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Speech

Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer

Canberra, 1 December 1999

Australia at Year's End - Retrospect and Prospect

Speech by the Hon Alexander Downer MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs, at the National Press Club

(Check Against Delivery)

Introduction

When I accepted the invitation of the National Press Club to talk at one of its lunchtime addresses for the last time this year and began to think of a suitable topic for my remarks, my thoughts naturally turned to taking a look at Australia's position in the world at year's end. But I have resisted the temptation to make this speech an overarching review of Australian foreign policy in the 20th Century for several reasons.

Firstly, I want to give a realistic snapshot of how Australia is placed at the end of a very busy year of diplomatic activity, and I don't want those impressions to be overwhelmed by a time-scale that would delight none but the historians in my audience.

Secondly, this allows me to take what you might call a more philosophical approach in drawing some broader lessons for Australian foreign policy from the two most prominent issues on our foreign policy agenda over the past few years - the East Asian economic crisis, and the resolution of East Timor's status.
Thirdly, the longer time frame might suggest an attempt at defining the Coalition Government's place in Australia's foreign policy annals - and I can assure you that such a task will not be required for many years yet!

Finally, I have to admit that my public speaking schedule in 1999 has left me with a severe case of millennial overload, and the thought of another speech laced with references to "the new millennium" or "the passing century" did not enthuse me. So while I might disappoint any people here today who are playing Cliché Bingo, I'm not going to adopt the Ray Martin Simply the Best manner on this topic by nominating the best Australian foreign policies of the past 100 years.

Instead, what I want to do is demonstrate how the Government, by sticking to the fundamental task of promoting the national interest in foreign policy, has won the respect of the international community for our nation and has strengthened Australia's position in the region and the world. And in doing so, as I have mentioned, there are no better examples to use than Australia's handling of the East Asian Economic crisis and the problem of East Timor.

National interest as the focus of foreign policy

When our Government was first elected in 1996, we set about placing the national interest at the heart of the Coalition's foreign policy.

We made this quite explicit when we released our White Paper on Foreign and Trade Policy in 1997. We pointed out that the pursuit of national interest through foreign policy is not some arcane diplomatic art, but is all about promoting the fundamental interests of Australians. It is about ensuring the continued security of the Australian nation, about protecting the standard of living of all Australians, and about ensuring that our economy continues to flourish and provide more jobs for this and future generations.

As we also pointed out in the White Paper, the national interest also encompasses the aspirations and values of our community. Our values reflect such things as belief in the rule of law and in freedom of the press, the notion that all governments should be accountable to the people through elected parliaments, and the principles of liberty, justice and the "fair go".

Some of these values have a very Australian flavour, but many of them reflect the kind of common human aspirations that have been enshrined in documents such as the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Our values strengthen Australian foreign policy, helping to maintain our traditional ties with North America and Europe, and to build and strengthen links within other regions, including Asia.

It is wrong to assume that such matters don't count in Asia - they do. The political tide that swept across our region in the wake of the economic crisis has proved that Asians are just as willing as Australians to pursue their democratic rights. A mistake that Australian observers often make when looking at other societies is to confuse differences in form with differences in substance. No one says that the Australian way of doing things is the only way. We rightly celebrate diversity within our Australian society - shouldn't we also celebrate it around the globe?

And just as we are ready to give advice to neighbours on matters like freedom and justice, so should we always be ready to take advice. If you think we have nothing to learn from our neighbours, I would remind you that the Independent Commission Against Corruption in NSW, and its counterpart bodies around Australia, are modelled on Hong Kong's ICAC.

The reason why Australia has been so successful in promoting its national interests under a Coalition Government is that we have made those interests quite explicit. We have always aimed to be friendly but forthright in pursuing our foreign policy goals. Our neighbours know that we look to protect and advance Australian interests, and we assume that they do the same for the interests of their country. Our ties are clearly based on mutual respect and mutual benefit, and are highly appreciated for those reasons by our partners.

Above all, as I said last week in relation to China, we have abandoned the notion that Australia has a "special" relationship with any country. To have a "special" relationship with another country, means by definition that we would go out of our way for another country or act in a way that exceeded expectations simply because for some mysterious reason we found them to be "special". And they would act so for us because they found us "special". In the real world, the conduct of foreign policy does not work like that. Our relations with many nations may be particularly close and warm, stemming from historical and cultural ties or strong economic complementarities, but we no longer pretend that some magical "chemistry" can substitute for national interest.

In fact, those "special" relationships may constrain policy choices and thereby act against our interests. Instead of papering over differences in the name of advancing a "special" relationship, we should celebrate what unites us and be honest and open about the differences we have, while working to resolve them. After all, I don't think I could name one single country around the world that we see eye-to-eye with on every single issue: I doubt there is one. Why set ourselves up for inevitable disappointment by claiming we have "special" relationships?

