Well Dino, I'm not sure I want to give the floor up, I want to hear more pantun from you. I think that for those of us with some Irish heritage, perhaps the pantun is the equivalent of a limerick, but I think the pantun sounds much better than most limericks that I've heard in my time.
Can I begin by saying how delighted I am to join everyone this afternoon, from the Australian Embassy here in Jakarta, for a discussion on the strong partnership between our two countries and our work together in the Indo-Pacific.
Dino, I know you said there were some Ambassadors, diplomats and journalists and others online. I can already see some familiar faces, some familiar faces who have served Indonesia in Canberra over time and it's an absolute pleasure to be here with you all this afternoon. And, of course, some faces of Australian diplomats that also appear to be online, so let me acknowledge them as well.
I really want to thank the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia for hosting this virtual forum, so to you Dino and your team, thank you very much for this opportunity. And can I particularly congratulate you on the work of FPCI, it is renowned, it is highly regarded, and I am honoured to have an opportunity to contribute.
I am also really grateful, if I may say, to the Indonesian Government for such a warm welcome during our visit here today. As Dino said, Minister to Defence, Peter Dutton, and I have held our 2+2 with Ministers Retno Marsudi and Prabowo Subianto today. Australia and Indonesia have held seven 2+2's, since I think 2012. Retno Marsudi and I have been at five of those, in my two incarnations and in her role as Foreign Minister.
So, it is an absolute pleasure to have the opportunity to participate again, and today to also address Indonesia's foreign policy and security community - as I have previously done here in my former role as Defence Minister, when I spoke at the National Resilience Institute, Lemhannas, just a few years ago now.
There's more to talk about now than there was then, it's a very dynamic environment in which we find ourselves. And having had the opportunity to meet today with my very good friends and colleagues, as I said, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi also this afternoon with Minister Bintang [Darmawati], the Minister of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection. A couple of things we have noted include, in fact, that it is so good to be able to meet face-to-face again.
The virtual format has a lot to be said for it, but I know those of you in the virtual room who are diplomats, those of you in the virtual room who understand the power and the strength of people-to-people relationships, absolutely know that the opportunity to be here in person means a great deal, so thank you very much for that.
Ladies and gentlemen, Australia and Indonesia are natural partners.
We are partners by virtue of our geography - sharing the world's longest maritime border.
We are partners on account of our shared histories - woven through generations, reaching back to the earliest days of trade between Makassar and Australia's Indigenous peoples, through to the dawn of Indonesian independence.
Our partnership has flourished as our countries achieved greater prosperity - propelled by our growing economies, trade, and engagement. And in August of 2018, our President and Prime Minister respectively agreed to elevate the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Importantly, we have also found strength and solace, each of us, in our partnership in times of great adversity - through financial crises, through terrorist attacks, through devastating natural disasters including Australia's bushfires last year, when Indonesia sent two TNI platoons of around 60 engineers to help Operation Bushfire Assist.
And our partnership has grown, particularly through our deep community and personal ties - including through the bustling exchange of tourism, of students, business, diaspora, and culture.
Australia and Indonesia have forged a close and enduring partnership that will hold us in good stead as we look ahead to the many challenges and opportunities our countries face.
Importantly, this partnership also affords us the strongest possible base from which we can continue to grow and support the health, prosperity, security, and stability of our Indo-Pacific region.
Today, I will talk about these two points - I'll take stock of how our partnership is developing and evolving; and talk about our work towards realising a strong future for our region.
Firstly, I think it is important to recognise both the magnitude of the change and the lasting impacts brought about by COVID-19 on both of our countries, and on our region.
The health, humanitarian and economic impacts on Indonesian communities have been devastating.
The virus has profoundly affected our communities and our ways of life.
Across the Indo-Pacific, health systems have been put under extraordinary strain. Lives have been lost. Livelihoods have been disrupted. Communities and families have been separated. And economies have been damaged.
COVID-19 is a powerful reminder that our countries, and the wellbeing of our peoples, are deeply interwoven.
Our region relies on, and benefits from, a healthy, prosperous, and resilient Indonesia.
That's why Australia has been proud to work in partnership with Indonesia - our close friend and neighbour - to address this pandemic.
Through our partnership, Australia has already shared 1 million AstraZeneca doses with Indonesia, as part of our commitment to share 2-and-a-half million vaccine doses in 2021, as Minister Marsudi and I announced on the 7th of July.
These doses, together with Australian support of $107 million for vaccine procurement will see approximately 13 million vaccine doses delivered to Indonesia.
And in addition, through our partnership, we will work with a range of NGOs, UN agencies, community organisations and provincial governments in Indonesia to support their response to COVID-19, with a focus on the needs of local communities and health systems.
This expanded cooperation builds on other commitments I announced, also in July, of oxygen related and other medical equipment, over 40,000 rapid antigen test kits, of which 1,000 ventilators, 700 concentrators and 20,000 test kits have already been delivered.
