Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivers a speech at the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia, on Aug. 29, 2019. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)
As a consequence of protectionism and populism, trade now is growing more slowly than the global economy whereas for the previous 40 years, trade growth drove global economic growth, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said.
SYDNEY, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has taken aim at the rise of populist politics around the world, warning that an increase in protectionism will lead to a downturn in global growth.
Addressing a University of Sydney event on Thursday evening, Rudd told Xinhua that the recent move against free trade, partly engineered by the world view of U.S. President Donald Trump, has acted to re-legitimize protectionism among some people, in a way he never imagined would be possible.
"As a consequence, trade is now growing more slowly than the global economy," he said.
"Whereas for the previous 40 years, trade growth actually drove global economic growth."
"So we have economies such as ours (Australia) bumping along the bottom with 1-2 percent growth and many other developed economies much the same, because trade is no longer playing the role it did."
With the current leader of Australia set to travel to Washington next month as part of an official visit to the U.S., Rudd urged Prime Minister Scott Morrison to use the two countries' "special relationship" to engage with President Donald Trump on the issue of the trade war.
"If you're serious in prosecuting the country's and frankly the world's economic interests at the moment, you must use the avenue of this special relationship between Australia and the U.S... to argue a very simple conservative proposition, free trade."
"So the central message for Prime Minister Morrison is to say that free trade... does legitimately raise global living standards including for this country (Australia) as well."
"He (Morrison) has to engage that up front, in my judgement."
