Inaugural Crawford-Nishi Lecture on Japan and Australia: A Vision for the Future

18 March 2009

The Honourable Stephen Smith, MP

The Minister for Foreign Affairs discusses where the Australian Government is taking a relationship that Prime Minister Aso recently described as having reached the most productive time in its history. Particularly focussing on:

• quick, coordinated action through the G20 to get the global economy working again
• enhancing our already close economic relationship through the early conclusion of a comprehensive free trade agreement
• turning our bilateral defence cooperation to efforts to improve regional and international security
• working together in multilateral fora on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament
• and harnessing our technological expertise and growing scientific cooperation in the effort to combat the effects of climate change.

The lecture series is organised by the Australia-Japan Research Centre at the Australian National University with the assistance of a grant from the Australia-Japan Foundation. The lecture series honours the two individuals from Australia and Japan who made the greatest contribution to the post-World War Two normalisation of Australia-Japan relations, Sir John Crawford, then Secretary of the Department of Trade and later ANU Vice Chancellor, and Ambassador Haruhiko Nishi, Japan's first Ambassador to Australia (1953-55).

The Australia-Japan Research Centre (AJRC) conducts research to explore and improve understanding of the economies and economic policy processes in Australia and Japan and both countries' strategic interests in the Asia Pacific economy. Its policy-oriented areas of interest cover developments in regional economic cooperation and integration and encompass research on trade, finance, macroeconomics and structural and regulatory reform, as well as international economic relations.

Broad Topics: Asia and the Pacific

Sub-topics: Policy & Political Science

Areas: ANU College of Asia and the Pacific

Stephen Smith obtained a law degree from the University of Western Australia in 1977. He practised as a solicitor in Perth before completing a Masters in Law at the University of London in 1982. In 1983, he became principal private secretary to the Attorney General of Western Australia. From 1987 to 1990, he was WA State Secretary of the ALP.

Stephen was special adviser to Prime Minister Paul Keating and was elected as the Member for Perth in 1993. During his first term he was chair of the Caucus Industry Committee and the Parliamentary Committee on Corporation and Securities. He has been a member of the shadow ministerial team since the 1996 election as Shadow Minister for Trade, Shadow Minister for Resources and Energy and Shadow Minister for Communications.

Photo by Darren Boyd, 2009

Stephen was Shadow Health Minister until 18 June 2003. Stephen was reinstated to the Shadow Ministry as the Shadow Minister for Immigration on 8 December 2003.

With the election of the Rudd Labor Government, Stephen was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs.