Australia 'low priority' in crisis: UK

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A report in the Financial Times on Friday said secret government documents had put Australia and six other countries on a "B-list" because they were not deemed important lobbying targets ahead of the summit in London on April 2.

Eleven countries, including the United States, France, Germany, South Korea, Brazil and South Africa were named as "high priority states" for lobbyists to target.

But a Foreign Office spokeswoman played down the significant of the so-called A and B list countries.

"We continue to have strong and deep relations with Australia and this list in no way represents a hierarchy of our political relations with those (11) states," she told AAP.

"This is a very indicative list and based on the prevalence and scale of well-developed non-governmental organisations, media, civil society, academia, trade unions and non-traditional actors like sovereign wealth funds, not on how objectively important or not each country and its government were, either to the UK more widely or in a G20 context."....

http:/ /news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-world/australia-low-priority-in-crisis-uk-20090314-8y5f.html

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That's it!

You've just received your last episode of Neighbours! No more "royal visitors" to Oz. Roll on the republic! Evil or Very Mad

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@msolga,

Quote:

But a Foreign Office spokeswoman played down the significant of the so-called A and B list countries.

"We continue to have strong and deep relations with Australia and this list in no way represents a hierarchy of our political relations with those (11) states," she told AAP.

Well she would say that, wouldn't she? Laughing

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We're only a Very Small Country you know.

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Surely you didn't think Australia had a high priority in the second world war, did you?

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@roger,

We did for providing Great Britain with troops and materiel.

1 Reply

@dlowan,

Exactly.

1 Reply

@roger,

Well, they had a big job on their hands.

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Yes, and it isn't as though protecting Australia itself were as important as fighting the wily Hun in North Africa.

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@Setanta,

Well, our troops were already fighting in Europe when Japan attacked. Had been since they could get there after war was declared.

I can kind of see Churchill's logic.

Of course, he was entirely eurocentric...but I guess that was the nature of the beast.

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@dlowan,

As far as I can see, this story appears a bit of a beat-up anyway.

Of course Britain is gonna lobby countries it thinks are both important and less likely to share its views.

1 Reply

@dlowan,

Actually, they were in Africa at that time. I believe that you folks had a Labour government then, and your PM (don't recall the name) was considered an ingrate and a commie for refusing to send more troops when war with Japan loomed on the horizon. It's been a long time since i've read that history, so i'd have to check again to make sure.

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@dlowan,

This is true. But whatever happened to that Commomwealth spirit? The pink bits on the world map community of the Empire? You know, brotherhood & sisterhood & all that? I reckon they've lost interest in us now they can't send their petty criminals to Oz any more. Wink

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Bob (Sir Robert) Menzies was it? Pig iron Bob was his Nickname.

a Touch before my time.

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@dlowan,

Quote:

I can kind of see Churchill's logic.

Oh so can I!

I think it's fair to say that he considered the colonials war fodder in some of his more fabulous battle schemes? Wink

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@dlowan,

Quote:

As far as I can see, this story appears a bit of a beat-up anyway.

I'd actually hoped for some good natured bantering between us & the Brits. But they didn't bite. Sad

But if I'm going to treat the story seriously, I'd say we're pretty irrelevant as far as UK interests go, these days ... for good reasons. (Like, for starters, we are not an EU member ...... )

But tell that to the Oz royalists who think of England as "home" & become hysterical at even the thought of an Oz republic! Rolling Eyes

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@Setanta,

Quote:

Actually, they were in Africa at that time. I believe that you folks had a Labour government then, and your PM (don't recall the name) was considered an ingrate and a commie for refusing to send more troops when war with Japan loomed on the horizon

Curtin

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@dadpad,

Sold iron ore to the Japanese, against the will and struggles of the unions...oh my yes.

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@Setanta,

They were in a lot of places...

My uncle, for instance, was in England.

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@dadpad,

Lol!!!

Menzies was not PM during the war!!!

And he was a staunch conservative.

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Australia 'low priority' in crisis: UK

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