Julia Gillard to Australia: 'Look to Asia for our future'

For Australia to keep its place as an international development leader, it must look to Asia.

That’s according to Julia Gillard, the country’s former prime minister, who, in an exclusive interview with Devex, stressed that it is high time for Australia to recognize not just Asia’s economic rise but also the region’s increasing political and cultural importance in the global development landscape.

“What I ought to do if I’m still prime minister is particularly explain to the Australian people that this century we’re in now, whatever else it brings us, it is going to give us Asia’s continued rise,” she said, adding that “everyone needs to understand the rise and changes in our region of the world.”