What the Quad means for Australian business

Foreign Minister Marise Payne will this week host her counterparts from the United States, India and Japan for the fourth “Quad” foreign ministers’ meeting., so the Melbourne meeting is significant not just for the extreme rarity of having the foreign ministers from these vitally important partners in Australia at the one time.AAP

While not an alliance, Quad members want to work more closely together in ways that promote democracy and “universal values” and help create a “durable strategic balance” in the Indo-Pacific that protects their interests. This pits Quad members directly against Beijing’s intent to build a regional order in which it is dominant and countries defer to its interests and authority. The Quad should be understood first and foremost in this context.

The Quad’s agenda is not just security-related in nature. The group pitches itself as geared to respond to major global challenges. The Biden Administration is particularly keen to have Quad countries play a stronger role on climate change. None of these efforts have so far managed to direct investment flows in the way China has, nor counter the grand narrative of BRI. Still, the slowing of infrastructure lending by China in recent years, especially from its policy banks, might provide new opportunities for the Quad countries and Europe to compete more effectively.

In the meantime, US companies have been happy enough to look for advantage in the Chinese market where Australia has left a gap . This isn’t surprising, nor evidence of bad faith – we shouldn’t expect the Quad to override the competitive nature of private-sector driven economies, even when it comes to China.Still, the knitting together of India, Japan and the United States in the Quad and shared concerns about China are helping Australia deepen each of these bilateral relations.

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