Until around the 1960s, the history of Australia was a history of overcoming what Geoffrey Blainey described in his notable book, "The Tyranny of Distance." It was Australia's fate to grope for ways to cope with the "tyranny of distance" and the fact that it was situated more than 25,000 kilometers away from Britain, with which it had the closest political, economic and cultural bonds.

On the other hand, there was what could be regarded as a trick of fortune which lay behind the misfortune of "tyranny." That is to say, the Australians had nothing particular to be concerned about other than maintaining their bonds with Britain. There were no historical discords with neighboring nations to worry about, and there was also no necessity for them to establish and show off to others their own culture and customs.

Australia is often ironically referred to as a "lucky country" following Donald Horne's book, "The Lucky Country," which was talked about in the 1960s and 1970s. That is not because the country is blessed with resorts with blue waters and other tourist resources, abundant mineral resources and its vast national land but rather because, in fact, it has not had any trouble steering its way safely through troubled waters within the international community. (It is also a fact that behind its fate-tricked fortune was a dark side to its history, in terms of its treatment of its native people, which John Pilger exposed in his sensational book, "A Secret Country.")

However, Australia is now being liberated and freed from "the tyranny of distance," "a trick of fate" and the dark "secret" side of its history.

That is because the country is now determined to have closer political, economic and cultural ties with Asian countries. Moreover, for their part, Asian countries, with Japan in the vanguard, are being transformed from poor into affluent countries. This fact has a major significance for Australia because it had hitherto thought that a threat would come from Asia and, for a long period following World War I, had been involved in conflicts with Asians, including the war against Japan, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

However, Asians today are not a threat to Australia but rather represent an opportunity, and are not adversaries but partners. Moreover, among Asian countries, the relationship with Japan is of particular importance, because Japan is the only economically and politically mature country of power within Asia with which Australia can share political, economic and strategic senses of value in the true sense of the words.

Australia needs partners in order to coexist with Asia and Japan is the most suitable partner for it.

Japan can be counted as being a member of the Western world, while following and living Asian traditions. For this country which has such a dual-faceted identity, Australia, which is also in a different sense a country with a dual-faceted identity, can be an ideal partner with which to take joint action within the international community. The more Australians cherish and adhere to Western senses of value and the more the Japanese place emphasis on the maintenance of Asian traditions, the closer and stronger their partnership would become in reality.

This partnership will specifically strengthen United Nations peace-keeping operations (PKO) and other forms of defense cooperation, and help conclude agreements on economic partnerships for energy security and the stable supply of farm produce. Furthermore, it also can be extended to various matters related to the oceans between Japan and Australia, including measures against pollution of the oceans, clamping down on sea pirates, and the development of marine resources.

D. H. Lawrence, in his well-known short novel "The Kangaroo," describes Australia as a country where, more than anything else, people can enjoy freedom.