Australia in the Asian Century White Paper

On 28 September 2011, then prime minister Julia Gillard commissioned the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper (“White Paper”), under the direction of the former Treasury secretary Ken Henry and coordinated by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Its task was to ‘help Australia navigate the Asian Century’ by providing ‘a national blueprint for Australia at a time of transformative economic growth and change in Asia’. The significant economic and political consequences for Australia of China’s rise were featured prominently in the decision to initiate writing of the White Paper — Gillard’s launch speech emphasised China, and Henry chose to focus the report on China, Indonesia, India, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.

After a long gestation, the final White Paper was launched on 28 October 2012, with Gillard endorsing it as a ‘roadmap showing how Australia can be a winner in the Asian century’. The 320-page document outlined twenty-five objectives for Australia to take advantage of Asia’s ‘unstoppable rise’ by 2025. These targets included: improved education and continuous access for Australian students to a priority Asian language (Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian or Japanese); one-third of top corporate board-members and public servants having deep experience and knowledge of Asia; Australian per capita GDP entering the global top ten; and, a larger diplomatic footprint in Asia (particularly China).

Reactions to the White Paper were mixed. Some observers expressed their wish for a new deepening of Australia–Asia relations, and a majority praised the Gillard government for recognising the importance of reviving the national debate about Australia’s relationship with Asia. However, commentators variously criticised the White Paper for: setting vague and unrealistic goals; failing to explain how its visionary aspirations would and could be funded; rehashing failed Hawke-Keating-era policy; taking a complacently optimistic view of Asia’s future and Australia’s role; using Asia policy for domestic politicking; and, neglecting certain important areas of concern. The report attracted modest Chinese media attention and was welcomed as a ‘pivot’ back to China after the 2009 Defence White Paper [topic page link]; China Daily saw China ‘at the centre of almost every facet’ of the Asian Century White Paper.

The rhetoric of an ‘Asian Century’ entered the Australian political and media lexicon, and was central to Australia’s foreign policy under the Gillard government [topic link page]. Gillard referred to the upgrade of the Australia–China relationship to the formation of a ‘strategic partnership’ in April 2013 as delivering a White Paper commitment [topic link page].

After the Coalition victory over the Labor Party at the 7 September 2013 federal election, the new Abbott administration [topic page link] archived the Australia in the Asian Century website on 20 September 2013. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop stated the White Paper was a ‘valuable resource’ for the Coalition’s ‘economic diplomacy’ with Asia, but officials confirmed the ‘Asian Century’ concept had been dropped. Bishop had previously criticised the White Paper as ‘a brazen attempt at self congratulation that tries to make the argument that to take advantage of Asia’s growth we merely have to adopt Labor’s current policy agenda.’ Nevertheless, Abbott has repeatedly used the expression ‘Asian Century’ while Prime Minister.

Links

• White Paper website archive, including the text of the White Paper, its submissions and the Implementation Plan.
• Tasmanian Government, Department of Premier and Cabinet, ‘Tasmania’s Place in the Asian Century White Paper’.
• Asialink, Australia in the Asian Century.
• Lowy Institute for International Policy, ‘Australia in the Asian Century’ White Paper Launch: The Hon Julia Gillard MP, Prime Minister of Australia.
• Ross Garnaut, Australia and the Northeast Asian Ascendancy, Canberra; Australian Government Publishing Service, 1989. Description and analysis: Peter Hartcher, Garnaut, the Scalpel-Sharp Seer, Still Looks to China, The Age, 15 December 2009.
• ‘Australia in the Asian Century’, Topic, The Conversation.

Pre-launch Commentary

September 2011

• Asialink, Media Coverage of Julia Gillard’s Australia in the Asian Century Keynote Address, 27 September – 13 October 2011.
• Daniel Flitton, PM Seizes Reins on China Links, The Age, 29 September 2011.
• Graeme Dobell, ‘Asian Century’ vs ‘Asia Pacific’, The Interpreter, 29 September 2011.

October 2011

• Shiro Armstrong, Australia’s Asian Future, East Asia Forum, 9 October 2011.
• John Lee, ‘Rising China has limited influence’, The Australian, 12 October 2011.

