Australia's stability is good for business with GCC

THERE has been a lot going on in the world of politics over the past few months.
Britain has decided that, no, they don't actually want to be part of the European Union. The Philippines went to the polls and elected the outspoken Rodrigo Duterte as their president.
And the United States is still lumbering toward November, when it will be decided whether Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton will take up the top job in the Whitehouse.
Meanwhile, in Australia, we have been in the throes of our own election season. A process in which, for the first time in what seems like a very long time, our major parties both went to the polls with strong messages and supported leaders.
Elections in Australia aren't without their challenges of course. While the two major parties garnered 75 per cent of the vote, the remaining one quarter of Australian voters decided to vote for what I like to call, "the others" - parties that tend toward racially misguided attitudes, and are really appealing to the nationalist voter. So, although generally even-headed and pragmatic, it seems that Australia has not been completely immune to the rise of nationalism that has seen Brexit and Trump become part the political landscape.
However, given the extreme behaviours we have witnessed over the last few weeks in Europe, and the months of US polarity surrounding Trump and everyone else, perhaps only 25 per cent of Australian voters being easily influenced is actually testament to the strength of Australia, its politics, and culture.
Thanks to new media and the wide use of the Internet for the purposes of campaigning and research, people are more informed, so the really ridiculous parties don't gain traction anymore.
Which is good from a political purist point of view, but I kind of miss the good humour that some of the weirder parties had. Like offering moon-hoppers and promising to investigate the laws.of gravity. No-one ever voted for them, but they did offer a bit of colour to the otherwise measured and comparatively conservative Australian electoral process.
So, in modern terms, there is freedom in Australia's democratic process, but it is by no means a circus. It's also not like the US process, with years of campaigning for an election, then starting the campaigning all over again soon after the election is complete.
While not particularly entertaining, Australia's electoral stability is its greatest strength - both within the Asia region and at a global level. It is a stability that comes from bi-partisan understanding that, whatever it is that the parties disagree about domestically, at an international level the relationships we have with trade partners such as the UAE supersede political machinating.
Want some proof? Well, in the past 20 years Australia has had six prime ministers from both the Labour and Liberal parties. Leaders who have come from all spectrums of political ideology. The thing is that our trade partners wouldn't have noticed the difference.
In fact, historically it really hasn't seemed to matter to the outside world who sat in the big chair at Parliament House in Australia's capital, Canberra.
As I've discussed in previous columns, year on year Australia's relationships with countries like the UAE and others in the Middle East just get stronger - be it through Halal meat production, tourism, services, or a multitude of other links in the chain of international trade.
It's why, even though the July 2 Australian election was the closest run political race in generations, Australia's international trade policies remained protected. Our trade relationships are the one thing that is never bargained with during political campaigning season.
It's another reason why Australia is called the "Lucky Country". Friendship (we call it "mateship") is a real thing for Australians. No matter what our political leanings, a "mate is a mate", and though we might not always agree in matters of internal politics, we all know who our friends are.
So July 2 happened and the new Australian government is still moving the furniture around. Meanwhile, Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the UAE can just keep on doing what we have been doing for years - respecting our friendship and making sure that we look out for our mates.
Talal Yassine is Chairman, Gulf Australia Corporation