Australian Prime Minister KevinRudd said that in the next three years Australia will be active in the world arena and try to be a middle power on the international stage.
Speaking at the East Asia Forum in Sydney, the prime minister said, "the truth is that Australia' s voice has been too quiet for too long across the various councils of the world," and therefore," that is why during the course of the next three years, the world will see an increasingly activist Australian international policy in areas where we believe we may be able to make a positive difference."
Australia, under Labor, would become a creative middle power on the world stage -- a strategy seen as the best way to pursue its national interests, he said.
In his speech made on the eve of his first major overseas tour, Mr Rudd has put forward a foreign policy agenda designed to help Australia deal more effectively with the uncertain global financial outlook, as well as problems such as climate change and terrorism.
"If Australia fails to engage with the global economic, security and environmental challenges, we will simultaneously fail to deal with their impact on our own country," he said.
"That means in order to advance Australia's interests at home, we must increasingly be engaged with other nations in responding to the challenges to those interests abroad."
Rudd leaves Australia Thursday for Washington on the first leg of a tour that will take him to New York, London and Beijing.
Source:Xinhua
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