Neil Ferrer, Director General, Foreign Service Institute of the Philippines, Moderator: Minister, in your remarks, you underlined Australia's strong support as a champion on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. And as a leading middle power in the Indo-Pacific region, I was wondering if there are any additional diplomatic initiatives, do you think, that may be undertaken to reinforce compliance with international law without unnecessarily escalating regional tensions?
Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: I think that where we should start is to recognise that international law is bolstered and buttressed, not only by the system of tribunals and so forth, but also by norms and expectations. And I've often said that ASEAN, by virtue of its centrality, by virtue of its convening power, has weight in terms of setting expectations and norms. And so, we do see regional forums, such as the ones in which I'm about to participate - the ASEAN Regional Forum, the East Asian Summit, as well as the ASEAN meetings themselves - as central to setting those expectations of all great powers and all dialogue partners and beyond. Now, there's obviously been discussions about codes of conduct in relation to the South China Sea. The observation Australia would make is that we already have a code of conduct effectively, which is UNCLOS. Our focus is on working with others to try and encourage the expectation that all countries observe their obligations under that convention.
Speaker: I just wanted to remind you that we last met aboard the USS Ronald Reagan when I was defence attache to Australia in 2019. Well, it was a significant emotional thing for me. My name is Ray Powell. I run an organisation called SeaLight, and I'd like to ask you about foreign interference and what Australia might have to offer the Philippines by way of its own experience, because right now the Philippines is going through its own process of trying to figure out what to do about foreign interference here.
Foreign Minister: I'm very sort of sensitive to not wishing to step into people's domestic politics. I might stay at the level of principle, and you'll understand why, and we'll talk about our own experience. I talk in foreign policy about the four R's - easy to remember, right - region, relationships, rules, and resilience. And I added resilience to that mantra because, in part, navigating a much more contested world means you have to work out how you strengthen your capacity to navigate. And that capacity goes to your economic resilience, so you are less vulnerable to economic coercion, and it goes to your democratic or governance resilience, that is, your country must be able to make decisions on your own terms in your own interests. So foreign interference is an element of the second. Now we have legislation which goes to dealing with foreign interference. We reinforce the resilience of our democracy through a neutral election process, which is governed at arm's length from the government of the day and through other methods. It is important to ensure that your democracy functions in a way that reflects the will of the people. We see that as critical to making your own sovereign decisions.
Speaker: Good morning, ma'am. I'm Renato de Castro. I'm a faculty here at De La Salle University. My question pertains to two developments that probably affect the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region. The first one is what you mentioned, the Chinese submarine-based ballistic test, which is, of course, primarily directed against our common treaty ally, the United States, showing to the United States that it has, of course, second strike capability. The other development pertains to a development that happened very near your neighbourhood in Papua New Guinea. Of course, recently the Government announced that Taiwan's economic cooperation office in Port Moresby had to be closed. And we know for a fact that it's because of the fact that you have Chinese influence convincing the Government that they have to close down TECO, and, of course, adopt not just a One China policy [inaudible] which, of course, the Chinese Foreign Ministry mentioned yesterday. So how are these developments viewed in Canberra, and probably how would that affect our security considerations? Thank you very much, ma'am.
Foreign Minister: That was an easy question, wasn't it? A lot of diplomatic challenges in that question. Thank you for the question. I did mention the missile test and I would make this point. We respect that countries make decisions about their defence capability. What is very important for stability is that this is done transparently and with reassurance of strategic intent. And that missile test, we have been public about that being destabilising. And in the reference to the Hague Code of Conduct, which sets provisions around notice and so forth, is an aspect of that reassurance. I would also make the point that there is much more work to do around conflict prevention, including through ASEAN, which is one of the issues I touched upon. Because if I lie awake at night, there are a few things I worry about, but probably the first thing I worry about is if there's actually a mistake. That as we see countries increasing at a dizzying pace their military capability, but the mechanisms for dialogue, including between militaries, is not progressing at the same rate. You can see that that gap causes or gives rise to a risk of grave miscalculation, and the consequence of that for our peoples is dire. So, part of what ASEAN can do, and Australia is very keen to be forward leaning in this, is to build on the principles of preventive diplomacy, of conflict prevention that is referenced or scoped in the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific and really lean in on that role because I think our people would benefit from more capacity for there to be off ramps when issues arise. In relation to Taiwan, Australia has a One China policy. We maintain economic and people-to-people relations with Taiwan. That is our position. Obviously, what Papua New Guinea does or other countries do is a matter for them.
Speaker: Good morning, Minister Wong. First, I'm from the Philippine Civil Service Commission, and I would like to express my gratitude to the Australian Government for the Australia Awards, which has trained a lot of Philippine civil servant leaders. For instance, in the Philippine Civil Service, we just had a graduate fresh from the Australia Awards training in Australia, who is now one of the leaders in our modernisation program. He's a graduate of data science. My question now is with regard to additional areas of cooperation between the Philippine Civil Service Commission and the Australian Public Service in areas of leadership development, artificial intelligence, what will be the challenges now in public service and using artificial intelligence as a tool, and we would like to see if there are initial areas of cooperation between the two governments, especially considering that Australia's extensive experience in modernising public service. Thank you, Minister Wong.
Foreign Minister: Thank you. Now, I can see my Ambassador is getting stressed, so I think I'm going to have to go. But I just said to Neil that I do want one question from a woman before I go. I exercise that discipline. Thank you for your comments about the Australia Awards. My father was a Colombo Plan scholar from Malaysia to Australia, so I have always had a very personal commitment to ensuring we continue to provide that opportunity to leaders across Southeast Asia and I appreciate the feedback. We are always open to how we might add to and prioritise aspects of our engagement and our development assistance. It's a partnership where we listen to what others want and if that additional capability, I'm not sure what we already do, I'm sure that we could look at what more we could do in the future. And the underlying policy position that is implicit in your question, good governance is a contribution to development. Good public policy can contribute to better outcomes for people and better economic outcomes, better education outcomes, and better health outcomes.
Moderator: And the Minister is open to another question from a lady, a woman. Yes, please. Thank you.
Speaker: Good morning, Your Honor. My name is Teresa Tirona, and I'm from the Quezon City Government. And I would like to thank the Australian Embassy, or the Australian Government, for celebrating the 80th diplomatic ties between the Philippines and Australia in my city last May 22nd. I'd like to thank, of course, Ambassador Brown, who's here with us, and the rest of the officials of the Embassy. My question, your honour, is what role do you see for women leaders in shaping the next generation of Indo-Pacific diplomacy?
Foreign Minister: I'm not sure I can speak for every Indo-Pacific country, but I suppose I'd go to the level of principle. Every country has its own cultural, historical traditions, but also makes its own way in terms of how those traditions evolve. I'd make that my first point. But my second point is, I suppose, a meritocracy point. I've always believed that if you want to be the most effective government you can be, then you have to recruit from all aspects of your society, the best and brightest. And I think through that you will see more women coming into leadership positions. Certainly, that's been our experience in Australia, where we are now a majority woman government and have equal numbers of women in our Cabinet and a majority of women in terms of the government party. And that has, I think, been a benefit to our democracy.
Moderator: Minister, before we close, we have many students here and of course young professionals. I was wondering if you have any advice to those who would like to pursue a career in diplomacy and/or public service in general.
Foreign Minister: The two pieces of advice that I have tried to advise, one is when I was younger, my father always used to say to me, 'they can take everything away from you, but they can't take your education', so I've always remembered that. So that was the benefit of education. You carried that with you. I think the second is to try and understand, to try and work out your purpose, your sense of purpose. I have done what I have done in public service because I have a sense of that purpose mattering a lot to me and how I lived my life. Now, how others envisage their purpose, that will change, that will be different. You will all do different things, but I think a life lived with purpose is, and principle, is the sort of life that we all should aspire to lead.
Moderator: Thank you so much.