Q&A – IISS Shangri-La Dialogue 2023
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you referenced Singapore Prime Minister Lee’s recent speech in China. Singapore’s Defence Minister Dr. Ng Eng Hen was in Australia recently. And there he mentioned some very positive things about Australia’s potential to play a bigger role in the region and welcomed Australia’s future submarines to call into Singapore’s ports. But he also said something surprising, at least I found it surprising, that he said that Australia was not just an Indo-Pacific country, but an Asian country. And it’s interesting to me because it’s not just about Australia’s strategic interests, but Australia’s strategic identity. And although I suspect that went down well in Canberra, that identity has other claims upon it. Australia claims to be part of the South Pacific family. Australia has two formal allies – New Zealand and the United States. Both are members of the Five Eyes intelligence community, which is anglophone in nature, and although the Anglosphere is seen as somewhat passe, it also has a claim, I think, in some senses to Australia’s strategic identity. So I would just be interested how that sits with your definition of Australia’s strategic identity. How would you define it? And where would you locate it?
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, thanks very much for the question. We are, like other nations, a product of our history. And our history is, with the exception of the oldest continuous culture on earth, which is still there, that we are proud of, we are a former, of course, British colony, but located with Asia to our north, the Pacific Ocean to our east and the Indian Ocean indeed, importantly, as well, to our west. We’re a large nation. We value our alliances which are there and were forged during the Second World War under John Curtin, the then-Prime Minister said we turn to the United States. Ever since then, that relationship has been critical. But we are also part of the Pacific family. But we are also a strategic partner as well. Importantly, with ASEAN. And if you look at my personal engagement and the engagement of my Government, historically, as well, particularly Labor governments have looked to our north. Our Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, has visited all of the ASEAN nations and every single Pacific Island Forum nation as well. I myself have visited Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia twice, Papua New Guinea, and Japan three times in the region. Our focus, we are part of this region. Increasingly as well, if you go to Australia, what you’ll see is those close connections which are there. So my friend, the Singaporean Defence Minister, of course, when he was in Australia recently, he would have been visiting, as well, I’m sure, the support that we give to his men and women in the Singaporean Defence Force, who are trained and present there in Queensland and in other parts of Australia. Those direct linkages are really important. The relationship that we have in our region is important as well. I think it is a matter of Australia as a middle power. What my Government seeks to do is to maintain our relationships with our formal allies, but increasingly, to being engaged with ASEAN countries whilst also we’ve played, I think, an important role in ensuring the Pacific Island Forum that did have some issues that needed to be dealt with when we came to Government just one year ago, has been brought back together, and is once again a cohesive body going forward with all members participating. And that’s important. We seek to bring together people and nations in every possible forum that we can. And I think that is a role that a nation such as Australia can play, being a force for dialogue, being a force for more unity, less division, trying to engage in a constructive way, looking for common purpose, not looking for disagreement. Disagreeing where we must, with our values which we maintain. Trying to look to bring together nations in a more coherent way. That’s the driving force of my Government. It’s one of the reasons why we’ve participated in so many of the global forums. And I think that we have also encouraged, we have an improved relationship with China. We want to cooperate where we can with China as well. And we see that as a positive thing. The dialogue had broken down. There is now dialogue. It is always good for people to develop understanding and engagement.