April 2012

• John Lenarcic, ‘Why Australia needs an Asian Century Institute’, The Conversation, 18 April 2012.
• David Walker, Engaging With Asia? We’ve Been Here Before, The Conversation, 20 April 2012.

June 2012

• ABC, ‘Living in the Asian Century’, ABC News, 20 June 2012.

July 2012

• Purnendra Jain, ‘Australia’s subnational governments in the Asian Century’, East Asia Forum, 2 July 2012.
• Peter Jennings, Ken Henry Misses the Big Picture, The Australian, 17 July 2012.

August 2012

• Tom Hyland, Navigating Uncharted Waters of the Asian Century, The Sydney Morning Herald, 12 August 2012.
• Brendan Nicholson, More to Asian Century than Defence: Peter Drysdale, The Australian, 17 August 2012.
• Ross Fitzgerald, We Have Nothing to Fear in Tying Our Future to Asia, The Australian, 25 August 2012.
• Editorial, Onwards, Into the Asian (not just Chinese) Century, The Sydney Morning Herald, 27 August 2012.

September 2012

• ABC, ‘Henry says productivity to drive Asian growth’, ABC News, 19 September 2012.
• Boston Consulting Group, Imagining Australia in the Asian Century: How Australian Businesses are Capturing the Asian Opportunity, September 2012

October 2012

• David Uren, Rudd Seeks to Pre-empt PM’s China White Paper with his Own Version, The Australian, 5 October 2012.
• Peter Cai and Philip Wen, We Need a Change of Mind on China, The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 October 2012.
• Peter Cai and Philip Wen, ‘Greater balance needed on trade in the region’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 October 2012.
• Alan Mitchell, ‘White paper needs teeth’, Australian Financial Review, 17 October 2012.
• Michelle Grattan, ‘Gillard on front foot with white paper’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 October 2012.
• Rowan Callick, Success in Asian Century not up to Canberra Alone, The Australian, 25 October 2012.
• Rowan Callick, ‘High expectations from Asian Century white paper’, The Australian, 27 October 2012.
• Hamish McDonald, Charting Our Course for Meeting the Challenges of the Asian Century, The Sydney Morning Herald, 27 October 2012.

The Launch

• Julia Gillard, Australia in the Asian Century Launch Speech, 28 October 2012.
• ABC, ‘As it happened: Australia in the Asian Century’, ABC News, 28 October 2012
• Frances Adamson, Australian Ambassador to China, Speech to the 
Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China, An Introduction to the 
“Australia in the Asian Century” White Paper, 
Australian Embassy,
 Beijing, 31 October 2012.

Post-launch Commentary

ABC

• ABC, ‘Gillard to reveal Australia’s Asian Century goals’, ABC News, 28 October 2012.
• ABC, Government Commits to Asian Century, ABC Radio, 29 October 2012.
• ABC, PM Gillard on the Asian Century White Paper, ABC Radio, 29 October 2012.
• ABC, Views on the Australian Asian Century White Paper, ABC Radio, 29 October 2012.
• Miriam Hall, ‘Questions over white paper implementation’, ABC News, 30 October 2012.
• Chris Berg, ‘Don’t believe the Asian century hype’, The Drum, 30 October 2012.
• ABC, Business Council Responds to Asian Century Whit Paper, ABC Radio, 30 October 2012.
• Matt McDonald, This is How we Rise to the Asian Century? The Drum, 6 August 2013.

