AND SO IT BEGINS...

If George Bush is blogging, then it's time I was too. I can't touch his subtle wit and clever wordplay, of course, but then I'm not president of the greatest nation on earth! Anyway, at least I'm writing my own.
What a buzz it was having the leader of the world and the wannabe boss in Oz at the same time. It was a great double bill in Canberra. Just how that little question plays out - a possibly declining US and an ascendant China - will be one of the big issues of the next few decades. History says this is a dangerous situation, prone to war. Let's hope we are smarter than that now.
My students were ambivalent about Bob Brown's intervention. You shouldn't insult a guest, but since there was no other way of getting to talk to Dubya, what else was he to do? Have to admire Brown's bottle, either way - but then anyone who takes on D-9s in the Tassie mud is not going to fear the prissy speaker of the Oz parliament.
Dubya handled it pretty well, actually. It contrasted with the heavy-handed approach of the Chinese who tried to clamp down on any expression of dissent, and who have a lot to learn about making a good impression.
The Chinese are really getting serious about commercial ties with Oz, which will present a nice little dilemma for the government. The gas deals are genuinely huge, and could buy a lot of political clout. That's the way the Chinese will see it, anyway.
As Crean pointed out, much of this bonanza is down to Gough, who took a lot of crap when he went to Communist China in 1971. The usual suspects went after him like a pack of rabid dogs - Fraser called him a "disgrace to Australia".
But when business and ideology clash, business is usually a safe bet.