The Australian Diaspora

[Ice Treasure]

The following is an interesting perview of the Aussie Diaspora. I think it makes a reasonable topic for discussion, if people wish to read the article. The link to the original is at the end.

They are the "gold-collar workers", a new class of elite young Australians who are highly paid and highly skilled. They just work anywhere but here.

There are more members of this exclusive club than there are residents of the Northern Territory and Tasmania combined, a one-million-strong worldwide web of Australians who have chosen to live, work and play offshore.

According to some estimates, a good three-quarters will live overseas permanently or at least long term, suggesting that Australia, once the greatest beneficiary of the diasporas of other nations, has started to disperse its own peoples, often to the great advantage of their new hosts.

Now a growing chorus of Australian academics is arguing fiercely that the Federal Government and the private sector need to rethink policy on the so-called cosmocrats, to exploit and capitalise on their talents and skills and perhaps, finally, lure them home.

But according to the latest research authored by the Lowy Institute's Michael Fullilove and Chloe Flutter, while the number of expatriate Australians is growing markedly, concern in the public mind about the so-called brain drain may well be misplaced.

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Advertisement"The reality is both more complex and more hopeful," they say.

"Expatriates can contribute to their home country by influencing trade, investment and philanthropic flows, connecting local organisations to international developments and opportunities and projecting a contemporary national image ... a logical approach for this country is to try to capture more of these benefits: to maximise the possible gains from emigration by engaging more comprehensively with diaspora."

According to the Harvard professor and author Samuel Huntington, economic transnationals are the nucleus of an emerging global superclass, and he estimates there will be 40 million such world citizens by 2010. The Global Business Policy Council defines cosmocrats as an emerging class empowered by globalisation. It includes academics, international public servants and executives in global companies, as well as successful high-technology entrepreneurs in the ranks of this new elite.

Dr Fullilove and Dr Flutter also conducted specialist opinion polling of 1000 people for their report, which also revealed a profound cultural shift in the Australian public's attitudes to prominent Australians abroad.

This, too, overturned the traditionally suspicious "foreign poppy syndrome" attitudes expressed about the first wave of prominent young expatriates such as Germaine Greer and Robert Hughes in past decades.

Rather, the authors found positive responses from interviewees, underpinned by the strong belief that expatriates play both a significant role in building international networks and project a good, strong image of the nation abroad.

Indeed, given Australia's small population, the report notes that a roll call of Australians in top international positions abroad is "extraordinary" and cited one US State Department official who still describes it as "the Axis of Ocker".

In business, Australians head McDonald's, Rio Tinto, Pizza Hut, Santos, Dow Chemical, News Corporation, Polaroid and British Airways. They also hold senior executive positions in IBM, Merrill Lynch, Kellogg's, DuPont and UBS. Iconic US companies like Coca-Cola and Ford, have, until recently, been led by Australians. The editors of the New York Post and The Times of London are Australians.

There are 20 Australian-born and educated professors at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and many British cultural institutions are headed by Australians, including Sadler's Wells Theatre and the London Philharmonic.

The authors' picture of the diaspora is of a highly mobile group that has not turned its back on Australia but whose members remain well disposed to the land of their birth and keen to contribute to it. "Today's diaspora is mobile ... expatriates are now more likely to move back and forward between Australia and other countries as opportunities present and their emotional ties to Australia remain strong."

http://smh.com.au/news/National/The-clever...0227581599.html

[Narachon]

What is the total Australian population anyway? 30 million?

[dek]

What is the total  Australian population anyway? 30 million?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

About 20 Mil.

dek

[dugdig]

I guess Australia turns out a large number of high power executive types. Its not too surprising considering that Australian's have a good dose of the protestant work ethic (I think) and value education. They speak English (well...almost) so they can communicate well in the international corporate job market.....all in all its not too surprising that they turn out this type of person. What I'm wondering is do they all have to leave Australia to flex their managerial muscle because there's just not alot going on in Australia? I'm not trying to arouse anyones temper...I'm ignorant of Australia mostly and would like some Australians (or other people in the know) to comment on whether they see alot or corporate action with upscale managerial possibilities happening there....