Australia–Zimbabwe relations

Australian-Zimbabwean relations are foreign relations between Australia and Zimbabwe. Both countries have full embassy level diplomatic relations. [cite web |title=Zimbabwe - Country Brief |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070806111604/http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/zimbabwe/zimbabwe_brief.html |accessdate=2008-05-09 ] Australia currently manintains an embassy in Harare, [cite web |title=Australian Embassy, Zimbabwe |url=http://www.dfat.gov.au/missions/countries/zw.html |accessdate=2008-05-09 ] and Zimbabwe maintains an embassy in Canberra. [cite web |title=Zimbabwe Details |url=http://www.info.dfat.gov.au/Info/WebProtocol/WebProtocol.nsf/WebConsularList?OpenForm&ZimbabweD |accessdate=2008-05-09 ]

History

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. [cite web |first=Alexander |last=Downer |title=Human Rights in Australian Foreign Policy |url=http://www.foreignminister.gov.au/speeches/1996/human_ri.html |accessdate=2008-05-09 ] At the independence celebrations in Harare in 1980, Fraser's contribution to Zimbabwean independence was firmly acknowledged. [cite web |title=Meet a PM - Fraser |url=http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/meetpm.asp?pageName=inoffice&pmId=22 |publisher=National Archives of Australia|accessdate=2008-05-09 ]

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".cite news |title=Australian bans cricket tour to Zimbabwe, calls Mugabe 'grubby dictator' |publisher=USA Today |url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2007-05-12-2585469807_x.htm |accessdate=2008-05-11 ] Howard also called for other African countries to put pressure on Zimbabwe to crack down on the increasingly autocratic Zimbabwean government. [cite news |title=Howard urges more pressure on Zimbabwe |publisher=The Age |date=2005-06-24 |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/howard-urges-more-pressure-on-zimbabwe/2005/06/24/1119321892472.html |accessdate=2008-05-11 ] 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.

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, [cite news |title=Morgan Tsvangirai and Kevin Rudd |publisher=ABC News (Sunday Profile) |date=2005-07-31 |url=http://www.abc.net.au/sundayprofile/stories/s1424566.htm |accessdate=2008-05-11 ] and later offered aid to Zimbabwe only if the 2008 elections in that country were "fair". [cite news |title=Rudd offers Zimbabwe 'conditional' aid package |publisher=ABC News |date=2008-04-06 |url=http://www.abc.net.au/sundayprofile/stories/s1424566.htm |accessdate=2008-05-11 ]

Trade

Following Zimbabwean independence, bilateral trade between the two countries grew slowly. By 2007, this trade was valued at $12 million Australian dollars annually. By far the most valuable export from Zimbabwe to Australia was unprocessed tobacco, but construction materials and passenger motor vehicles were also exported. Australian exports to Zimbabwe included machinery, toys, games, sporting goods, and pottery. Despite the variety of goods being traded, neither country was a principal trading partner of the other, with Australia being ranked 34th in terms of merchandise exported by Zimbabwe, accounting for only 0.2% of total exports. [cite web | title = Zimbabwe Fact Sheet | publisher = Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia) | url = http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/fs/zimb.pdf | accessdate = 2008-09-12]

In 2002, the Howard government in Australia imposed targeted sanctions against members of the Zimbabwean government in protest against the deteriorating political situation in Zimbabwe. The sanctions were extended and strengthened in 2007. [cite news | last = Yaxley | first = Louise | title = Downer to strengthen Zimbabwe sanctions | publisher = Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date = 2007-07-17 | url = http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/17/2007631.htm | accessdate = 2008-09-12 ] These sanctions have included restrictions on travel to and through Australia for certain members of the Zimbabwean government, suspension of all non-humanitarian aid, and prohibitions on defence links. [cite web | title = Australian Bilateral Sanctions : Zimbabwe | publisher = Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia) | url = http://www.dfat.gov.au/un/unsc_sanctions/zimbabwe.html | accessdate = 2008-09-12] The Rudd government in 2008 considered further sanctions against Zimbabwe, with foreign minister Stephen Smith declaring that "I've made it clear that we are open to consider more sanctions ... We are currently giving active consideration to that issue." [cite news | title = Tougher Zimbabwe sanctions considered | work = Sydney Morning Herald | date = 2008-07-23 | url = http://news.smh.com.au/national/tougher-zimbabwe-sanctions-considered-20080623-2v5c.html | accessdate = 2008-09-12 ]

Zimbabweans living in Australia

The turmoil in Zimbabwe has led to a number of Zimabweans leaving the country to seek refuge in Australia, including:

* Henry Olonga, the first black player in the Zimbabwean cricket team, fled to Australia after being charged with treason in Zimbabwe, stemming from an incident where he wore a black armband in an international cricket match to protest the "death of democracy in Zimbabwe". Olonga later met and married an Australian woman that he met in Adelaide while attending the Australian Institute of Sport's cricket programme. [cite news |title=Exiled cricketer Olonga weds in Australia |publisher=New Zimbabwe |date=2008-05-24 |url=http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/olongawed.11701.html |accessdate=2008-08-17 ]
* Rumbidzai Tsvangirai, daughter of Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, studies economics at Perth's Murdoch University. [cite news |title=Tsvangirai's daughter calls for more aid |publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=2008-07-22 |url=http://news.smh.com.au/national/tsvangirais-daughter-calls-for-more-aid-20080622-2uwp.html |accessdate=2008-08-17 ]
* Zimbabwean cricketer Eddo Brandes settled in Australia after his retirement from international cricket, where he now coaches a team in the Brisbane grade cricket competition.

At the 2006 Australian census, 20,158 people listed themselves as having been born in Zimbabwe. Of these, ten thousand (or roughly 50%) had arrived since 2001. [cite web
title=More than one in five Australians born overseas: Census |url=http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/7d12b0f6763c78caca257061001cc588/ec871bf375f2035dca257306000d5422!OpenDocument |publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics |accessdate=2008-08-17 ]

See also

* Foreign relations of Australia
* Foreign relations of Zimbabwe

References