New roadmap links the nation to the ‘Asian century’

By Geoff Maslen. Australia’s federal government has released a bold policy on the nation’s relations with Asia over the next 13 years. It is an ambitious and highly expensive set of goals with no indication of how the country will achieve them – or afford them.
The goals include having 10 Australian universities in the world’s top 100 and a school system that is “among the top five in the world”. The white paper says Asian studies will be a core part of the school curriculum and all students will have continual access to a priority Asian language: Mandarin, Hindi, Indonesian and Japanese.
Releasing Australia in the Asian Century White Paper, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said that during this century the Asian region would become home to most of the world’s middle-class and would be the world’s largest producer of goods and services, and the largest consumer of them. Read more...