During a crisis, in which timeliness of support is crucial, we have been able to partner with you to deliver the health support that was announced on the 7th of July, as I said, following my discussion with Foreign Minister Marsudi.
Our partnership also enabled the rapid pivot of our development program in the early days of the pandemic, so that it was responding to Indonesia's immediate health, humanitarian, and economic priorities.
And we've accelerated and scaled new partnerships in health security and in crisis management, both announced during President Widodo's visit to Australia in February of 2020.
For example, our Partnership in Disaster Risk Management program is helping contain the spread of the virus, implement public health awareness campaigns, supply essential goods, help businesses to identify new opportunities, and to improve food security.
It has also focused on the most vulnerable groups in the community, including women and girls, people with disabilities, and the poor.
For its part, Indonesia is also playing a key role in the region's recovery and I would like to particularly recognise Foreign Minister Marsudi as co-chair of the COVAX Advanced Market Commitment, or AMC, Engagement Group. AMC has raised nearly US$10 billion to vaccinate almost 30% of the adult population in AMC countries by mid-2022, including over 171 million people in our own region. Since the start of this year, it has distributed over 49 million vaccine doses to Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Australia's partnership with Indonesia is emblematic of the strength of our friendship.
But it also speaks to a broader recognition that Indonesia occupies a special place in our region - a place of leadership, economic opportunity, and strategic importance. And Australia, like so many countries, has a very real interest in seeing Indonesia succeed.
I want to emphasise just how strongly Indonesia figures in Australia's thinking as an emerging economic giant, who is also a friend, a neighbour, with whom we have many aligned interests, many shared values, and an enormous potential for further expanding ties.
The pandemic has also served as a timely reminder of the value of cooperation and openness in our region, and reinforced the importance of working together to achieve the kind of region in which we want to live.
Just as viruses and variants in any one country can impact the health security of our whole region - so too can instability, insecurity, or economic recession cross borders.
Australia and Indonesia are so fortunate to call the Indo-Pacific home. We live in the most dynamic, innovative, and prosperous region in the world.
Our region is also in a period of strategic competition, and the active participation of countries like Australia and Indonesia is important. Not only to advocate and defend the interests of our own countries, but also, to protect and advance the interests of our region as a whole.
Australia wants to see an Indo-Pacific region that embraces engagement and cooperation over coercion, that upholds the rights and sovereignty of countries, regardless of their size or power.
We want to live in a region that empowers all countries - big and small - to engage and prosper in an open, inclusive, and rules-based environment.
A region that supports a level playing field, based on international laws and norms, to guide healthy competition and ensure that competition does not lead to conflict or instability.
And a region that works together to bolster resilience, so we can together, foster new opportunities and deal with challenges, like COVID-19, as they emerge.
Australia's vision for the future of our region has ASEAN at its centre.
It's principally a shared vision, underpinned by shared principles.
ASEAN's Outlook on the Indo-Pacific - of which Indonesia has been a leading proponent - resonates strongly with our own Indo-Pacific vision including principles of ASEAN centrality, openness, transparency, inclusivity, and a rules-based region.
We discussed these principles last month when we held the ASEAN-Australia post-Ministerial Conference, the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers Meeting, and the ASEAN Regional Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting.
Australia strongly believes that the principles enshrined in the ASEAN Outlook should guide the post-pandemic order in the region.
And in support of the Outlook, Australia is committed to concrete cooperation under the four key areas that it outlines - maritime, connectivity, the SDG's (sustainable development goals) and economic development.
Australia's vision seeks to provide positive and practical choices for countries in our neighbourhood Australia and Indonesia are working together, and with our international and ASEAN partners, to achieve this.
Southeast Asia is central to this regional vision, and Southeast Asia and ASEAN are the fulcrum of Australia's Indo-Pacific approach. Which is why Australia is finding new opportunities to engage in Southeast Asia including through ASEAN.
We're working with partners to implement major new initiatives across Southeast Asia, which the Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, and I announced last year.
Together, we will deliver on tangible, targeted, sustainable, and effective programs that are tailored to meet the needs of local communities and implemented in partnership with local governments and organisations, including, for example:
- Support for sustainable and high-quality infrastructure
- Scholarships and training to build the capacity of the people in the Mekong sub-region
- Sharing technical knowledge to strengthen trade and investment across the region
- Working to bolster environmental sustainability, respond to climate change, improve water security, and to combat marine pollution.
We've also enhanced support to ASEAN initiatives in response to the pandemic, including ASEAN's recovery framework - its own roadmap out of the pandemic - and to the establishment of an ASEAN Centre for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases.
Together and individually, these initiatives will make a real difference to our region's response to, and recovery from, the pandemic.
