Australia–Zimbabwe relations

Australia–Zimbabwe relations are foreign relations between Australia and Zimbabwe. Both countries have full embassy level diplomatic relations.[1] Australia currently maintains an embassy in Harare,[2] and Zimbabwe maintains an embassy in Canberra.[3]

Australia–Zimbabwe relations

Australia
Zimbabwe

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 self-governing territory, the lands which made up Zimbabwe only became settled by Europeans from 1890, retaining a native Bantu majority. The colony of Southern Rhodesia became self-governing in 1923, but was not granted Dominion status like Australia or South Africa, and broke away from the United Kingdom in 1965, with the minority white government of Ian Smith issuing a Unilateral Declaration of Independence as the state of Rhodesia. This new state of Rhodesia, despite gaining unofficial support from apartheid South Africa and Estado Novo Portugal (until 1974), failed to gain any international recognition and became increasingly isolated. The Australian government of Robert Menzies did not recognise the declaration, noting "there can be no diplomatic recognition by the Australian Government of a government so formed."[4] Despite this, several backbench government MPs visited Rhodesia in a private capacity following the UDI (Dr Wylie Gibbs, James Killen, Ian Pettitt and Wilfrid Kent Hughes in 1967 and David Connolly in 1976).[5][6][7]

The Rhodesian Government maintained an office of the Rhodesian Information Service in Sydney, but from 1972, following a change in government, the Australian federal Labor government of Gough Whitlam in Canberra sought to close the office.[8] In 1973, the federal government attempted to cut post and telephone links to the Centre, but this was ruled illegal by the full bench of the High Court.[9] However, it remained open despite further efforts to close it under the succeeding government of Malcolm Fraser, operating under the jurisdiction of the state of New South Wales, until the Zimbabwean Government closed it in May 1980.[10][11][12]

During the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1979, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser was instrumental in convincing the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to withhold British recognition of the government of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, prompting Britain to host the Lancaster House Agreement at which full independence and majority rule for Zimbabwe was agreed upon.[13] At the independence celebrations in Harare in 1980, Fraser's contribution to Zimbabwean independence was firmly acknowledged.[14] Australia established a High Commission in Salisbury on independence in 1980, with Jeremy Hearder as the first High Commissioner and Zimbabwe established a High Commission in Canberra in 1988, with Dr. Eubert Mashaire as the first High Commissioner.[15]

21st century
Robert Mugabe, leader of Zimbabwe from independence in 1980 to 2017.

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. Following evidence of violence and intimidation in the 2002 Presidential election, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, alongside South African president, Thabo Mbeki, and the Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, led efforts which resulted in Zimbabwe's suspension (and eventual voluntary departure) from the Commonwealth of Nations in 2002–2003.[16] In an unusually blunt declaration in 2007, Prime Minister Howard described Robert Mugabe as a "grubby dictator".[17] Howard also called for other African countries to put pressure on Zimbabwe to crack down on the increasingly autocratic Zimbabwean government.[18] 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 propaganda boost that it would provide for the Mugabe régime.[17]

Howard's successor as Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, was also critical of the Zimbabwean Government. Before the 2007 election, he criticised the People's Republic of China for providing "soft loans" to the Zimbabwean Government,[19] and later offered aid to Zimbabwe only if the 2008 elections in that country were "fair".[20] In December 2013 the Zimbabwean Ambassador to Australia, Jacqueline Zwambila, resigned and sought asylum in Australia due to fears of arrest should she return to Zimbabwe due to her links with official opposition there.[21] On 22 November 2017, following Mugabe's resignation as President following a coup d'état, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop noted that Australia "welcomes the resignation of Zimbabwe’s Leader Robert Mugabe after 37 years of increasingly authoritarian and oppressive rule. His resignation provides an opportunity for Zimbabwe to establish proper conditions for free and fair elections to take place and to transition to an inclusive, peaceful constitutional democracy."[22] With the inauguration of a new President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, the outgoing Australian Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Suzanne McCourt, met with the president and later commented to Zimbabwe state media that the meeting was a positive sign of improving relations between the two countries.[23]

Trade
Monthly value of Australian imports from Zimbabwe (A$ millions) since 1988
Monthly value of Australian merchandise exports to Zimbabwe (A$ millions) since 1988

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.[24]

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.[25] 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.[26] 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."[27]

Zimbabwean Australians
The number of Zimbabwean settlers arriving in Australia (monthly) since 1991.
Main article: Zimbabwean Australians
  • Greg Aplin, Member of the NSW Parliament for Albury since 2003. He moved to Australia from Zimbabwe in 1981, after several years as a civil servant.
  • Chris Ellison, Senator for Western Australia (1993–2009) Minister for Justice (2001–2007).
  • Andrew Murray, Senator for Western Australia (1996–2008), migrated to Australia in 1989.
  • 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 against 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.[28]
  • Rumbidzai Tsvangirai, daughter of Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, studies economics at Perth's Murdoch University.[29]
  • 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.
  • Air Marshal Norman Walsh, first Commander of the Air Force of Zimbabwe, migrated to Australia after resigning in 1983.
  • David Pocock, national Rugby union player, migrated to Australia in 2002.
  • Air Vice-Marshal Harold Hawkins, Born in Toowoomba, Queensland, in 1922. Moved to Southern Rhodesia in 1946 after wartime service with the RAAF, and served as Chief of Staff of the Royal Rhodesian Air Force (1965–1968). Representative of Rhodesia in South Africa (1969–1980). Died in South Africa in 1988.[30][31][32][33]

