I have heard it said, by Sir Michael Parkinson I think, that an Australian is a Yorkshire man with a suntan. This may explain why William Hague looked so much at home during his trip this week to Sydney and Brisbane. Not since 1994, when Douglas Hurd was responsible for foreign policy, has a British foreign secretary paid a visit down under. And, as William Hague openly admitted, its comes in recognition of Australia's enhanced standing in the region and the world at this, the start of the Asia-Pacific century. From a diplomatic perspective, Britain has neglected Australia. This two-day visit was intended as a corrective.

In another example of the new-found premium that Britain attaches to its relationship with Australia, bilateral talks between the two nations - given the awkward acronym, AUKMIN - will take place annually. Australia has what are called in diplomatic jargon "2+2" relations with only three other countries: America, Japan and more recently Indonesia.

This has the feel of a pivotal moment. Certainly, it is interesting to contrast the diplomatic relations of Britain and Australia between this century and last.

For the first 40 years of federation, British foreign policy was essentially Australian foreign policy. When Australia's second prime minister, Alfred Deakin, wanted to complain about the French deportation of convicts to New Caledonia, for example, the message was conveyed by the British ambassador in Paris. When Deakin wanted America's Great White Fleet to visit Australia, again the official invitation was sent via Whitehall to Washington. As Donald Horne pointed out in The Lucky Country: "Even when these colonies federated it was believed that Australia was still not a true nation. Economically, strategically and culturally Australia was defined as part of the British Empire."

Remarkably, it was not until 1944, when Australia signed a security treaty with New Zealand, that the country forged its own, independent foreign policy. Similarly, it was not until World War II that Australia established full, independent diplomatic relations with America, with the opening of an Australian embassy in Washington.

Now, of course, the balance of power has shifted rather dramatically. Asia is the world's great economic powerhouse, and Australia is providing much of the fuel for the engine room, in the form of coking coal and iron ore. Economically, geographically and strategically, the country is very well placed to greatly enhance its regional influence - or to "punch well above its weight," in the much-favoured diplomatic argot - over the coming decades. Of course, one of Kevin Rudd's big ideas as prime minister was to attempt to institutionalize this influence through the creation of an Asia-Pacific community modeled on the European Union. Even though Julia Gillard has downgraded this as a national priority - and signalled that she is not much interested in foreign affairs - moves are already afoot to create what Richard Wolcott, the former diplomat tasked by Rudd with promoting the idea, calls a "small-c" community.

Worried about not wielding great influence in the most populous and economically active part of the world, Britain is being forced to play catch-up. That is one of the reasons why the new coalition government is placing new emphasis on the Commonwealth, this loose historical alliance of 54 nations. In a speech at Sydney's Lowy Institute, Hague noted: "We are consciously shifting Britain's diplomatic weight to the east and to the south." He argued that "new sources of opportunity and prosperity" required Britain "to look east as never before".

Ever the diplomat, Hague tried not to mention our cricketing heroics during his short stay. But what if there was a diplomatic version of the Ashes. By mid-century, which country would be holding aloft that terracotta urn?

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There are times when you just have to give in to the national stereotypes, and these past few weeks in Queensland has been one of them.

Regular readers of this blog know that I think outsiders commonly get a lot wrong about the land down under. For a country that prides itself on being so laid back, it can be surprisingly and infuriatingly authoritarian and nannyish. It is strongly state-orientated when the tendency is to think of a shoulder-to-shoulder, fiercely unified nation. For all the national mythology about the bush and the outback, it is also hugely urbanised. Aussies have even slipped a long way down the world drinking ladder.

The misappropriation of the phrase The Lucky Country always serves as a useful reminder of the misunderstandings. It started life in the early-1960s as a term of disparagement - it was coined, of course, by the journalist Donald Horne - and only later became a boast.

Some of what we have witnessed in Brisbane these past few days offers proof of all this. The state premier, Anna Bligh, spoke tearfully, and with great Queenslander pride, of the people who live "north of the border," as if the residents of this state are a breed apart. Super-Australians, if you like.

I dare say there were a few people in the bush who, while sympathetic, had a wry smile when they pondered how Brisbane's latte-drinking city dwellers would cope with such massive flooding. Perhaps there are even a few officers in the Queensland police who have rather enjoyed having even more latitude in telling people what to do.

And I know for a fact there were a few New South Welshman who delighted in seeing the Suncorp rugby stadium under water, having been pummelled there so often in the State of Origin rugby league (a producer in London suggested I say that the stadium had been "marooned," not realising the Queensland side are known as the maroons).

For all that, the public reaction to the floods conforms much more closely to how the rest of the world prefers to think of Aussies. Assumed Australia has been very much in evidence.

There has been an extraordinary grittiness in evidence. Yesterday, I reckon I ran into about six or seven Allan Borders. People have shown extraordinary resilience and stoicism. There has been a wonderful laugh-out-loud humour. People have, on occasions, been extraordinarily laid back. Even in Brisbane yesterday, the "No worries mate" and "she'll be right" spirit was strongly in evidence as people mopped out their homes.

