I think the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is a wonderful destination for economics
graduates.
It's the chance to work on very real and very current issues.
I think if you're coming into the department with an economics degree you should be expecting
to take the way of thinking like an economist and thinking about the world and using that
on a variety of issues, complex demanding issues, where you really feel like you're
making a difference.
DFAT's mission within government is to promote Australia's foreign interests and they include
economic and trade interests.
Australia is an open economy and so understanding the global economy and the opportunities for
Australia's exporters and investors abroad is key to promoting our national interests.
One of the real drawcards of DFAT is the work that you do at the department is almost always
high profile.
A lot of issues that Australia deals with like energy security have a very important
economic aspect to them so to understand the new world order you really have to understand
international economics.
DFAT's a good destination for economics graduates who would like to work on Australia's trade
agenda both in terms of the multilateral trade arrangements in the WTO, there's a chance
to work on some very interesting issues that confront the multilateral trading regime.
DFAT takes the lead on free trade negotiations and DFAT does a lot of work with Australian
businesses to try and help them to sell their products and services to overseas markets.
As I've progressed I've been able to do different things.
You're never in the one job for more than 2 or 3 years.
The work is so diverse across the department, you never get stale.
I've worked in trade and economic areas as a specialist and as a generalist for 10 years
including at our delegation to the OECD in Paris where I helped shape Australia's views
on key matters of international policy setting, and more recently in APEC where Australia
focuses on getting the most out of our region through trade and investment links.
I currently work in the Free Trade agreement Division and am working on the free trade
agreement negotiations with China, Japan and South Korea.
We're currently undertaking those three as well as some others I only work on those three.
Each free trade agreement is different, each has its own issues and that makes each particular
negotiation very interesting.
I did a six month rotation on the China Economic and Trade Desk in the North Asia Division
and what we were doing was looking at the Chinese economy and developments in Australia's
bilateral trade with China, looking at the direction of those things and seeing how they
would influence our foreign and trade policy objectives.
I'm the Congressional Liaison Officer in Washington DC so what that means is I run the Congressional
Liaison Office in the Embassy.
It just so happens that I'm here at a time or in the wake of the global financial crisis.
The US Congress is considering a whole range of measures to try to stimulate the economy
and create jobs so it's very valuable for me in analysing these proposals, having that
base economics background.
Economics Graduates will play a key role at Australia's posts.
Australia's engagement with the world is increasingly through trade and investment and it's important
that Australia and the Government understands the economic conditions within a particular
economy, how those conditions impact on traders and investors, but also more broadly how Australia
can work more co-operatively with that country in promoting our economic interests internationally.
I was our Second Secretary, Economic, in Malaysia and I was there just before and during the
Asian economic crisis back in 1997, 98 and that had a huge impact on the Malaysian economy
and then in turn obviously on Australia.
Malaysia was one of our top ten trading partners at the time and there was a need to provide
real time and very quick analysis back to Australia that could inform our Ministers
and the Government on the implications for us of what was happening in Asia.
As economic issues become more and more intertwined with national security and foreign policy
issues, I've felt there has been a real demand in the department for somebody with economic
acumen and a financial understanding.