Australian Outlook

In this section

Australia in the World: Episode 31

08 Oct 2019
By Dr Darren Lim and Allan Gyngell AO FAIIA

Does Scott Morrison’s Lowy Speech mark a clear step towards Trumpism?

Allan and Darren attempt their first “emergency” episode, recorded on Friday 4 October, the day after Prime Minister Morrison delivered the 2019 Lowy Lecture at the Sydney Town Hall. The conversation is structured around a commentary Allan wrote for the Lowy Interpreter that same day, in which he argues that the speech “marked a clear step away from the sort of Australian foreign policy articulated in the government’s 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper and towards the worldview of Trumpism and Brexit”. Darren, in contrast, found a lot more than Allan to like in the speech, and explains why he saw evidence of a clear theory of the political causes behind the crisis afflicting the rules-based order. This is probably the most significant disagreement Allan and Darren have had in the history of the podcast, which makes for a lively conversation!

We invite our listeners to email us at australia.world.pod@gmail.com We welcome feedback, requests and suggestions. You can also contact Darren on twitter @limdarrenj

We thank AIIA intern James Hayne for his help with research and audio editing and XC Chong for research assistance. As always, we’re grateful to Rory Stenning for composing our theme music.

Relevant links

Scott Morrison, “In our interest”, 2019 Lowy Lecture, Sydney Town Hall, 3 October 2019: https://www.pm.gov.au/media/speech-lowy-lecture-our-interest

Allan Gyngell, “Scott Morrison strikes an anxious and inward-looking tone”, Lowy Interpreter, 4 October 2019: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/scott-morrison-lowy-lecture

Scott Morrison, Speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, 23 September 2019: https://www.pm.gov.au/media/chicago-council-global-affairs

Nick Bisley, “‘An ally for all the years to come’: why Australia is not a conflicted US ally”, Australian Journal of International Affairs 67(4) (2013): 403-418: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10357718.2013.803029

Tony Abbott, “Remarks at G20 Leaders’ Retreat”, Brisbane, 15 November 2014: https://pmtranscrip

Related Articles

Parliament House at Dusk. photo by JJ Harrison, Wikimedia. Source: https://bit.ly/2PCT7FK

What Do Morrison’s Changes to The APS Mean for Public Servants And Policy?

By Associate Professor Gemma Carey  and Dr Fiona Buick
19 December 2019

The merging of government departments was to “streamline bureaucracy.” However, issues such as cultural differences, logistical incompability, and isolated “silo” branches make this reorganisation a highly complex operation with little chance of success.
Trump meeting hospital staff in El Paso on the 7th of August 2019. Source: The White House, https://bit.ly/2yR0n7W

Trump’s Embrace of White Supremacy is Poisoning America’s Soul

By Dr Alon Ben-Meir
14 August 2019

Within 13 hours, two mass shooting took place—in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio—killing 31 innocent people and injuring twice as many. This time, however, something far more sinister and profoundly troubling is at play.
Boris Johnson sitting in parliament as Prime Minister on 10/09/2019. Wikimedia Commons: MrsSnub - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

Hulk Smash? Another Week of Brexit

By Colin Chapman FAIIA
18 September 2019

Boris Johnson may see himself as the Incredible Hulk, but David Cameron, the EU, the Supreme Court and Liberal Democrats don't seem to care if they make him mad.