The Australian

• Adam Gartrell, ‘Vision but Little Detail in Asian Paper’, The Australian, 28 October 2012.
• AAP, ‘Business Groups Call for Joint Effort on Asia Strategy’, The Australian, 28 October 2012.
• Editorial, ‘Deepening Regional Security’, The Australian, 29 October 2012.
• AAP, ‘Indonesia Welcomes Canberra Focus on Asia’, The Australian, 29 October 2012.
• Brendan Nicholson, ‘Migrants with Specialist Skills Needed to Help Bolster Economy’, The Australian, 29 October 2012.
• Greg Sheridan, ‘Meaningless Promises, Replete with Pure Spin’, The Australian, 29 October 2012.
• Stephen Kirchner, ‘Prime Minister, This Asian Century is So Last Century’, The Australian, 30 October 2012.
• Talking Point, ‘Asian Century Faces Hurdles Beyond Labor’s Spin’, The Australian, 30 October 2012.
• Paul Kelly, ‘PM big on vision but small on strategy’, The Australian, 31 October 2012.
• Geoffrey Garrett and Sean Gallagher, ‘Key to Asian Century is Already on Campus’, The Australian, 31 October 2012.
• Mark Kenny, ‘Uni Students Paid to Go to Asia Under New Federal Government Program’, The Australian, 31 October 2012.
• Pia Akerman, ‘Australia Must Make Hard Decisions for Asian Century: Ross Garnaut’, The Australian, 1 November 2012.
• Brett Mason, ‘Gilding the Lily or Seducing the Lotus: Australian universities in the Asian Century’, The Australian, 1 November 2012.
• Greg Sheridan, ‘White Paper Merely Talks the Talk, in a Language No One Will Learn’, The Australian, 1 November 2012.
• Matthew Westwood, ‘Cultural Council to Rise Again in Asian Century’, The Australian, 1 November 2012.
• Rowan Callick, ‘Silence Speaks Volumes About Opinions of Paper’, The Australian, 2 November 2012.
• Rowan Callick, ‘Vision of Region “Too Optimistic” ’, The Australian, 2 November 2012.
• David Crowe, ‘Asia Agenda “Must be Supported” ’, The Australian, 2 November 2012.
• Bernard Lane, ‘What Asia Really Wants’, The Australian, 2 November 2012.
• Rowan Callick, ‘Region’s Seal of Approval for Our Asian Century‘, The Australian, 3 November 2012.
• Mark Schliebs and Rowan Callick, ‘Vision “Clouded on China and US”, Says Richard Woolcott’, The Australian, 5 November 2012.
• Lanai Vasek, ‘Craig Emerson Welcomes Richard Woolcott’s Asia Policy Criticism’, The Australian, 5 November 2012.
• Gary Johns, ‘Vision Not Worth the Paper it’s Written On’, The Australian, 6 November 2012.
• Kathy Keele, ‘Cultural Exchanges with Asia Help Artists Improve Relations’, The Australian, 6 November 2012.
• Yasmin Haskell, ‘We Must Look to an Ancient Tongue to Understand Asia‘, The Australian, 7 November 2012.
• Robin Jeffrey, ‘White Paper Needs Policy Support If We’re to Succeed’, The Australian, 7 November 2012.
• Tony Makin, ‘We Can’t Compete With Asia With European Policies’, The Australian, 13 November 2012.
• Bernard Lane, ‘First Envoy to China Sees Risks in US Alliance’, The Australian, 14 November 2012.
• Alexander Downer, ‘We Don’t Have to be Asianised to be an Asset to the Region’, The Australian, 14 November 2012.
• Michael L’Estrange, ‘Don’t Discard Old Ties for New Times’, The Australian, 14 November 2012.
• Greg Sheridan, Howard Slams ‘Fatuous’ Keating, The Australian, 17 November 2012.
• Michele Ford, ‘Unis Striving to Bridge Asia Gap’, The Australian, 21 November 2012.
• Cath Carver, ‘West Shows Way to Asia’s Riches’, The Australian, 22 November 2012.
• Tony Milner, ‘Intimacy with ASEAN Not a Choice But a Necessity’, The Australian, 22 November 2012.
• Andrew Burrell, ‘Labor Decades Behind Us on Asia Links, Says Barnett’, The Australian, 28 November 2012.
• Paul Kelly, ‘Indo-Pacific Tide Rises in the West’, The Australian, 28 November 2012.
• Rowan Callick, ‘Asian Paper “Thin on Value” ’, The Australian, 29 November 2012.
• Greg Sheridan, ‘No Asia-literacy in Weasel Words‘, The Australian, 18 April 2013.

