Opinion

Australia is punching below its weight where it really matters

By John Quiggin
Updated July 2 2021 - 1:13am, first published December 15 2020 - 5:25am
The Loy Yang brown coal power station near Traralgon, Victoria. Picture: Shutterstock
The Loy Yang brown coal power station near Traralgon, Victoria. Picture: Shutterstock

A favourite conceit in some sections of Australia's foreign policy establishment is that Australia can "punch above its weight" in international affairs, as we did for many years in international sports. The idea is that by clever diplomacy we can exert more influence in the world than would be expected for a country with less than half a per cent of the world's population and about 1.2 per cent of its economic output.

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