation, rebooking chaos amid strike
Social Sharing Travellers in Canada and abroad scrambled to secure flights on Sunday after striking Air Canada flight attendants defied a federal back-to-work order, abruptly halting the airline's plans to resume operations. Lila Rousseaux, who was scheduled to fly home with her family from Zurich to Toronto on Sunday, told CBC News she spent all of Saturday glued to her phone for news about whether her flight would be cancelled. At 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, she was informed it was. "I spent one and a half hours on the phone with the agent ... lots of turbulence," Rousseaux said. "There was a lot of inflexibility in terms of what can be done," she said, adding that her suggestions to take a train to Amsterdam to catch a plane or fly directly to the U.S. before driving across the border were rebuffed by the agent. WATCH | Lila Rousseaux describes 'turbulence' of rebooking flight: Want Air Canada to reroute your flight? Prepare for 'turbulence,' says this passenger 3 hours ago Air Canada says it plans to restart flights Monday evening after striking flight attendants defied the federal government's back-to-work order Sunday morning. For Lila Rousseaux, a longtime Air Canada customer, the weekend work stoppage has resulted in inflexibility from the airline as she and her family try to reroute their way home. Rousseaux said she finally booked an "awful" overnight flight to Atlanta, lamenting that she is no longer being seated with children. "The distress in my family is very acute," she said. Ottawa moved to intervene in the labour dispute on Saturday, less than 12 hours after the strike and lockout took effect, with federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu saying she was invoking Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to ask the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to send the two sides to binding arbitration and to order the airline and its flight attendants back to work in the meantime. The Montreal-based airline subsequently announced early Sunday that it planned to resume flights in the evening, but just hours later, the union representing more than 10,000 flight attendants said in a statement that members would remain on strike — scuttling those plans and prompting Air Canada to cancel some 240 flights. WATCH | Hundreds of flight attendants picket at Vancouver airport: Hundreds of Air Canada flight attendants picket in Vancouver 18 hours ago Hundreds of Air Canada flight attendants demonstrated outside Vancouver International Airport on Saturday. The strike prompted a warning for passengers to avoid the airport unless they have confirmed a booking on a different airline. Shaurya Kshatri reports. At Vancouver International Airport, passengers stood in long lines to get the latest updates on their delayed and cancelled flights, as workers outside demonstrated with signs reading, "Unpaid work won't fly." Chi Ehis told The Canadian Press she is having to pay an extra $2,000 to meet her family in Florida for a vacation after her flight was cancelled Sunday morning. Instead of flying straight from Vancouver, she is now taking a bus to Seattle before catching another, pricier flight. "I can't scream. I have to just figure out what to do," Ehis said, adding her plane ticket cost $1,500. WATCH | Tips for Air Canada passengers from travel influencer Moxey Munch: CBC's Mark Carcasole speaks with Moxey Munch on tips for Air Canada customers 3 hours ago CBC's Mark Carcasole speaks with Moxey Munch on tips for Air Canada customers In Toronto, Khalid Muhammadi told CBC News he flew in from Dubai en route to Edmonton but is now stuck at Pearson International Airport. "WestJet is asking eight grand; what am I supposed to do?" he said. Muhammadi voiced frustrations with the federal government for not resolving the labour dispute. "You knew a strike was coming ... do your job." Air Canada has said passengers whose flights are cancelled will be offered a full refund or the opportunity to change their travel plans without a fee. However, it said that under Canada's airline passenger protection regulations, customers are not eligible for compensation for expenses incurred during travel delays deemed outside the airline's control. "Customers in Canada are not eligible for compensation for delayed or cancelled flights, meals, hotels or other incidental expenses for situations outside the carrier's control, such as a labour disruption," the airline said.
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
Truth will likely be the last casualty of war in Ukraine
Two men, a single maxim: It's the land, stupid. There, the similarities end. Donald Trump thinks of land in real estate terms. Vladimir Putin thinks of it in geopolitical terms. That's why, earlier this year, the U.S. President could conjure up a beachfront resort in Gaza, which he doesn't control. And that's why the Russian President is now demanding Donetsk and Luhansk, Ukrainian land he only partially controls. There aren't going to be Gaza Trump International resort beach bungalows any time soon, and probably never. But when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with Mr. Trump in Washington Monday, he likely will be pressed to relinquish his 'Never settle' territory pledge – a phrase, coincidentally, that is the motto of the Trump luxury properties. Mr. Zelensky will be joined by an extraordinary high-ranking delegation of European leaders, all deeply troubled about the direction the fast-moving developments are taking. Their swiftly organized visit is both a remarkable symbol of European unity and a clear rebuke to Mr. Trump, who earlier warned Mr. Putin of dire consequences if his assault against Ukraine isn't paused. This group – which includes German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Union's executive arm – is perhaps the largest such impromptu gathering in Washington since world leaders rushed to the 1963 funeral of John F. Kennedy. Though mollified slightly by indications Ukraine will receive security assurances in an eventual peace settlement, they clearly are alarmed that Mr. Trump has swiftly, perhaps impulsively, backed away from putting pressure on Russia – in essence providing the country that began the conflict with a blank cheque while rendering a U.S. President already suspected of Russian sympathies vulnerable to critiques he is rewarding aggression. Putin agreed to let U.S., Europe offer Ukraine NATO-style security guarantees, Trump envoy says Now the pressure has moved from Russia to Ukraine, with Mr. Trump warning that 'Russia is a very big power, and they're not.' He told Mr. Zelensky that if Ukraine relinquished Donetsk, where Russia has had a strong position for more than a decade, Mr. Putin would freeze his troops in place. Mr. Zelensky rejected the notion, which would deliver to Russia a land mass more than twice the size of Nova Scotia. Already Mr. Putin, who appears to have profited the most from the summit, has registered a minor symbolic victory. 