Greens: In the trade policy weeds

Andrew Shearer's post on the Greens' foreign policy led me to dig a bit deeper. I chose to look at Greens' statements on Australia's relations with China and their trade policy positions in light of the fact that China is now our largest trading partner (accounting for about one-fifth of our total merchandise trade).

There has been, broadly speaking, support in the ALP and the Coalition for a pragmatic approach to both issues. Unsurprisingly, the Greens have a very different view.

On relations with the People's Republic of China, the Greens strongly criticised PM Rudd for dodging the Dalai Lama and officially objected to the invitation to President Hu Jintao to speak to the joint sitting of Parliament in 2003. Greens leader Bob Brown also questioned the moral legitimacy of Beijing hosting the 2008 Olympics. 

On trade policy, the Greens policy platform calls for Australia to withdraw from existing bilateral trade agreements when possible and supports the abolition of the WTO, IMF and World Bank unless radical reform can democratise their governance. Alas, radical reform and international institutions rarely, if ever, go together.

Photo by Flickr user Roanish, used under a Creative Commons license.