Part A

Question 2

Anglosphere is a group of countries where English is the native language. The English colonies had the English language as one of the main languages apart from the regional languages and hence English has become one of the main languages in some parts of the world which are considered in the Anglosphere. However, the modern foreign policies of the government in many countries of the world do not fall in the same line with the Anglosphere. One such country of the world is Australia which has been performing impressively in terms of economics (Rappleye and Komatsu, 2018). In terms of economics, the economy of Australia has shown great perseverance which helped the economy to deal with economic troubles such as the financial crisis of 2007. One of the main repercussions of impressive performance and steady economic growth rate is immigration into the county. In some cases, the immigrants also come from countries that are not part of the Anglosphere. Therefore, some policies of the government have been amended to provide ease to the immigrants of the country.

The Anglosphere obsession can be bad for the other segment of people of the country. Rappleye and Komatsu, (2018) stated that in recent times with the increase of the dependence of Australia on other countries of the Anglosphere, the obsession of the country has increased. The increased Anglo sphere obsession of the country has led to the changes in the focus of the country. For example, the reporters working in the countries where English is the native language are promoted to bigger responsibility compared to the reporters that work in a country where English is a nonnative country. This favoritism not only hampers the environment of the journalism but it also impacts the international relations of Australia with that country.

This is not online with the foreign policies of the country. Australian foreign policies emphasize strong international, regional, and bilateral relations. These relationships become vulnerable if the Anglosphere and its obsession lead to favoritism. The foreign policy of the country says that the country can engage in international trade even if there are no cultural or any other links between the countries (Barnes, 2018). However, in fact, due to the vast difference between the cultures and the preferences, the free trade agreement of Australia with any other countries of the world that are not part of the Anglosphere has not materialized yet. Even with the decline in the popularity of the leaders of the Anglosphere such as the UK and the USA, the obsession of the Australian government has increased making it tougher for the immigrated means of production in the Australian industry.

Furthermore, the Anglosphere obsession of the Australian government often ignores the valuable input for the economic betterment of Australia. For example, if Germany shows a great example of economic expansion along with social justice, this will not be highlighted in the political spectrum of Australia as Germany is not an English speaking country. Therefore deviating from the foreign policies of the country, the Anglosphere influence on the economy of Australia has reduced the potential of the countries input leading to a fall in the economic production in Australia. Wilkinson (2018) stated that the foreign policies of the government are completely different from the political attitude of the country at the moment. The foreign policies of the government focus on tapping the opportunities in any part of the world despite the differences in the culture and the language. This may cost a lot in terms of the free trade of the country with other parts of the world such as Thailand and Malaysia which has been a long term trade partner of the country.

Another instance of the Anglosphere obsession of Australia which has deviated from the foreign policy goals is the trade relationship with China. China has been the largest trade partner of Australia for a long time now. The mining boom of the Australian economy was partially helped by Chinese support as the economy of china created a lot of demand for the mining products of Australia. This political support from China helped in scaling up the production which further increased the productivity of the mining sector in Australia. In the wake of trouble between the USA and China, Australia has put the relationship with China in danger while being in good terms with the USA owing to the Anglosphere bias that the government has shown lately.

Apart from that cultural domination of the Anglosphere over the other parts of the world has also been out of the line from the foreign policies of Australia. Being in the field of the Anglosphere it becomes easier for the countries to share their culture with other members who are also big. On the other hand, small countries find out difficult to put across their culture in other parts of the world, and hence a sense of dominance works. This also is not in line with the foreign policies of the Australian government and hence the obsession of the country over the Anglosphere is taking a toll on the economic wellness of Australia. Huang et al. (2018) stated that US rhetoric is creating different realities in Australia and hence the Anglosphere bias is taking Australia in a different direction. While the foreign policies of the government say it must work in its region and scope, it follows the American view of free trade and foreign policies out of the Anglosphere bias. This is also evident from the stand of Australia in case of conflict of the USA with Afghanistan. Therefore, the foreign policies of the government of Australia are completely different due to the Anglosphere bias.  

Part B

Question 4

Australia is one of the largest countries in the world in terms of per capita wealth. This makes the country responsible for providing the migrants a good quality of support. The asylum policies of the government have changed significantly from time to time (Gravelle, 2019). The asylum policies of the country provide protection both in terms of income and in terms of security. However, in recent times, the asylum policies of the country have changed due to the increase in the number of immigrants in the country. Therefore there is a huge debate regarding the image of Australia in the world as an international citizen.

Australia has always been welcoming to new immigrants; however, a rise in the immigrants mainly from Asia has put a lot of pressure on Australia. Therefore there have been several changes in the policies of the government. This change in the policies includes controlled visa provision to the immigrants. Essex and Isaacs (2018) stated that this led to restricted entry for immigrants from the other countries of the world.  The government of Australia had been vocal about the immigrant crisis in the world and was an advocate of humanitarian view of the world and the role of the government. However, the protectionist rules and the regulations of the government went opposite to the standpoint of the country a few years back. Therefore to some extent, there has been decay in the image of Australia in being an international citizen of the world.

