Australia is no longer the “Terra Australis Incognita”, or “unknown land of the south”. It is very much on the map.

Unfortunately, this also leaves it increasingly buffeted by foreign breezes. The country has now gone an incredible 100 quarters — 25 years — without a recession (defined as two consecutive down quarters). But will Australia’s economy retain its titanium coating? Mining, its mainstay, is scrubbing its way through a very tough patch. And companies from China, Australia’s main trading partner, are no longer lining up to buy what it produces.

Former two-time Prime Minister Kevin Rudd shifted the Australian economy very much toward its neighbouring continent in an effort to play a major role in “Asia’s century”, but that means Australia’s fortunes are intertwined with global forces it cannot control.

In aligning its fortunes with China, is Australia leaving itself exposed to the gale-force winds that have stormed through the