Anyone worried about the demise of the Australian larrikin will have hopefully have been reassured to see our pictures yesterday of a bunch of surf dudes, as if out of central casting, taking to the muddy waters with beers in their hands. This, after all, is the home of Castlemaine XXXX - in fact, the area around its main brewery has been flooded. I've lost count of people we have filmed kicking back on the verandas of their Queenslander homes, these bungalows on stilts, while the waters have risen underneath them.

People have mucked in. Yesterday when we filmed home-owners mopping up their homes, they were helped by dozens of volunteers who the residents did not even know. So many were wearing Aussie clothing, from Akubra hats to ball-crushing shorts that seemed to hail from the era of World Series Cricket. Needless to say, many turned out in the dress of urbanites across this land: tight-fitting Lycra.

I will long remember the site of a barista wading through the waters clutching his coffee machine; the man who emerged from the floodwaters with a box full of top-notch wine (most of it came from New Zealand, curiously), and the kid who rescued his surf board. I enjoyed the mayor of Ipswich, an uncomplicated bloke in an uncomplicated sort of place, who suggested that looters be used as floodmarkers.

And we have not even got the bullsharks.

This has been an awful week for the people of Queensland, and especially for those living in Toowoomba and Grantham. But the response and spirit has been a marvel to witness.

And stereotypes are sometimes a little like floodwaters. Sometimes, there's no point in trying to hold them back.

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Not yet two weeks old, 2011 has already made a mockery of predictions. Who would have thought that Queensland would have experienced such awful flooding? They have continued this week, of course, with some especially violent and frightening flash floods in Toowomba. Now the rising waters are rolling south towards Brisbane, the country's third-largest city, although the Queensland capital is much better equipped to deal with them than it was in 1974, when 14 people were killed and 6,700 homes inundated.

So here are a few predictions for the next 12 months:

The political cringe: Of the changes to have overtaken Australia in recent years, two are by far the most glaring to the international eye. The first is the decline of Australian cricket. The second is an equally steep fall-off in the quality of Australian politics. Just as the Australian test team was never going to withstand the loss of so many world-class players, nor has Canberra. John Howard, Peter Costello, Kim Beazley, Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull. Retirement, retrenchment and relegation has taken out some strong performers. So I suspect the debate will intensify about the quality of Australia's polity, and the performances of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott. Is it now possible to talk of Australia's political cringe?

Political battle royal: The roll out of the National Broadband Network will be the hot-button political issue of the year, and a highly emblematic one at that. Labor will point to it as proof of an ambitious reform agenda, while the Liberals will argue that it is a colossal waste of money and that cheaper technologies would be adequate. Malcolm Turnbull, one of the Liberal party's most effective communicators, will lead the charge.

Safest political bet: The deeply unpopular Labor government in New South Wales will be ousted from power, although the Liberal-led coalition will fail to generate much enthusiasm from voters. The election will offer more proof of Australia's political cringe.

Secession: Given that the Queensland economy will take months to rebound from the floods, Western Australia will race even further ahead than the rest of the country as Australia's most economically vibrant state. Could talk of secession move from the fringes to the mainstream in WA?

Economy: The Reserve Bank will continue its policy of hiking interest rates from their post global financial crisis emergency levels. Australian retailers will be badly hit, heightening demands for the GST, the Australian sales tax, to be levied on internet shopping. It could become the business lobby's cause of the year, although Julia Gillard has already indicated that she plans to leave internet shopping alone. Organic food is apparently slated as the big growth industry of 2011.

Tourism: With her Australian shows to be broadcast early this year, the much-vaunted "Oprah Effect" will vie with the "Strong Aussie Dollar Effect."

Culture: The veteran Australian actress Jacki Weaver will win a major Hollywood award, perhaps the Golden Globe, for her mesmerising performance as the matriarch of a Melbourne crime family in Animal Kingdom. Geoffrey Rush will no doubt win his second Oscar for his role as an Australian speech therapist in The King's Speech.

Sport: After last year's disappointment, St Kilda will win the Aussie Rules grand final. Queensland will win the State of Origin yet again, while the Melbourne Storm will rebound to take the NRL grand final. The Wallabies will lose out to the All Blacks in the World Cup, but play some very attractive rugby in the process with the youngsters Quade Cooper, Kurtley Beale and James O'Connor emerging as three stars of the tournament. I have a strange feeling that Ricky Ponting will survive the year as the captain of the Australian cricket team, partly because Cricket Australia will want to blood his possible long-term replacement, Tim Paine of Tasmania.

On that front, thanks for all the responses to that last Ashes blog; a real Matt Prior of the genre, a quick-fire century on the comments front, in the wake of a few Michael Clarkes. A highly entertaining thread, and some fiercely divergent responses.....

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