Speech Notes for lunch in honour of Dr Hassan Wirajuda, Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure for me to welcome Dr Wirajuda to Perth – his first visit here.
The Australia-Indonesia relationship is of fundamental importance to Australia and central to the foreign policy approach of the new Australian Government, the Rudd Labor Government.
Australia’s involvement in the emergence of an independent Indonesia is a great example of Labor’s history of engagement with Asia.Labor is proud of supporting Indonesia’s independence. It was the Chifley Labor Government which went to the UN Security Council to obtain international support for Indonesia’s independence in 1947. It was the labor movement which imposed trade bans and blockaded Dutch shipping during Indonesia’s war of independence.
Today Australia’s relationship with Indonesia is strong and growing. And today Dr Wirajuda and I have taken steps to further strengthen our links and cooperation.
Earlier today we exchanged notes to bring into effect the Australia-Indonesia Framework for Security Cooperation, the Lombok Treaty.This is an important step in further enhancing our relationship.
The Lombok Treaty provides a framework to build further cooperation on key security challenges – now and for the years to come. The Treaty recognises shared security interests and how important it is that Australia and Indonesia cooperate to tackle common challenges.The Treaty has the strong support of both our countries, importantly from our respective Parliaments both of which have reviewed the Treaty.
That underlines the level of maturity we have reached in this relationship – reflecting respect for one another: as democracies, as nation states, and as neighbours. Officials will develop an action plan on jointly agreed priority areas.
Counter-terrorism cooperation continues to be a success story of which our security policy agencies in both countries should be very proud. They have both put the terrorist infrastructure in our region under extreme pressure. Today we are announcing the renewal of our MOU on counter-terrorism cooperation for a further three years.
As well, we have agreed to further enhance this cooperation by establishing senior officials’ consultations to strengthen and give even greater focus to our efforts to jointly plan our counter-terrorism work in the region.
Our relationship is about much more than security; it is an increasingly broad and deep relationship and a dynamic development partnership, reflecting the many shared interests Australia and Indonesia have.
We also announced today a further phase of Australian assistance worth $40 million to combat the spread of HIV, particularly in Papua where the infection rate is of great concern and risks becoming the highest in Asia. This assistance will provide better access to essential treatment and prevention as part of an eight year commitment to help vulnerable groups in Indonesia.
Expanding our economic relationship is also important. There remains great potential here and we look forward to the results of the feasibility study into a possible free trade agreement between Australia and Indonesia.
We also discussed ways to strengthen our regional and global cooperation. In our region, for example, we will continue to work together to combat people smuggling and illegal fishing. And we will do more to develop common approaches to global challenges such as climate change.
From time to time we will have difficult issues to manage – most important, long-term and meaningful relationships do! Two great countries closer together than the plane flight from Melbourne to Sydney almost certainly always will.
I am absolutely confident that we can manage sensitive issues carefully. We both understand that the relationship is bigger and more important than any single issue within it.
Crucial to the relationship is the people-to-people links between our two countries. Many of you here today have made great personal contributions to these links, whether business, academia, the arts and culture, education, development assistance or elsewhere. I thank you for those efforts and encourage you to continue this work.
There is an important contribution that education in particular can make to the bilateral relationship. We have over 15,000 Indonesian students in Australia – many of them have been intuitive enough to choose Perth to study. It is very important that more young Australians and Indonesians study and work in each other’s countries and build the long term personal links which will bind our countries together into the future.
I am delighted that Dr Wirajuda has agreed to further accompany me to Chisholm Catholic College, the modern day successor of my old Christian Brothers High School Highgate after lunch today to see first hand Bahasa Indonesia being taught in one of our local schools. And I hope to do likewise when next I am able to travel to Indonesia to visit one of the 2000 secondary schools that Australia is helping to either build or improve there through our development assistance partnership with Indonesia.
We also have a new program starting this month to build links between schools in Australia and Indonesia. The program, which is a joint activity of the Australia-Indonesia Institute, the Asia Education Foundation and the Myer Foundation, will bring twenty Indonesian teachers to Australia each year to spend time in Australian schools and communities, building professional and personal relationships. The program uses the internet to create sister-school or twinning relationships and build a better understanding of each other’s countries, language, religion and culture.
I know I speak for both of us when I say that these are the kinds of developments we both hope to see more of.
I am delighted that Dr Wirajuda has been able to make this visit to Perth.
Again, a very warm welcome to Dr Wirajuda and his party for a pleasant and productive Perth and Australian visit.
I now invite Dr Wirajuda to make some remarks.
Thank you.