'They spent three years telling everyone Russia was isolated,' Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Friday, 'and today they saw the beautiful red carpet laid out for the Russian President in the U.S.' The Trump-Zelensky parley, like the one Mr. Trump held in Anchorage, Alaska, with Mr. Putin, is yet another example of the realpolitik in the line The Rolling Stones inserted 16 times into a 1969 hit song: 'You can't always get what you want.' Mr. Trump wants a swift resolution to the war. He may not get it. Mr. Putin wants a cessation of hostilities but only on his own terms and as part of a broader settlement. He's more likely to prevail. Mr. Zelensky wants a ceasefire before a peace settlement, which Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin now oppose, and he ultimately wants an end to the fighting but only if his country's dignity and sovereignty are preserved and the wartime casualties do not seem to have been in vain. That's the fulcrum of Monday's discussions in Washington. Already the terms of debate have shifted dramatically, just as the momentum in the war has bounced in the last several months between the two colliding armies, now exhausted but still in desperate mortal combat. Trump tells Zelensky that Putin demands more control of Ukraine, urges Kyiv to make a deal Mr. Trump has delivered several deadlines to Mr. Putin, all ignored, defied or forgotten. The U.S. President assured Mr. Macron that a ceasefire was the goal of Friday's conversations at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and then began his journey to the 49th state insisting he was working to win a ceasefire. By the time Mr. Trump was back in Washington, he was disavowing a ceasefire in favour of a broader settlement. ('The best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.') That was congruent with the view of Mr. Putin, who first wanted an unconditional military triumph and the annexation of Ukraine but apparently now will settle for the territorial gains he last week proscribed were the conditions for a 'promise' to end the war. One of the reasons the terms of diplomatic engagement (and military engagement) are constantly changing: the historical nature of Russia, a country itself constantly undergoing convulsive change and dramatic reversals. Russia was czarist before it was communist, then was capitalist and now is a one-man proto-dictatorship. It was allied with Nazi Germany before it was battling Nazi Germany. It was the clear leader in the Cold War space race (with the 1957 Sputnik launch and the pioneering 1961 orbital space flight of Yuri Gagarin, which were celebrated by Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev) before it was the clear laggard to the Americans (with Project Gemini, Project Apollo, and the 1969 redemption of President Kennedy's promise to land an American on the moon). The reprise line of Keith Richards and Mick Jagger's You Can't Always Get What You Want may offer a way for all three parties to view the almost certainly unsatisfying resolution to a war that has stretched well past three years: 'But if you try sometimes, you just might find/You get what you need.' For in the end, whenever it comes, all three parties may claim they got what they needed. It may be that truth is the first casualty of war. But the truth will also likely be the last casualty of the war in Ukraine.
Edmonton Journal
3 hours ago
- Edmonton Journal
Air Canada flight attendants defy back-to-work order, continue strike
Article content Oci Mara and her husband were supposed to fly home to Montreal at around 1 a.m. Monday, but their flights were cancelled due to the strike. Unable to get through by phone, they went to the airport to speak with Air Canada agents in person. Article content 'It's a terrible situation. It's so frustrating,' Mara said, adding that her husband needs to be back in Montreal for work on Monday. Article content Mara said they were told that if they booked seats with another airline, Air Canada would only refund the cost of their original tickets. Article content 'We have no idea what we're going to do,' she said. Article content While she sympathizes with flight attendants fighting for fair pay, Mara said the strike has left passengers struggling to make alternate travel arrangements. Article content 'I understand people have to fight for their rights to get paid,' she said. 'Unfortunately, there's a lot of problems for us (as a result).' Article content Article content Air Canada said it will provide travellers with cancelled flights options such as full refunds or credit for future travel. 'The carrier will also offer to rebook customers on other carriers, although capacity is currently limited due to the peak summer travel season,' the airline said in a statement. Article content Article content Flight attendants spent Saturday picketing at the Calgary International Airport, where travellers continued their efforts to salvage travel plans disrupted by the work stoppage. Article content Air Canada, which locked out its flight attendants shortly after their strike began, had planned for flights to resume Sunday evening with a gradual ramp-up over the coming days, the Montreal-based airline said in a statement. Whenever service restarts, it will take several days before operations return to normal. Article content Article content The airline previously said the walkout would disrupt some 130,000 passengers a day during the summer holiday season. Article content The Canada Industrial Relations Board directed Air Canada to resume airline operations and for all Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flight attendants to return to work by 2 p.m. ET, according to the airline's statement early Sunday. Article content The move came after Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu directed the independent CIRB to order a resumption of operations and to impose binding arbitration to resolve a standoff over contract negotiations. Article content The Liberal government's back-to-work order was criticized by the government's political opponents on Saturday. Article content Federal Conservative Labour critic Kyle Seeback called the move an attack on flight attendants. Article content 'No worker — federally regulated or otherwise — should be forced, especially by the government, to work without being paid. Yet, that is exactly what flight attendants are being ordered to do,' he said in a written statement, while urging the federal Liberals to pass a Conservative-sponsored bill that would ensure flight attendants are paid for all hours worked. Article content Meanwhile, Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said the Air Canada labour dispute should be resolved at the negotiating table.