This kind of approach has won much recognition for Australia in recent years. The truth is that no country wins respect by being obsequious. By being realistic and forthright, Australia has been able to advance its national interests in a very stormy regional environment over the past two years - and it is to the that environment I now turn.

The regional economic crisis - our first test

I have often said that Australia's response to the East Asian economic crisis was a defining moment for our nation. Our performance during the crisis displayed the basic strength and soundness of our economy, and the high quality of our civil, political and economic institutions. Many of the factors contributing to the crisis in the region were shown to derive from failures in systems of governance, while our strong performance in the face of the crisis was seen to be due to good governance.

For all these reasons, Australia was well placed to assist its neighbours to deal with the impact of the crisis. And we have been unstinting in our assistance - indeed, judged by the size of our population and economy, Australia can probably claim to have done more than any other nation on earth. Only two countries participated in the IMF second tier support arrangements for Indonesia, Thailand and Korea - Japan, and Australia. When it became clear that the terms of the IMF package for Indonesia were inappropriate, it was Australia that took the lead in arguing that those conditions should be ameliorated. And I think it fair to say that, had it been any other country than Australia putting those arguments - being, as we are, so closely involved with the region, and yet having largely avoided the economic fallout of the crisis - we might have not been as successful as we were in gaining the necessary changes.

We have also provided substantial assistance under our bilateral aid programs for the countries hardest hit by the crisis. Australia established a $50 million, three-year Economic and Financial Management Package to help lift standards of financial management throughout the region, and we doubled the amount of funds for crisis-related activities in our Asia Crisis Fund to $12 million. And in concert with others, we have been an active participant in the international forums that have been examining the structural weaknesses of the international financial architecture, so that other crises may be averted.

The financial crisis was a true test of Australia's mettle, and gave a real edge to our engagement with Asia. We had shown ourselves to be a true friend, an "all-weather" friend, of the region - prepared to match our actions to our rhetoric, to back up our faith in the region's future with a substantial response. We recognised that the crisis was not just a challenge to the interests of our neighbours, but was a challenge to our own, and we met that challenge head-on.
The crisis also threw into stark relief some home truths about our own country, facts that had often been overlooked or discounted in the past.

It demonstrated the falsity of saying that Australia was "only" a small or middle power. There are more than 200 nations in the world. With a total global population of 6 billion, we might put the population of the average country at around 30 million. Australia, of course, has a population of less than two thirds that size, and yet in 1998 our GDP was the 14th largest in the world - bigger than all the countries of East Asia except Japan and China, and around 80 per cent of all the ASEAN nations combined. We are a major exporter, especially to the economies of East Asia, and many of our industries are world leaders.

Economically, then, Australia is a very significant country indeed. That is reflected in the fact that we were chosen to participate in the G20 group of nations that will consider further global financial reform. We are also a scientifically sophisticated nation that is at the forefront of technological innovation, and well placed to lead the world into the new age of the information economy. Finally, we have a strong and capable defence force that is right up to date with the latest technological advances on the battlefield - an advantage that was highlighted by our rapid and effective response to events in East Timor, to which I now turn.

East Timor - Australia's unique role

Having passed one major foreign policy test, Australia was this year faced by an equally significant problem - the status of East Timor. Once again we met the challenge directly, and proved our value to the region.

In reviewing the international response to events in East Timor, it is clear that no other country could have matched Australia's leadership role. We were active at every stage of the diplomatic effort that led up to East Timor's vote on autonomy, and in its aftermath. Australia has put more than 5,000 members of its armed forces on the ground in East Timor, backed by many more in the skies and seas around the territory, and in support functions back in Australia. We have committed over $70 million in humanitarian aid for the East Timorese this year, and have assisted relief efforts by international agencies and other countries in other ways. And Darwin has for many months been the main staging area for all aspects of the international effort in East Timor.

Many other nations may have been able to match some of these initiatives, but none could have matched them all.

Australia's policy on East Timor is clearly in line with our national interests.

Not for one minute did our Government think it could stand idly by while there was continuing and serious conflict in our immediate strategic environment - we simply had to offer our assistance. We did so, you may recall, in relation to the conflict on Bougainville, where over the years something like 20,000 people had died. It is not realistic, then, to think that Australia would not try and resolve the situation in East Timor.

And in considering our national interest in this matter, one point I've often made is that East Timor stood in the way of establishing a genuine long-term and productive relationship between Australia and Indonesia.

