Sensible countries focus their foreign policy on what's clearly in their national interest. That's why I keep saying that the next Coalition government's foreign policy would have a "Jakarta focus rather than a Geneva one". What happens in our region usually matters more to us than what happens elsewhere. What's more, we can usually better influence what happens in our region.

We should also avoid big talk without actions to match. This was Kevin Rudd's problem as Foreign Minister. On Libya, nuclear arms proliferation and "action" on climate change he never shut up. Often he had worthy things to say. The likes of Barack Obama, David Cameron and Benjamin Netanyahu might even have been grateful for his advice. But on people smuggling, the live cattle trade with Indonesia and stability in Papua New Guinea, he went missing in action.

Missing in action on several big issues ... Kevin Rudd.

Perhaps this is because he didn't agree with the Prime Minister. Perhaps this is because she tried to gag her chief rival. Either way, the government has clearly mismanaged issues vital to our long-term national interest. In the world's eyes, we often seem meddlesome, but not effective; busy, but not really influential. The Rudd/Gillard approach is the opposite of Teddy Roosevelt's dictum: "Speak softly and carry a big stick."

As foreign minister, Rudd visited Liechtenstein before he made it to PNG. He didn't think it odd that Australia is the third-largest aid donor to Libya. At the UN, Australia joined the minute's silence following the death of Korean despot Kim Jong-il while our usual friends boycotted the event. Clearly, Labor's obsession with winning a temporary seat on the UN Security Council is warping our priorities. For example, the government has softened Australia's support for Israel, the only mature democracy in the Middle East.