Australia's International Affairs

Australia exports many commodities, including coal, iron ore, gold, meat, wool, alumina, wheat, machinery and transport equipment. Interestingly, Australia is the world's largest coal exporter, accounting for nearly 30% of all of the world's coal exports. Much of this coal is exported to China, which has large energy demands.

Australia's imports are items such as machinery and transport equipment, computers and office machines, telecommunication equipment and parts, crude oil and petroleum products. Australia spends approximately $240B on imports, and exports in the neighborhood of $260B a year, based on 2012 economic estimates from the World Book.

Australians use the Australian dollar (AUD) to purchase their goods, which is currently valued at 1.06AUD/USD. It is common to evaluate this exchange rate in Australia, as the strength of the AUD vs. the greenback is important in estimating the strength of exports in future months and years. The AUD has not fluctuated greatly in recent years, staying stable around a range of .97AUD/USD and 1.05AUD/USD.

Many immigrants to Australia come from the United Kingdom, as well as New Zealand. While there are many Americans that move to Australia, the immigration from the UK dwarfs that in proportion - for every one American that becomes a permanent resident in Australia, more than 10 do so from the UK. Other countries with high immigration rates to Australia include China and India - a no-brainer considering their proximity.

As for emigration, Australians are emigrating to the United Kingdom, the United States and New Zealand, with just under 90,000 people leaving permanently in 2010-2011.

Australia has few international affairs, as foreign policy tends to be noninvasive. Interestingly, Australia asserts land and maritime claims over Antarctica. They also have an unsettled dispute with India over the extent of their Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) boundary. Tasmania (though having the cleanest air in the world), is a large producer of opiates, which leads to some problems over government regulation of growth. Other than that, it would seem that Australia is pretty set.