The Australian media covered the labour union protests outside Parliament opposing John Howards visit, better than the Canadian media which was largely silent on the matter. Except for brief notes in the Globe and Mail
Howard sings U.S. praises in Ottawa
Australian leader's laudatory remarks win Tory applause, NDP, Bloc silenceand Macleans.Australian prime minister addresses packed Commons, lauds U.S.Which mentioned the labour protests in passing, while the Australian media gave it more coverage.The Australian Press: Howard visits Canada amid Afghanistan rowPM hailed conservative 'elder statesman'The real meaning of the visit was given good indepth analysis in the media about the common agenda both Howard and Harper share regardless of the names of their political parties. Howard leads the Australian Liberal Party and Harper of course the Conservatives. But Howards Liberals are like those in B.C. and Quebec provincial politics, conservative.
Howards influence on Harper was noted as;
Political wizardry by the man from Oz
For it is no secret that Howard is one of Stephen Harper's political heroes. The Harper Conservatives studied Howard's first big electoral win in 1996, imported one of his key advisers (Brian Loughnane) to help them with their platform and, many observers say, patterned their most recent election after Howard's. The techniques: Promising easily understood tax cuts and baby bonuses targeted directly at the middle class in particular; getting tough on crime; talking up social conservative values (against gay marriage) that harkened back to simpler times; backing the U.S. wherever possible on the international scene; and promising a made-in-Canada solution to climate change that even has Ottawa now trying to get in to the Canberra-inspired Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, what critics call Kyoto-lite. Consider that Howard, in his earlier day, was the outspoken "boy treasurer" who had to learn to curb his more libertarian views and is still a vigorous opponent of gay marriage, Islamic asylum seekers and elite opinion. Overlay Harper's history and training as a classical free-trade economist and there are many similarities.
Harper looks up to his 'mate' down under Prime Minister John Howard and Harper met last year at a conservative event in Washington, and Conservative insiders say the two have been mates ever since.
Howard has lent Harper the expertise of political operatives, the same people who helped Howard win four consecutive terms of office. One of Harper's key advisers is a close personal friend of one of Howard's advisers.
Around Ottawa, Conservatives spoke reverently of Howard's masterful grasp of what voters want to hear.
In the last Aussie election, that meant a direct pitch to "mainstream" Australians with middle-class tax cuts, a tough stance on illegal immigration, and a determination to bar same-sex marriage.
"He's provided stable government, low taxes, an unapologetic sense of where Australia is in the world," said Tory MP Scott Reid, who once lived in Australia as a visiting scholar.
"Those things are not dissimilar to the type of things we're talking about doing."
Added another MP: "They've got the smartest communications strategy in the world."
Aussie political commentator Michelle Grattan wrote in the middle of Howard's first mandate that the prime minister regarded the media as "a problem to be handled."
"What we have now, in a nutshell, is an ever-more elaborate media management system, and an increasingly limited amount of direct, regular and in-depth media access to the leader making the decisions," Grattan wrote.
Sound familiar? Just Thursday, Harper indicated he wouldn't participate in the age-old tradition of press gallery dinners. And his first months in power have seen repeated skirmishes with the national media over access to the prime minister.
The real significance of the this meeting was around Kyoto and the environment, in particular in the development and promotion of greater use of nuclear energy as Australia and Canada are the largest sources of uranium in the world.
Talk govt considering nuclear power
What is often overlooked is that Australia and Canada share alot in common, not only as commonwealth countries, but in joint intelligence operations, such as Echelon, etc.
As Jeffery Simpson in the Globe noted;
The Canada-Australia relationship is a quite brilliant and unique one. It flies under the public radar. Leaders seldom visit each other's country. The media here and there largely ignore the other country. And yet, in many walks of life from federalism to law, from social policy to immigration, from intelligence to diplomacy, Australians and Canadians are in contact, sharing experiences and sometimes borrowing from each other in ways that illustrate that Australia, notwithstanding the proximity of the United States, is the country that most resembles Canada.
A cozier relationship with Australia, a Free Trade Agreement with them, and access to the Asian Pacific region which was already underway with our involvement in APEC is a strategy that is win win for these two conservative governments.
Australia would gain access to the US market via Canada and Canada would gain access to Asia via Australia. The fact we are both the largest resource miners in the world, share a common agricultural base, and are syncophantic partners in Empire, whether it was the Brits or Americans, will lead to a new economic and political partnership as was signaled by Howard with his visit here.
Should environmentalists and unions be worried. You bet. We all should be. Australia was the model for the Klein revolution in Alberta. Now that same Calgary gang rules in Ottawa.
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