Last night, I was at the Asia Society AustralAsia Centre’s annual dinner with Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank Group.

The Hilton Hotel was filled with the who’s who of Australia’s diplomatic, business, political, and academic worlds.

A former prime minister, a current prime minister (Tonga’s), former premiers, current and former ministers, the consular corps, ceos, vice-chancellors, deans, media moguls, the odd splattering of royalty (Pacific Islander, not European), and me.

The founding director of the AustralAsia Centre, (and my mentor), Dick Woolcott was in conversation with Bob Zoellick on the global economic outlook, key global challenges, debt issues, the changing economic landscape and the rise of China.

Its always interesting to see what the media picks up at these events, what gets reported and what often gets left out or ignored. AAP, AFP, ABC, BBC and various Chinese and Japanese agencies were present, among several others. This morning I had a quick read of what was reported on last night’s conversation. The ABC reports on a new danger zone for the U.S. and Europe. Fairfax and AAP reported on how the Australian economy is well placed.

But Zoellick said a lot more. He spoke of China as a “reluctant stakeholder” in the global financial downtown. The potential of Dutch disease. How India is a blind spot for Australia, in fact he spoke of “the limitations of India in Australia.” He said that when he addresses the Asia Society in the United States, that the questions are varied and India gets as much mention as China along with the rest of Asia. But in Australia, China seems to be the major topic of discussion.

Of what I have seen this morning, none of this got reported. I could be wrong. But the message we need to heed in Australia is this: Asia is a continent that stretches from the Bosphorus to the Sea of Japan, not just one country. Secondly, the world’s largest democracy should not be ignored. The Australian media and the corporate world needs to be reminded of this very so often.

Photo: World Bank president Zoellick steering the global economy (Lin Kuang/FCA).