Sadly, Malcolm Turnbull is an almost lone voice of sanity in an insane Australian political climate. Prime Minister Gillard is completely compromised, as evidenced by her ill-informed foreigh policy pronouncements. Abbott, while having the requisite intellectual capability lacks judgment and appears content to live in a policy vacuum. The Greens at least make the right noises about foreign policy but it is a measure of the political bankruptcy of this country that their best ideas are voted down by the combined forces of Liberal and Labor who know a threat to their own cozy duopoly when they see it.

After writing two requests to the Current Minister for Innovation Kim Carr and failing to elicit a response when presenting market breaking power generating technology designed here in Australia, what more can you do, but continue to be sceptical about Labor and for that matter the greens, Albeit the liberals with Abbott are mouthing business support via regulatory reductions to free up enterprise level decisions.

Very interesting article. I can remember reading Ross Garnaut's Australia and the "NE Asian Ascendancy" in the early 90s, when Asian Studies were briefly fashionable, and wondering whether or not Australians would 'get the message'..we haven't. Now we have a projected South Asian Ascendancy.

I'd certainly agree that the US fiscal situation is far worse than Europe and as Niall Ferguson reminds us, imperial powers don't decline gracefully, the collapse is usually sudden.

The Australian public seems to prefer the country as US vassal,even if that role is against our economic and security interests.