Bob Carr
Bob Carr is a former Premier of New South Wales (1995–2005), a former Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (2012–2013) and the former Director of the Australia–China Relations Institute, the University of Technology Sydney (2014–2019).
Bob Carr was the longest-serving premier of NSW and a federal Labor foreign minister.
Bob's recent articles
BOB CARR. Australia could be the big loser in a US-China trade deal, not that Donald Trump seems to care (South China Morning Post)
Australia sticking its neck out for the US on the issue of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei will not stop America from striking a trade deal with China that could result in Australian exports suffering
BOB CARR. Australians with Chinese origins need to come together.
A new burst of messaging on China Panic has been unleashed by Four Corners and newspapers, again giving the impression that hostile forces are threatening Australia. Last month former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans noted a new form of Sinophobia is emerging. He said this is one of the reasons Chinese-Australians are underrepresented in senior leadership.
BOB CARR. Real diplomacy could have avoided China's coal revenge (Australian Financial Review, 3 April 2019)
The ban on Huawei itself isn't the problem, but the way that some arms of the government rubbed China's face in it.
BOB CARR. Disaffected electorate knows the real score (The Australian, March 18 2019)
Why in a sports-mad nation, with football as an overarching religion divided into different denominations, has the promise of two new stadiums been such a vote loser?
BOB CARR. NSW state election: time for Gladys Berejiklian to show she cares for environment
If Gladys Berejiklian wants something as much as a day without stadiums, it is one without a mass fish kill.
BOB CARR. The Best of 2018: How the Israeli Lobby operates.
The letter was in the bulging file marked Premiers Invites. The invitation was to an annual dinner where a peace prize was presented to a person chosen by the Sydney Peace Foundation at Sydney University. This year they had decided to present the award to Hanan Ashrawi. I knew her from CNN and had been impressed by her dignity.
Bob Carr replies to China critics (Australian Financial Review, 12.11.18)
That the mob always gets it right is cornerstone wisdom of Australian politics, often confirmed by polling that shows the public's deeply rooted common sense.
BOB CARR. Chinese Australians are the silent minority on foreign policy (Australian Financial Review, 25.10.18)
Imagine the crucial byelection had not been in Wentworth but in another Sydney electorate, Barton. Instead of a 12 per cent Jewish population, it is one with a 34 per cent Chinese population. And imagine that, in the context of this byelection and after lobbying by the Chinese community, the federal government had announced it was considering a shift in Australia's position on the South China Sea. Perhaps by way of an article in a Chinese language paper.
BOB CARR. Australians have no interest in joining U.S. cold war against China
Alexander Downer chewed ruminatively on his steak: If you want a cold war with China, you will get a cold war with China.
BOB CARR. How the Israeli Lobby operates.A repost
The letter was in the bulging file marked Premiers Invites. The invitation was to an annual dinner where a peace prize was presented to a person chosen by the Sydney Peace Foundation at Sydney University. This year they had decided to present the award to Hanan Ashrawi. I knew her from CNN and had been impressed by her dignity.
BOB CARR. ASIO and the China scare (the Australian 14 August 2018)
Australia was unimaginable without the dynamic presence of Chinese-Australians. Those were the words of Malcolm Turnbull last week, resetting the rhetoric of Australia-China relations.
Australia draws line under anti-China hysteria. Will it be enough to unfreeze relations? (South China Morning Post 11.08.18)
Bob Carr says Malcolm Turnbulls reset of relations with China was inevitable, as the fears his government has allowed to spread about Chinese money in Australias democracy and Chinas growing influence in the region had little substance, and have done Australia more harm than good.
Get-tough rhetoric has denied us any sway with Beijing (AFR, 10/07/18)
As foreign minister I recall an irritatingflare-up in our relations with one of the Pacificstates. There hadbeen a misunderstanding at Sydney airport that upset the island state's prime minister. The anger ran strong and the state contemplated a big anti-Australian gesture: terminating an arrangement under which we trained their police. And, here's the rub, inviting China to fill the gap.
Turnbull Government may be toning down anti-China stance
Canberra is giving indications it believes an 18-month tilt to a marked anti-China stance might now be corrected. There are hints the Turnbull Government recognises that being the most rhetorically hostile to China of all US allies does not serve our national interest.
Whitlam had it easier on China policy
When Labor statesman Gough Whitlam opened relations with China it was a Maoist tyranny, more like todays North Korea than todays China. It was sunk in poverty. Its people could not travel overseas. They couldnt move from village to village without party permission. It was illegal to own a small business. And China ran revolutionary movements in Southeast Asia.
BOB CARR. Foreign Policy White Paper: Faulty roadmap in a GPS world.
While the Australian governments Foreign Policy White Paper was at the printers, it was being overtaken by events.
BOB CARR. Australia declares rhetorical war on China.
This year Australia declared rhetorical war on China. The words being used by Australian leaders are the harshest any time since diplomatic relations commenced in 1972, with the exception of comments at the time of Tiananmen. The tone is harsher than that of any other US ally, including Japan.
BOB CARR. Tribute to Johno Johnson. 'Keep the faith...both of them'
The separation of church and state was not a fetish of John Richard Johnson. He adored the Cross on Calvary. And rallied to The Light on The Hill.
BOB CARR. The Case for Recognition of Palestine
A speech given by the Honourable Bob Carr at the NSW ALP Conference on 30 July 2017