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.[34] The 2011 Census recorded 30,252 Zimbabwe-born people in Australia, an increase of 50.1% from 2006, with the largest populations in Western Australia (9817), Queensland (8341), and New South Wales (5639).[35]

References
  1. "Zimbabwe - Country Brief". Archived from the original on 2007-08-06. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
  2. "Australian Embassy, Zimbabwe". Retrieved 2008-05-09.
  3. "Zimbabwe Details". Archived from the original on 2008-04-15. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
  4. "The Canberra Times". The Canberra Times. 40 (11, 293). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 22 October 1965. p. 2. Retrieved 20 November 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Whitlam invited to Rhodesia". The Canberra Times. 42 (11, 816). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 11 October 1967. p. 9. Retrieved 20 November 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "No change on Rhodesia". The Canberra Times. 42 (11, 822). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 18 October 1967. p. 12. Retrieved 20 November 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "MP's visit to Rhodesia". The Canberra Times. 51 (14, 546). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 1 December 1976. p. 11. Retrieved 20 November 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. Rhodesia Office Will Be Closed, The Age, April 3, 1972
  9. "Mail cut-off to Rhodesia centre invalid: court". The Canberra Times. 48 (13, 537). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 11 September 1973. p. 3. Retrieved 20 November 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. The Nationals: The Progressive, Country, and National Party in New South Wales 1919-2006, Paul Davey, Federation Press, 2006 page 223
  11. "Peacock softens Rhodesia stand". The Canberra Times. 53 (15, 915). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 20 April 1979. p. 7. Retrieved 20 November 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. "Zimbabwe closing Sydney office". The Canberra Times. 54 (16, 275). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 17 April 1980. p. 8. Retrieved 20 November 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. Downer, Alexander. "Human Rights in Australian Foreign Policy". Retrieved 2008-05-09.
  14. "Meet a PM - Fraser". National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on August 31, 2007. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
  15. "Vice-Regal". The Canberra Times. 63 (19, 659). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 5 August 1989. p. 8. Retrieved 20 November 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. Katwala, Sunder; Oliver, Mark (21 March 2002). "Zimbabwe and the Commonwealth". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  17. "Australian bans cricket tour to Zimbabwe, calls Mugabe 'grubby dictator'". USA Today. 2007-05-13. Retrieved 2008-05-11.
  18. "Howard urges more pressure on Zimbabwe". The Age. 2005-06-24. Retrieved 2008-05-11.
  19. "Morgan Tsvangirai and Kevin Rudd". ABC News (Sunday Profile). 2005-07-31. Archived from the original on 2007-12-12. Retrieved 2008-05-11.
  20. "Rudd offers Zimbabwe 'conditional' aid package". ABC News. 2008-04-06. Archived from the original on 2007-12-12. Retrieved 2008-05-11.
  21. Thomson, Phillip (28 December 2013). "Zimbabwe ambassador to Australia Jacqueline Zwambila defects". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  22. Bishop, Julie (22 November 2017). "Zimbabwe" (Media release). Minister for Foreign Affairs. DFAT. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  23. Share, Felex (4 January 2018). "Australia, Zimbabwe can patch up relations: Envoy". The Chronicle (Zimbabwe). Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  24. "Zimbabwe Fact Sheet" (PDF). Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia). Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  25. Yaxley, Louise (2007-07-17). "Downer to strengthen Zimbabwe sanctions". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  26. "Australian Bilateral Sanctions : Zimbabwe". Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia). Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  27. "Tougher Zimbabwe sanctions considered". Sydney Morning Herald. 2008-07-23. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  28. "Exiled cricketer Olonga weds in Australia". New Zimbabwe. 2008-05-24. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
  29. "Tsvangirai's daughter calls for more aid". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2008-07-22. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
  30. "Top Rhodesians now eligible for passports". The Canberra Times. 54 (16, 174). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 7 January 1980. p. 7. Retrieved 9 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  31. "AUSTRALIAN REBELS". The Canberra Times. 43 (12, 145). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 31 October 1968. p. 3. Retrieved 9 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  32. "Air force "created" by Downs man". Sunday Mail (1606). Queensland, Australia. 8 July 1951. p. 5. Retrieved 9 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  33. "Former Rhodesian air chief welcome". The Canberra Times. 43 (12, 288). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 17 April 1969. p. 14. Retrieved 9 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  34. "More than one in five Australians born overseas: Census". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2007-06-27. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
  35. "The Zimbabwe-born Community". Department of Social Services. Australian Government. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
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