From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Australian-Zimbabwean relations are foreign relations between Australia and Zimbabwe. Both countries have full embassy level diplomatic relations[1]. Australia currently manintains an embassy in Harare[2] and Zimbabwe maintains an embassy in Canberra[3].
[edit] History
[edit] Early history
The nations of Australia and Zimbabwe both have their origins in British colonies established as a part of the British Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries. However, while Australia experienced much white settlement from Britain and Ireland, eventually becoming a settler-dominated colony, the lands which made up Zimbabwe (known then as Rhodesia) experienced less white settlement, retaining a native Bantu majority. Despite this majority, the colony of Rhodesia broke away from the United Kingdom in 1965, with the minority white government of Ian Smith issuing a Unilateral Declaration of Independence, while Australia became established as a stable parliamentary democracy.
During the 1979 Commonwealth Conference, Australian Prime Minsiter Malcolm Fraser was instrumental in convincing the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to withhold British recognition of the Smith-led government of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, prompting Britain to host the Lancaster House Agreement at which full independence and majority rule for Zimbabwe was agreed upon[4]. At the independence celebrations in Harare in 1980, Fraser's contribution to Zimbabwean independence was firmly acknowledged[5].
[edit] 21st century
Relations between the two countries began to sour when the government in Zimbabwe began its controversial land reform programme, occupying farms owned by members of Zimbabwe's white minority, sometimes by force. In an unusually blunt declaration, Australian Prime Minister John Howard described Robert Mugabe as a "grubby dictator"[6]. Howard also called for other African countries to put pressure on Zimbabwe to crack down on the increasingly autocratic Zimbabwean government[7]. Sporting links between the two countries were also disrupted, with the Howard government banning the Australian cricket team from taking part in a scheduled tour of the country, citing the propoganda boost that it would provide for the Mugabe régime[6].
Howard's successor as Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, has also been critical of the current Zimbabwean government. Before the 2007 election, he criticised the People's Republic of China for providing "soft loans" to the Zimbabwean government[8], and later offered aid to Zimbabwe only if the 2008 elections in that country were "fair"[9].
[edit] See Also
[edit] References
- ^ Zimbabwe - Country Brief. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
- ^ Australian Embassy, Zimbabwe. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
- ^ Zimbabwe Details. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
- ^ Downer, Alexander. Human Rights in Australian Foreign Policy. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
- ^ Meet a PM - Fraser. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
- ^ a b "Australian bans cricket tour to Zimbabwe, calls Mugabe 'grubby dictator'", USA Today. Retrieved on 2008-05-11.
- ^ "Howard urges more pressure on Zimbabwe", The Age, 2005-06-24. Retrieved on 2008-05-11.
- ^ "Morgan Tsvangirai and Kevin Rudd", ABC News (Sunday Profile), 2005-07-31. Retrieved on 2008-05-11.
- ^ "Rudd offers Zimbabwe 'conditional' aid package", ABC News, 2008-04-06. Retrieved on 2008-05-11.
