In September 2008, turmoil in the U.S. financial market spread to the entire world, triggering a global financial crisis. Economies throughout the world suffered negative impacts; among the major advanced economies, only Australia was able to avoid a recession. Australia's real gross domestic product (GDP) began to grow in fiscal 1991, and has continued its growth. This period of growth has been termed "unprecedented both in Australia's economic history and among other developed economies over this period". Australia's growth can be attributed to increased world demand for its natural resources, such as coal, iron ore, copper, and natural gas. This leads to the impression that Australia really is "the lucky country". However, has the mining industry really played a critical role in this long-lasting economic growth? This essay analyzes factors in Australia's long growth using the growth accounting method. Although previous research has been conducted in this area by the Productivity Commission of Australia and the International Monetary Fund, there do not appear to be any comparative studies with Japan, which has been suffering from prolonged poor economic performance since the early 1990s. Comparison with Australia, which has enjoyed economic growth over almost the same period, may provide valuable suggestions for Japan. This paper will offer an overview of Australia's economic structure by analyzing the contribution ratio of each of the nation's industries to GDP, and will consider the character of the Australian economy by comparing it with Japan and the U.S. It will also discuss the role of immigrants, who have increased Australia's human capital. In conclusion, it will show that the Australian economy has not always depended on the mining industry, but that its long-lasting growth has been brought about by consistent strategic economic policy even in the face of changes of government.

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Since the 1980s, the Japanese food industry in Australia has developed dramatically, and Japanese-style food such as sushi and sashimi has become popular among the Australian population. Although previous research has studied the reasons for this phenomenon, it has overlooked the significance of the recruitment of Japanese to work in the industry. Taking this research trend into consideration, this study examines the process by which Japanese working holiday-makers (WHMs) who work in the Japanese food industry in Australia travel to the country, in addition to their working situation in Australia. In doing so, it attempts to conceptualize the role of the Australia-Japan working holiday program in the development of the industry. The author conducted fieldwork in Australia as part of this study. This included an interview survey of Japanese WHMs and participant observation of a Japanese restaurant in Melbourne. The data collected through this fieldwork produced the following three findings: 1) Highly-skilled Japanese workers such as chefs and managers tend to travel to Australia on working holiday visas, and change their status of residence to working visas when they are sure of their working and living situations in Australia; 2) Japanese WHMs tend to accept low-paid jobs in the Japanese food industry, for example as kitchen hands and waiters, due mainly to their lack of English skills; 3) Japanese WHMs who take on low-paid jobs in the industry are trying to improve the quality of their working lives through self-help efforts and collective action, for example by seeking complementary rewards, creating original games, enjoying conversation with customers, and receiving informal support from managers. They are attempting to gain a feeling of pleasure and satisfaction through such activities instead of demanding that their employers improve their working conditions. These findings have led to the conclusion that the Australia-Japan working holiday program plays two roles in the development of the Japanese food industry in Australia. First, it facilitates matching between highly-skilled workers and employers. Second, it provides a pool of cheap and obedient workers for the industry. Employers can take advantage of the program both to recruit highly-skilled workers and to reduce labor costs.

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This paper focuses on the Serbia-born Australian writer B. Wongar, and examines his photographic collection Totem and Ore (2006) and "Nuclear Cycle" of writings, including Walg (1983), Karan (1986), Gobo Djara (1988), and Raki (1994). After immigrating to Australia and living with Aboriginal people in West Arnhem Land in the 1960s, Wongar became aware of the devastating impact of uranium mining and the British nuclear weapons testing of the 1950s on the nation's tribal Aboriginal people. He took more than 1,000 photographs during the 1960s and 1970s, mainly in the Northern Territory and Central Australia, in order to capture this dual nuclear tragedy of the indigenous people. Later, this nuclear theme would appear in his series of novels collectively known as the "Nuclear Cycle". Based on Wongar's autobiography and interviews carried out by the author, this paper first investigates the background to Wongar's photographic collection and its exhibition in the 1970s. This is followed by a close reading of Wongar's texts and an analysis of the "nuclear criticism" which Wongar presents in his "Nuclear Cycle". As a result of his homeland Serbia's experience over the course of the last century, including the Ottoman occupation, Nazi occupation, communist dictatorship, and the bloodshed of the 1990s, Wongar was in a position to understand the human disaster in Australia. By relating Aboriginal experiences to Serbian experiences, he was able to initiate a nuclear criticism encompassing multifaceted and profoundly imaginative perspectives. Wongar's works have been neglected and under-appreciated in Australia as a result of intense controversy over their subject matter. This paper attempts to re-evaluate Wongar's literary contribution as part of world literature in the post-Fukushima era.

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'Choosing' between two alternatives is always at the core of Australian foreign policy debates. As reflected in current discourses, the seemingly conflicting choice this time is between the nation's alliance relationship with the United States and its economic partnership with China. Although various governments have consistently denied the need to choose, the concern about being forced to make such a choice is evident. This essay argues that this 'binary choice' is a false policy presumption. First, Australia does not have to choose because a redistribution of power is still in progress, and the nature of China's rise is not yet clear. No major actor in international relations, including the United States, is ready to commit to a particular course of foreign policy towards China. Hedging their bets therefore represents the best strategy for middle powers like Australia. Second, Australia would not be 'choosing' as defined by the rationalist tradition, because there are built-in factors that are shaping the 'choices' and guiding its 'choosing.' Among these are culture, ideology, experiences of interaction and level of trust. Third, the issue is beyond Australia's choosing because its national interests lie in a regional order, the making of which is not a matter of its choosing. The development of regional politics will not even necessarily be decided by an agreement between the United States and China. Complicated alliance networks may trap the United States in foreign policy dilemmas and put it on a slippery slope. Therefore, Australia should not narrow its perspective to the relations between the United States and China, but rather take a broader regional or even global view.

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