United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has applauded
the federal government's strategic white paper on Asian policy
and welcomed Australian-Indian naval vessel exercises in the
future.     Mrs Clinton said it was important for Australia and
the US to work closely together in the region and said the US
had encouraged Delhi to participate more in world affairs.   The
$10 million Perth USAsia Centre is a partnership between the US
Studies Centre (USSC) at the University of Sydney and University
of Western Australia.    Mrs Clinton said it wasn't surprising
that foreign investment in Australia was "soaring" including
more than $100 billion from the US.   WA Premier Colin Barnett
also shared his love of space and joked that as a child he
"wanted to be American" and insisted on being called Sputnik,
prompting a jovial Mrs Clinton to call him "Premier Sputnik".
Senator Chris Evans joked that his teenage son understood
American politics better than Australian politics, highlighting
the bond between the two