Despite several high-profile disagreements, the bilateral relationship between Australia and Malaysia has been strong, particularly in defence, trade and education, said Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia Peter Varghese.
In an exclusive interview with malaysiakini on Tuesday, the envoy said the two countries "do a lot of good things together" although this had not always been conveyed in the media.
However, he conceded that there is a difference in view regarding Australia's participation in regional institutions.
"We take the view that Australia has something constructive to contribute to regional discussions on security, trade, finance and investment.
"Malaysia has taken a restrictive view on regional organisations and that they should be restricted to Asian countries.
"We haven't been able to bridge that difference," said the Australian envoy, describing his country as one of the most East-Asian-oriented economies in the world.
Asked if Australia could have been spurned because of its outspokenness on democracy and human rights, Varghese said while some countries may feel a "Western society based on liberal democracy" like Australia is unnatural for an East Asian grouping, this should not be an obstacle because of the core business of regional institutions.
"The effective core of these organisations, if they were to succeed, would be on the basis of strengthening regional security and economy rather than becoming a cultural festival or a grouping of so-called Asian values," he said.
'Recalcitrant' Mahathir
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been a long-term opponent to Australia being a part of any Southeast Asian or East Asian regional groupings on the basis that it is not "Asian".
This was displayed as recently as Wednesday, when the premier, who was asked if Australia could be admitted into Asean, replied: "When you are Asian, we'll think about it."
The relationship between the two countries first became frosty in 1986 when the then Australian prime minister Bob Hawke described Malaysia's hanging of two convicted Australian drug traffickers as "barbaric".
In 1993, a diplomatic row erupted between the two nations when another former Australian prime minister, Paul Keating, called Mahathir "recalcitrant" for not attending the first Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in the United States.
Although Mahathir appears to be on better relations with current premier John Howard, he delivered another snub by refusing to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Brisbane last year.
Meanwhile, Varghese said the bilateral relationship between the two countries is expected to continue being a "very positive and healthy one" when Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi becomes prime minister next year.
On June 22, Mahathir announced his retirement and named Abdullah as his successor. Mahathir will officially step down after chairing the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) meet in Kuala Lumpur next October.
"[Abdullah] has been to Australia on a number of occasions. He was the foreign minister for a period and had a lot to do with Australia at that time. He was at CHOGM last year and I think he knows Australia reasonably well," said Varghese.
Political culture
On the controversial visit by the late PAS president Fadzil Noor to Australia, the envoy explained that the former opposition leader was not invited.
According to Varghese, the PAS leader, who passed away on June 23, was making a private visit when he met Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.
"In our country there's nothing unusual with the foreign minister meeting the leader of the opposition of a country that Australia has a lot to do with. It's our political culture and it wasn't signalling anything specific about Malaysia," he added.
Asked to comment on Mahathir's likening of Fadzil's visit to Malaysians begging for help from white people, Varghese said: "Images about the old, white colonial Australia is very out of date. Australia is a different country now."
One way to update people's views about Australia, Varghese said, was through education.
He added there are currently some 13,000 Malaysians studying in Australia, making the country the most popular destination for local students.
The final part of the Q&A, Envoy: Australia plays a relevant role in Asia , is available in the Opinions/Features section today, only to subscribers.
