For one week in October, 20 years in the past, the world got here to Canberra, as Australia sought to solidify its buying and selling relationships.
In an “extraordinary incidence”, United States president George W Bush and Chinese language president Hu Jintao addressed the joint homes of parliament on consecutive days.
Mr Bush spent simply 20 hours in Australia on the finish of an Indo-Pacific tour, however in that point he brushed shoulders with wildlife warrior Steve Irwin and his spouse Terri at a gala occasion.
A trove of cupboard paperwork from 2003 have been launched by the Nationwide Archives of Australia on Monday, together with a photograph of the second the group met.
In cupboard paperwork, particulars of the aviation safety preparations for Mr Bush’s go to have now been launched, outlining the Australian Defence Drive’s plans to deploy a lot of RAAF fight plane for 24-hour patrols for the interval of Mr Bush’s go to.
Throughout his speech to parliament on October 23, Mr Bush lauded then-prime minister John Howard for his “distinctive braveness” in committing Australian troops to Iraq and spoke of his pleasure in calling his fellow world chief a buddy.
Mr Bush defended the controversial choice to make use of drive in Afghanistan and Iraq, sustaining the trouble had been about retaining terrorists from buying weapons of mass destruction.
As he spoke concerning the downfall of Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi regime, nonetheless, his speech was interrupted by Greens senators Bob Brown and Kerry Nettle, who had been later eliminated.
Cupboard historian David Lee stated it was due to Australia’s participation within the Iraq was that negotiations with the US on a free-trade settlement may start.
The settlement was signed in Could 2004 and got here into impact on January 1, 2005.
Professor Lee famous the commerce settlement was negotiated and signed so rapidly due to the context of the Iraq struggle.
Mr Bush’s fleeting go to to Australia coincided with a four-day journey from Mr Hu, as China was on the cusp of changing into Australia’s most vital buying and selling accomplice.
Throughout his handle to the joint homes, Mr Hu heralded the three many years of diplomatic relations the 2 international locations had already shared, and appeared to the long-term.
With financial globalisation growing in such depth, no nation can anticipate to realize financial growth with out going for efficient financial and technological cooperation with different international locations and actively collaborating in worldwide division of labour,” he stated on the time.
It was throughout 2003 that Australia and China made steps in the direction of a free-trade settlement, and Canberra dedicated to recognising China as a market financial system “sooner or later”.
Former defence minister Robert Hill stated there had been “a a lot better optimism” of the China relationship in 2003 and “how it might develop over time”.
“In fact, what’s occurred over time is, it’s been came upon that to separate the values system from the financial relationship has develop into increasingly more troublesome, and thus the China relationship has run into troubled waters,” he stated.
Throughout his speech, Mr Hu additionally spoke about China’s aim for a “full reunification of China”, and the hope of a peaceable answer to the Taiwan query.
Past China and Australia, cupboard paperwork from 2003 reveal submissions on different commerce agreements had been thought of, together with with Singapore, Thailand, and Japan.