Australian Financial Review

• Geoffrey Barker, ‘Dark Side of White Paper’, Australian Financial Review, 29 October 2012.
• Editorial, ‘Worthy Aims, But Short on How to Achieve Them’, Australian Financial Review, 29 October 2012.
• Andrew MacIntyre, ‘Meeting the Challenge of Great Change’, Australian Financial Review, 29 October 2012.
• Tim Dodd, ‘Our 20-year Investment in Asia’, Australian Financial Review, 29 October 2012.
• Tony Walker, ‘Time to Accept Reality of China’s Rise, Deepen Ties’, Australian Financial Review, 29 October 2012.
• John Kerin, ‘Australian Diplomacy Risks Falling Behind’, Australian Financial Review, 29 October 2012.
• John Kerin, ‘Foreign Investment Push in Key Areas’, Australian Financial Review, 29 October 2012.
• Matthew Cranston, ‘Nice Words, Action Needed’, Australian Financial Review, 29 October 2012.
• Michael Smith, ‘It’s Up To Business To Do the Heavy Lifting’, Australian Financial Review, 29 October 2012.
• Mike Smith, ‘Asia Roadmap Will be a Real Game-changer’, Australian Financial Review, 29 October 2012.
• Robert Prichard, ‘White Paper Fails to Deliver on Energy’, Australian Financial Review, 29 October 2012.
• Rohini Kappadath, ‘No Easy Route to the Business Wealth of Asia’, Australian Financial Review, 29 October 2012.
• Anne Hyland, ‘Business Rejects Asian Board Quotas’, Australian Financial Review, 30 October 2012.
• Kishore Mahubani, ‘Time to Accept Our Place in Asian Region’, Australian Financial Review, 30 October 2012.
• Lisa Murray and Lucy Guo, ‘OK, Says China, But Australia Could Still Do Better’, Australian Financial Review, 30 October 2012.
• Greg Earl, ‘Gang of Four Finds Some Common Ground in White Paper’, Australian Financial Review, 30 October 2012.
• Editorial, ‘Business Needs Asia Flexibility’, Australian Financial Review, 31 October 2012.
• Luke Forrestal and Andrew Cleary, ‘We’re With the White Paper – Packer’, Australian Financial Review, 31 October 2012.
• Rachel Nickless, ‘Asian Century Overview “Lacks Detail”’, Australian Financial Review, 31 October 2012.
• Steven Schwartz, ‘The Asian Century: Gillard’s Tardis idea’, Australian Financial Review, 31 October 2012.
• Jacob Greber, ‘Work Needed to Ensure “Soft Landing”: Garnaut’, Australian Financial Review, 1 November 2012.
• Jacob Greber and Angus Grigg, ‘Chinese Demand Not So Great: Garnaut’, Australian Financial Review, 1 November 2012.
• Allan Fels, ‘Deepen Ties With Asia, Do It Now’, Australian Financial Review, 1 November 2012.
• Verona Burgess, ‘Public Service Plots Steps into Asia’, Australian Financial Review, 1 November 2012.
• Michael Wesley, ‘Australia Must Go All the Way with Asia’, Review supplement, Australian Financial Review, 2 November 2012.
• Brian Toohey, ‘Still Too Preoccupied with US in Asian Century’, Australian Financial Review, 3 November 2012.
• Greg Earl, ‘Asian Paper: an old story in a glossy new cover’, Australian Financial Review, 3 November 2012.
• Rowan Dean, ‘It’ll Take a Century to Become an Aussie Bludger’, Australian Financial Review, 3 November 2012.
• ‘White Paper a Wake-up Call to Australia: Rudd’, Australian Financial Review, 4 November 2012.
• Richard Woolcott, ‘Asian Century: for the US, but not against China’, Australian Financial Review, 5 November 2012, edited text of The Hawke Lecture, delivered at the University of South Australia.
• Glenn Withers, ‘White Paper Targets are Lofty, but Worthy, Goals’, Australian Financial Review, 5 November 2012.
• Editorial, ‘White Paper Suppresses Needed Reform’, Australian Financial Review, 6 November 2012.
• David Paterson, ‘Asia Has Vast Mining Potential’, Australian Financial Review, 7 November 2012.
• Reynah Tang and Julian Wan, ‘Tax Treaties for Asian Century’, Australian Financial Review, 7 November 2012.
• Taizoon Dalal Highton, ‘Asian Century a Beautiful Dream’, Australian Financial Review, 7 November 2012.
• David Olsson, ‘Asian Bias Needs to be Examined’, Australian Financial Review, 6 November 2012.
• ‘Businesses Wrong on Asia Strategy: Henry’, Australian Financial Review, 9 November 2012
• Jacob Townsend and Anthony Bergin, ‘Asian Connection Has a Dark Underbelly’, Australian Financial Review, 26 November 2012.
• Joanna Heath, ‘Foreign Policy Should Target South-east Asia: Report’, Australian Financial Review, 29 November 2012.

