Populate, propagate or perish - World - smh.com.au
Australia should double its population by 2050, allow young Pacific Islanders into the country to work, take up nuclear power, increase defence spending and become more than just a middle power, says the former ambassador to the US, Michael Thawley.
Mr Thawley, one of Australia's most influential representatives in Washington, who oversaw the establishment of the free trade agreement with the US, says such moves are essential if the nation is to maintain its way of life.
Delivering the Sir Robert Menzies Lecture, he said: "My conviction - strengthened after my five years in Washington - is that we have the capacity to grow better, bigger, richer and more powerful."
But he warned: "If we are not to be overshadowed by our strategic circumstances ? and if we want our values to endure and spread, than we need the capabilities to shape the world as it changes."
Mr Thawley, one of Australia's most influential representatives in Washington, who oversaw the establishment of the free trade agreement with the US, says such moves are essential if the nation is to maintain its way of life.
Delivering the Sir Robert Menzies Lecture, he said: "My conviction - strengthened after my five years in Washington - is that we have the capacity to grow better, bigger, richer and more powerful."
But he warned: "If we are not to be overshadowed by our strategic circumstances ? and if we want our values to endure and spread, than we need the capabilities to shape the world as it changes."
posted by Paul Johnson at 8:21 am
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