We believe that engaging with ASEAN and supporting our partners in Southeast Asia is one of the best investments Australia can make in a stronger, more prosperous, and more secure future for our region.
The same is true, ladies and gentlemen, of our partnership with Indonesia which Prime Minister Morrison and I, along with our entire cabinet, and government colleagues are committed to expanding.
In an increasingly interconnected and fast paced world - in which trends and developments both positive and negative, have been accelerated and exacerbated by COVID-19 - our partnership positions us well to both seize opportunities and tackle future global challenges together.
We are increasing our cooperation in both minilateral and regional groupings, including the Indian Ocean Rim Association, or IORA.
As two Indo-Pacific nations whose territories face both oceans, it's only natural for Australia and Indonesia to be leading voices in this space.
We continue to expand our cooperation to address constantly evolving regional threats including:
- Maritime and marine resource security;
- Countering the threat of terrorism;
- Emerging cyber and critical technology challenges; and
- Dealing with emerging threats to our security, including from disinformation.
One of our most important areas of cooperation over the coming years will be in addressing climate change.
We are expanding our green energy cooperation to meet the challenge of our changing climate.
And we are working together, along with international partners, on the global effort toward green economies, decarbonisation, and green hydrogen.
Australia is a good partner for the supercharging of Indonesia's digital economy, the rise of Indonesian unicorns, and the rapid emergence of digital proficiency.
We can also do more, together, to secure essential supply chains, including for critical minerals needed to expand Indonesia's high-tech manufacturing.
Research and development is central to our ability to innovate, to enable change, and seize these opportunities. We can therefore build on the work being done by Australian and Indonesian leading universities and institutions, such as between the CSIRO and Indonesia's Eijkman Institute on vaccine platform development.
And of course, a cornerstone of our relationship is our strong economic ties.
Indonesia is becoming economically more important both to Australia and the region.
You are a trillion US-dollar economy and one of the world's fastest growing consumer markets.
And within a generation, Indonesia will be the fourth or fifth largest economy.
So, Indonesia presents huge economic opportunities, and we are committed to help realise these.
One year on from entry into force, the IA-CEPA - our bilateral comprehensive economic partnership agreement - provides the foundation for enhanced economic cooperation and enabling the growth of alternative market options.
We are looking to reinvigorate business and community links as we recover from COVID-19. Getting Indonesian students back to Australia, Australian tourists back to Indonesia, and business connecting and reaping the benefits of our trade agreements.
And, of course, we are partnering closely with Indonesia as the 2022 G20 president - that presidency that will come at an absolutely critical time in the world's economic recovery from this pandemic. It occupied some part of our discussion today for that very reason.
Finally, I want to touch on an area that, I think, lends particularly special credence to our relationship. That is: the values that we share.
We are proud democratic countries, and therefore have much common ground in the way we engage and deal with challenges and opportunities.
We approach our respective foreign policies from the standpoint of inclusion, and cooperation.
That means that we are proud of our democratic systems, but do not seek to impose or export them.
We work with democracies and traditional partners, as well as those with different political systems who share our interests.
And we seek to exercise smart diplomacy - understanding the viewpoints and concerns of our counterparts and finding innovative ways to align interests.
That's part of what makes Indonesia and Australia effective and influential globally and regionally.
It is also an approach that my Prime Minister and I are committed to continuing.
That includes working together to stand up for the rights of women and girls in our region and indeed, further afield. It includes our engagement with major powers and our advocacy of a durable regional strategic balance.
It means working together to support a level playing field and protecting the rules and norms that guide engagement between all countries.
And it means our shared support for, and engagement with, the most important piece of our regional architecture - ASEAN.
We have seen ASEAN seek a resolution to the crisis in Myanmar, since the coup in February
I want to recognise Indonesia's leadership within ASEAN, including its important role at the Special ASEAN Leaders' Meeting on Myanmar in April, here in Jakarta.
Australia will continue to use our voice to strongly advocate for the ASEAN Special Envoy to be given appropriate access in Myanmar with all parties, to deliver a way forward.
We also look forward to working closely with Indonesia as ASEAN Chair in 2023 to advance the mutual interests that we share and of which I have spoken.
Friends it is my firm belief that this is a natural, long-term partnership to which Australia is deeply committed.
Our cooperation matters to each of our countries.
And our commitment to engagement and practical action is fundamental to building a more secure and prosperous region.
Our visit to Jakarta this week does indeed come at a challenging time for both of our countries. But I think there is also cause for cautious optimism about the future.
COVID-19 has shown that even in our darkest hours, we can find strength through our partnerships.
The rapid development and deployment of vaccines globally has shown us the extraordinary power of human endeavour and innovation. We know there is more to be done.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Australia-Indonesian partnership is in strong shape.
We have a busy agenda ahead of us, and I am delighted to be in Jakarta once again to take this forward.
Thank you.
