Explaining the Turmoil at the Top of Australian Politics and the Implications for India

Abstract

Five Australian prime ministers have come and gone in the past five years. The turbulence at the top, however, is likely over because Malcolm Turnbull, the leader of the conservative Liberal Party, is likely to remain in the prime minister’s office for several years. This article first provides some background to the Australian political system before explaining why so prime ministers came and went between 2010 and 2015. It then considers the implications of all this for Australian foreign policy. The argument is simple: despite the constant personnel changes at the pinnacle of power there are actually few ‘deep’ differences between the two parties – or their leaders – in the realm of foreign policy. There are some differences, of course, so the final section considers the potential for changes in several policy-areas – climate change, national security, trade policy and asylum seekers – but any potential changes are judged likely to be minor and incremental. The article then finishes with consideration of what all of this means for India and, again, the conclusion is simple; it is likely to be ‘business as usual’ as Canberra tries to steadily improve the bilateral relationship in both security and economic terms.