Canberra Times

• Paul Malone, ‘An Asian Vision Blinkered by Greed’, Canberra Times, 9 December 2012.

China Daily

• Zhao Shengnan, Australia Maps Outs its Asia ‘Pivot’, China Daily, 29 October 2012.
• Editorial, Australia’s Asian Focus, China Daily, 29 October 2012.
• Xu Haijing, Australia Needs to Show Sincerity for Being Part of Asian Century, Xinhua News, 29 October 2012.

The China Story Journal

• David Brophy, ‘Australia’s Asia‘, The China Story Journal, 31 October 2012.
• Geremie Barmé et al, Australia’s Asian White Paper: Filling in Some Blanks, The China Story, 15 November 2012.

The Conversation

• ‘Asian Century White Paper: Experts Respond’, The Conversation, 28 October 2012.
• James Laurenceson, ‘In the Asian Century, There’s no Such Thing as Success Without Sacrifice’, The Conversation, 29 October 2012.
• Kenneth Chern, ‘Asian Century White Paper Talks the Talk, Can Australia Walk the Walk?’, The Conversation, 29 October 2012.
• Purnendra Jain and Peter Mayer, ‘India Gains its Rightful Place in the Asian Century White Paper’, The Conversation, 29 October 2012.
• Simon Marginson, ‘Asian Century White Paper Sets Tricky Targets for Universities’, The Conversation, 29 October 2012.
• Sunanda Creagh, ‘Q+A: Asian Studies Must Start in Primary School, Says Uni Expert’, The Conversation, 29 October 2012.
• Kanishka Jayasuriya, ‘Asian Century White Paper is Big on Rhetoric, Small on Ideas’, The Conversation, 30 October 2012.
• Shahar Hameiri, ‘Asian Century White Paper is a Foreign Policy Fail, but Not by Accident’, The Conversation, 30 October 2012.
• Kathe Kirby, ‘Get ready to learn Hindi: Education in the Asian century’, The Conversation, 30 October 2012.
• Ross Garnaut, ‘Will the Asian Century Reboot Our Debate on Growth?’, The Conversation, 1 November 2012.
• Ross Tapsell, ‘Across the Curriculum: Access to Asian Languages Isn’t Everything’, The Conversation, 1 November 2012.
• Helen Sullivan, ‘Looking to Asia to reform Australia’s public service’, The Conversation, 23 November 2012.

Crikey

• Bernard Keane, ‘Here’s One We Prepared Earlier: Labor goes back to Asia’, Crikey, 29 October 2012.
• William Steed, ‘Australia’s Asian Literacy in the Asian Century‘, Crikey, 29 October 2012.
• Ben Eltham, ‘Art an Important Pathway to Asian Engagement‘, Crikey, 2 November 2012.
• Bernard Keane, ‘The Week in Parliament: from the strategic heights to muddy depths‘, Crikey, 2 November 2012.
• Glenn Dyer, ‘US Election Coverage: don’t mention China‘, Crikey, 7 November 2012.

The Diplomat

• Rory Medcalf, Australia’s Place in the “Asian Century”, The Diplomat, 4 November 2012.

