It is to amaze; the belief that Australia is on the right track with China policy.
"[The address] dealt with China's obvious importance but was less China-centric than many of Rudd's offerings. I thought she treated the relationships with Japan, India and Indonesia quite well, for example.
"She went out of her way to reject, at least implicitly, Hugh White's thesis that our economic and strategic interests cannot be reconciled: 'Strong in the Asian century, with an ally in Washington and respect in Beijing' was nicely put, I thought.
"She was robust on the importance of Australia maintaining strong defence capabilities and delivering on the 2009 white paper, which had been questioned recently by the opposition defence spokesman, ill-advisedly in my view; we will probably need to spend more, not less, on defence."
Emphasis added.
This wonderful policy enlightenment they mention depends on too may “ifs”. If only the 2009 White Paper had worth. It does not.
I wonder what Gillard and friends think of this?
