12 - Australia and East Asia: Japan

Summary

Australia and Japan in the period 1976 to 1980 found life as ’mature adult partners’ (as went the metaphor of the day) far from sedate. The two governments consulted actively, there was a little innovation and rather more frustration. Many of the policies towards Japan of the new Liberal-National Country Party government under Mr Malcolm Fraser reflected some of the aims of the previous Labor government in managing the impact of Australia’s foreign relations on the domestic economy. But the accent of the Fraser government was deliberately placed on stability, continuity and reliability. On some issues foreign policy choices were not clear, since several underlying problems – mainly of domestic political institutions and constraints in both countries – were close to the surface. In 1980, several of the same problems remained – notably iron ore and coal pricing, and access to the Japanese market for Australian agricultural products – although confidence was buoyant on both sides.