East Asia Forum

• Andrew MacIntyre, Responding to Asia’s Rise, East Asia Forum, 28 October 2012.
• Shiro Armstrong, Australia Defines its Response to the Asian Century, East Asia Forum, 29 October 2012.

The Economist

• R.M., ‘It’s Australian for “Asian century”’, The Economist, 31 October 2012.

The Herald Sun

• Michael Wesley, ‘Asia White Paper a Oneway Bet’, Herald Sun video interview, 1 November 2012.
• Kevin Rudd, ‘Asian White Paper a Positive Issue – Rudd’, Herald Sun video interview, 4 November 2012.
• Samantha Maiden, Chinese Version of Julia Gillard’s Australia in the Asian Century Paper was Poorly Translated, Herald Sun, 17 November 2012.

The Interpreter

• The Lowy Institute for International Policy, Debate: Reactions to ‘Australia in the Asian Century’ White Paper, 28 October 2012 – 27 November 2012.
• Sam Roggeveen, ‘PM’s Australia in the Asian Century White Paper Launch: First Impressions’, The Interpreter, 28 October 2012.
• David McRae, ‘What the Asian Century White Paper Means for Our Ties with Indonesia’, The Interpreter, 29 October 2012.
• Graeme Dobell, ‘Asia White Paper: Process and Politics’, The Interpreter, 29 October 2012.
• Stephen Grenville, ‘Asian Century: Life in the Slipstream’, The Interpreter, 29 October 2012.
• Alex Oliver, ‘Rebuilding Australia’s Diplomatic Network… When Circumstances Allow’, The Interpreter, 30 October 2012.
• Andrew Carr, ‘Asian Century White Paper: Defence WP Preview?’, The Interpreter, 30 October 2012.
• John Blaxland, ‘The Australian Mindset in Asia’, The Interpreter, 30 October 2012.
• Peter Dean, ‘All the Way with the USA in the Asian Century?’, The Interpreter, 31 October 2012.
• ‘Reader Ripostes: Asian Century White Paper’, The Interpreter, 1 November 2012.
• Jenny Hayward-Jones, ‘PNG in the Asian Century’, The Interpreter, 1 November 2012.
• Michele Ford, ‘White Paper: Searching for Southeast Asia’, The Interpreter, 1 November 2012.
• Graeme Dobell, ‘Asian Century: Marker, Map and Menu’, The Interpreter, 2 November 2012.
• Daniel Woker, ‘Asian Century: A European Reaction’, The Interpreter, 7 November 2012.
• Nick Bryant, ‘Multiculturalism in the Asian Century’, The Interpreter, 9 November 2012.
• Sam Roggeveen, ‘The Tabloids and the Asian Century’, The Interpreter, 9 November 2012.
• Nick Bryant, ‘Journalism in the Asian Century’, The Interpreter, 15 November 2012.
• Rory Medcalf, ‘Recognising the Asian Century at Last’, On Line Opinion in Lowy Institute, 2 November 2012.

The Monthly

• Hugh White, White-Papering the Cracks – A Blueprint for the Asian Century?, The Monthly, December 2012 – January 2013.

The Strategist

• Peter Jennings, ‘The Asian Century White Paper: One plan to rule them all’, The Strategist, 29 October 2012.