The previous asylum policies of the government of Australia also had the notion of basic human rights under which the government of the country could not deny the basic facilities to the asylum seekers. Australia had an obligation to protect the human rights of asylum seekers. Even in the refugee convention, the government of the country made sure that none of the people who arrive in Australia without valid documentation will be treated badly. Even the government was vocal against the mistreatment of illegal immigrants in other parts of the world. Various international treaties bound the country to respect the dignity of the asylum seekers while they were in the custody of the government. Due et al. (2019) stated that, even till 2016, the government of the country maintained all the rules and the regulations of the international treaties. However, the recent population pressure and the declining output of the mining sector that provided a long term to boost the economic growth rate of the country compelled the government to take stringent actions. While the dignity and the respect of the asylum seekers are still maintained adhering to the treaties signed by the country, the number of immigrants approved for the citizenship has gone down significantly The country has also come up with a criterion that needs to be fulfilled by the applicants to be able to become a citizen of the country. Van Kooy and Bowman (2019) stated that the criterion was designed in such a way that it contributes to the productivity of the economy.  For example, the basic education level for the application was higher by the government to ensure the immigrant can fill the workforce of the country as the service sector was the main focus of the government for the further improvement of the economy post the end of the mining boom.

In recent times, there are some of the human rights which have been violated by the country. First and the foremost is the detention of the asylum seekers in far away islands of the country has incited a lot of controversy both inside and the outside of the country. Secondly the time taken for the assessment of the asylum seeker for being refugee in the country has increased manifold. There have been many instances where asylum seekers had to stay in the detention for 3 years without any break de (Vries, Roman and Briskman, 2018). These according to many international bodies were definite violation of the human rights. Therefore, the image of Australia as a good international citizen has been questionable in the recent times. Thirdly, the government also announced that some of the asylum seekers based on their skills will be released to the Australian community on bridging visas in order to reduce some pressure from the detention centres for the asylum seekers. Even after a mass release into the community of Australia the detention centres are still full with immigrants and hence the government of Australia has been denounced internationally for not being able to deal with the problems (Hall et al. 2018). Therefore, certainly there has been deterioration in the image of the country as being a good citizen of the world. However, the reason for the inability of the government to accept more international immigrants has been valid as well. Furthermore, the geo political relationship of the country with other parts of the world mainly Asia has significantly deteriorated. That convinced the government to impose the stricter laws and the regulations for the international immigration. That may have tarnished the image of the country which advocated the acceptance of immigrants a few years ago.   

Reference 

Barnes, F., 2018. Lancashire’s ‘War’with Australia: Rethinking Anglo-Australian Trade and the Cultural Economy of Empire, 1934–36. The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 46(4), pp.707-730.

de Vries, L., Roman, M. and Briskman, L., 2018. Building strengths in asylum-seeker communities in Australia. Community Organising Against Racism:’Race’, Ethnicity and Community Development, p.231.

Due, C., de Heer, N., Baak, M. and Hanson‐Easey, S., 2019. “At night he cries from dreams”: Perceptions of children’s psychological distress and wellbeing amongst parents with refugee or asylum seeker backgrounds in Australia. Australian Psychologist, 54(5), pp.438-449.

Essex, R. and Isaacs, D., 2018. The ethics of discharging asylum seekers to harm: a case from Australia. Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, 15(1), pp.39-44.

Gravelle, T.B., 2019. Party identification, local context, and Australian attitudes toward immigration and asylum policy. Social science research, 81, pp.77-90.

Hall, S., Lenette, C., Murray, S., Chan, C., Flannery, A. and Vickery, K., 2018. # LetThemStay: Visual representations of protests and community mobilization for asylum seekers in Australia. Journal of Critical Thought and Praxis, 7(1).

Huang, H., Sharifian, F., Feldman, S., Yang, H., Radermacher, H. and Browning, C., 2018. Cross-cultural conceptualizations of ageing in Australia. Cognitive Linguistic Studies, 5(2), pp.261-281.

Rappleye, J. and Komatsu, H., 2018. Stereotypes as Anglo-American exam ritual? Comparisons of students’ exam anxiety in East Asia, America, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Oxford Review of Education, 44(6), pp.730-754.

Van Kooy, J. and Bowman, D., 2019. ‘Surrounded with so much uncertainty’: asylum seekers and manufactured precarity in Australia. Journal of ethnic and migration studies, 45(5), pp.693-710.

Wilkinson, J., 2018. We’re going to call our kids “African Aussies”: Leading for diversity in regional Australia. Interrogating educational leadership: Examining leadership as a culturally-constructed practice, pp.54-74.