as posted here
KIM Beazley is the best possible choice to be Australia's new ambassador to the US.
The only possible limitation is that, if anything, Beazley has better contacts on the Republican side of the aisle than the Democratic side.
However, Beazley is liked and admired across American politics and across the great institutions of the US government: the Pentagon, the State Department, the Trade Representative and many others.
Beazley, a former defence minister, succeeds Dennis Richardson, a former boss of ASIO.
This demonstrates the high priority national security matters continue to hold in the Australia-US relationship.
The same is true for the intriguing appointment of former opposition leader Brendan Nelson as ambassador to the EU, to Belgium and to a number of multilateral organisations.
Nelson, like Beazley a former defence minister, will be Australia's ambassador to NATO.
Upgrading Australia's relationship with NATO has been a priority for the Rudd government since it came to power; indeed, Kevin Rudd himself attended a NATO summit.
Australia is deeply involved with NATO in Afghanistan, and the government has consistently sought closer, deeper, more intimate input into NATO policy and planning for Afghanistan.
Both Beazley and Nelson will have their work cut out for them making a splash in two of the great centres of global diplomacy, Washington and Brussels.
If anyone can make a splash in Washington, it is the Bomber, as Beazley is affectionately known. His personality, his deep knowledge of military history, his devotion to US history and his long record of involvement in the US-Australian relationship at the highest levels, all contribute to his ability to make an impression in the US.
When Beazley was deputy prime minister, he got deeply involved in the Australian American Leadership Dialogue.
The founder of that dialogue, Phil Scanlan, one of Beazley's closest friends, is now Australia's consul-general in New York.
Beazley knew many of the American participants in the dialogue, such as former deputy secretary of state Rich Armitage, well, and knew them independently before the dialogue was founded in 1993.
However, through the dialogue, he has also become close to such pivotal US figures as Kurt Campbell, the US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific.
The appointments of Beazley and Nelson represent an intelligent use of scarce, high-quality human resources by the Rudd government.
as posted here
Beazley is a good choice. His many years of being overwight may catch up with him. Hopefully not in Washington.
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