The Sydney Morning Herald

• Michelle Grattan, ‘Road map to Asia’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 October 2012.
• Jessica Wright, ‘Australian richer from Asian embrace’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 October 2012.
• Peter Hartcher, ‘Australia the True Subject of Paper‘, The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 October 2012.
• Michael Pascoe, ‘Stating the Bleeding Obvious on the Asian Epoch‘, The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 October 2012.
• Peter Cai, ‘Flat Reception for White Paper‘, The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 October 2012.
• Benjamin Preiss, ‘Language studies plan backed despite high cost’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 October 2012.
• Editorial, ‘An Uncomfortable but Prosperous Future Awaits‘, The Sydney Morning Herald, 30 October 2012.
• Bianca Hall, ‘Business endorses language plan’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 30 October 2012.
• Andrew Hewett, ‘What’s In It For Us? Australia papers over Asian challenges‘, The Sydney Morning Herald, 31 October 2012.
• Ross Gittins, ‘Asia Has Nearly Caught Up, Now to Converge‘, The Sydney Morning Herald, 3-4 November 2012.
• Ed Logue, ‘Rudd Suggests Asian Language Job Quota‘, The Sydney Morning Herald, 4 November 2012.
• AAP, ‘White Paper Positive, Wake-up Call: Rudd‘, The Sydney Morning Herald, 4 November 2012.
• Gerard Henderson, ‘White Paper Risks Obscuring Long History of Engagement with Asia‘, The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 November 2012.
• Ross Gittins, ‘Food Boom with a Twist Turns Screws on Farmers‘, The Sydney Morning Herald, 7 November 2012.
• Alison Carrol, ‘White Paper Leaves a Blank Spot on Developing the Performing Arts’ Connection with Asia‘, The Sydney Morning Herald, 12 November 2012.
• Philip Wen, ‘Get Back to ASEAN: Evans, Downer’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 November 2012.

The Wall Street Journal

• Linda Jakobson, ‘Australia’s Pollyanna Asia Policy‘, The Wall Street Journal, 1 November 2012.

Speeches

• Paul Keating, Asia in the New Order: Australia’s Diminishing Sphere of Influence, The Keith Murdoch Oration, State Library of Victoria, 14 November 2012.

Chinese Media Responses

• 财经网 (reprints of articles apparently originally published by Global Times/Huanqiu Online), 澳总理吉拉德推行’亚洲世纪计划’引党内分歧.
• 财经网, 澳发表亚洲世纪白皮书 喜迎中国’消费阶层.
• 经济参考报, 澳大利亚发布亚洲世纪白皮书.
• 法制晚报, 真心拥抱？.
• 第一财经日报, 澳政府’拥抱亚洲’在中美间寻求平衡.
• 光明日报, 澳洲要’积极适应’亚洲.
• 环球网, 澳女驻华大使：澳望避免在中美之间做选择.
• 中国新闻网, 澳欲借亚洲‘雄风’谋繁荣 不再提‘中国威胁’.
• 羊城晚报, 让澳洲孩子从小学汉语.
• 中国网络电视台, 澳大利亚发布亚洲世纪白皮书　率先大胆应对亚洲崛起.
• 北京商报, 人民币与澳元将实现直接结算.
• 国际在线, 澳发布亚洲白皮书 称阻止中国军力增长行不通.

Implementation

February 2013

• Kent Anderson and Clement Macintyre, ‘What’s new about policy making in the Asian century’, East Asia Forum, 1 February 2013.
• Chris Johnson, ‘Asian Century stillborn as activity stalls’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 23 February 2013.

April 2013

• Scott Gardiner and David Olsson, ‘‘Australia in the Asian Century’ White Paper Implementation Plan’, King & Wood Mallesons, 4 April 2013.
• Verona Burgess, ‘Roadmap laid out for Asian century’, Australian Financial Review, 11 April 2013.
• John Denton, ‘Breathing life into the Asian Century White Paper’, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, 24 April 2013.

Aftermath

August 2013

• Neil Thomas, ‘Asian White Paper or white elephant’, The Drum, 28 August 2013.

October 2013

• Brendan Nicholson, Asian Century Plans Consigned to History, The Australian, 28 October 2013.
• Fergus Ryan, ‘This Revolution has been Archived’, Business Spectator, 28 October 2013.
• Mark Beeson, ‘Is this the End of the ‘Asian Century’?’, The Conversation, 29 October 2013.

November 2013

• Sara Bice and Helen Sullivan, ‘Abbott Government may have New Rhetoric, But it’s Still the ‘Asian Century’’, The Conversation, 8 November 2013.

March 2014

• Sri Annaswamy, ‘Australia is on the sidelines of ‘our’ Asian Century’, Australian Financial Review, 24 March 2014.

April 2014

• Ken Henry, ‘A fresh look at Australia in the Asian Century’, NAB Industry Insights, 22 April 2014.

October 2014

• Matt Wade, ‘What happened to the Asian Century?’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 October 2014.