Proof of the damage the issue had caused to our relations with Indonesia can be found in the widespread view in Australia that we could only promote Indonesian ties at the expense of dropping East Timorese issues - that we had to ignore East Timor despite continuing human rights concerns, Australia's historical ties with the island, and its close geographic proximity.

In effect, the presence of East Timor on our bilateral agenda made relations with Indonesia very one-sided. For example, between June 1975 and November 1999, there have been 12 official visits by Australian Prime Ministers to Indonesia - indeed, by every Prime Minister from Whitlam to Howard. In that same period, the Indonesian President has not visited Australia once.

President Soeharto did not visit because he knew there would be massive demonstrations on the subject of East Timor. The very fact that he felt unable to come here shows there was a very big problem in the bilateral relationship, one that made the relationship very unbalanced. From that lopsided situation we are now able move on to resolve past tensions, and for both sides to have a more balanced and stable relationship.

Some have expressed concern that we have resolved the East Timor issue at too high a price for the East Timorese and Indonesians. I reject that view.
Firstly, it is not for commentators and others here to judge whether the East Timor ballot was worthwhile, especially when the East Timorese clearly believe it was. Secondly, I am confident that Indonesian relations will recover quite quickly, because our two nations share a significant and obvious interest in building a strong relationship based firmly on mutual respect. Australian Governments have long said that Indonesia matters to us. Just as importantly, Australia also matters to Indonesia - economically, strategically and diplomatically.

Conclusion - Australia's heightened profile

Today I have chosen to focus my comments by reference to East Timor and the East Asian economic crisis, but there are many other examples of how the Coalition Government has fought the good fight for Australia in recent years.

I could, for example, have spoken about Papua New Guinea - about our involvement in the Bougainville peace process, and our response to last year's devastating tsunami. I could have looked at our proud record on disarmament matters - how we helped save the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and how we have worked for the elimination of landmines. I could even have talked about how Australia took Japan before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for its over-fishing of Southern Bluefin Tuna, and won.

In all these, and in many other cases - big and small - we have shown how Australia can make a difference, without having to be apologetic about pursuing legitimate national interests.

So, how does Australia stand after two years of turbulence that have involved a complex juxtaposition of economic, political and security crises, the like of which our region had not seen for decades?

I believe that our country has emerged with its standing significantly enhanced. Our response to the difficulties faced by our neighbours has been timely, effective and very substantial. We have not only showed an ability to meet the challenges thrown at our nation, in some areas we seem to have positively thrived on them.

When it first became clear that East Asia was heading into a massive economic downturn, for example, most commentators expected Australia to be pulled down also. Those were not unreasonable assumptions, based as they were on Australia's past performance. What such judgements failed to take into account, of course, was more than a year of concerted and fundamental economic reform by the Coalition Government, an effort that had transformed our nation and had given our economy the strength and flexibility to cope with the crisis. That is why, as our region entered its worst economic crisis in five decades, Australia went from strength to strength. And that is why we had the resources, and the knowledge, to help put our neighbours back on the path to recovery.

Australia's efforts over the last two years in relation to the economic crisis and East Timor have won us respect, recognition and praise in our region, and around the world. Economists hold Australia up as the model for others, the example of how attention to the economic fundamentals can ensure solid growth even in the harshest of international environments. Governments seek our advice and assistance on reform and governance issues. Leaders around the world have commended Australia for taking the lead on East Timor, and commentators in East Asia praise Australia for showing that countries in our region can act to solve our own problems.

To be sure, voices of criticism about Australia's action over East Timor can still be heard. But we need not be overly concerned about them, for three reasons. Firstly, the critics are vastly outnumbered by the supporters of Australian action, including in the East Asian region. Secondly, most of the negative comment comes from those who are pursuing short-term domestic agendas, which will soon pass. And thirdly, once the passage of time has taken the heat and passion out of the issue, even our critics will come to acknowledge the validity of our actions, and that they derived from the best of motives.

Australians, then, have every reason to feel confident of their place in the region, and the world. In a manner that no amount of speechifying or theorising could have achieved, we have proved our value to our neighbours and validated our role in our region - the countries of East Asia are important to Australia, but Australia is also important to those countries. We have demonstrated why Australia deserves its place at the table when international issues are discussed. And we have shown the global reach of our interests, across the Asia Pacific region, into Europe and North America, and beyond.

With the economic crisis and East Timor, Australia was tested in a manner which, perhaps, we have not seen since the end of the Second World War. Our nation's strength and integrity have been proven, our confidence and reputation affirmed. But every day, through robust and effective responses to the myriad of challenges in the international arena, Australia proves its worth.

At year's end, we can be proud of the way our country has passed those tests, and know that whatever surprises the future may have in store for us, Australia stands ready to meet them.

ENDS