Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also thank the member for Bruce for introducing this motion today, and I'm very pleased to speak on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, which was established in 1967 in Bangkok. The founding nations of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand together made the ASEAN declaration 50 years ago. Since that time, more nations of the region have joined ASEAN: Brunei Darussalam in 1984, Vietnam in 1995, Laos—or Myanmar—in 1997 and Cambodia in 1999. It says something about this regional grouping of nations that has expanded in this manner over its development and is now made up of the ASEAN 10 nations.

The ASEAN Declaration of 1967 is an eloquent statement of the aims of the association that have at their heart the important statecraft of cooperation, collaboration and mutual assistance—a means of working together patiently and respectfully of each nation's sovereignty to achieve economic, social, educational and cultural development and regional peace and stability and therefore prosperity. In essence, these nations promised to help and support each other for their mutual benefit and the prosperity of their people.

When these steps were first taken 50 years ago, many doubted that ASEAN would last, and few thought it might've been driving international discussions on the progress and development of South-East Asia 50 years later. We should remember the circumstances in which ASEAN was born. Two years earlier, Singapore and Malaysia had split into separate nations. Indonesia was recovering from the deep unrest and violence that triggered the fall of Sukarno. Konfrontasi had come to an end after much pain and, indeed, the peace treaty brought about its end to pave the way for the creation of ASEAN.

During its 50 years, ASEAN has sought out the participation of and discussion with other Asia-Pacific states. Its consultative approach has seen ASEAN Plus Three to include China, Japan and South Korea, which then developed into ASEAN Plus Six to include India, New Zealand and Australia.

ASEAN, as you know, is very important to Western Australia. We have the desert at our back, the vast Indian Ocean before us and—as is widely claimed—the most isolated capital city in the world, Perth, but in fact we're the most connected Australian capital city. More than 60 per cent of the world's population lives directly to our north, in arguably the most dynamic region on earth, and 65 per cent of the ASEAN population is under 30 and drives—and will continue to drive—this dynamism. So, far from being isolated, Perth is in fact the gateway to ASEAN and the Indo-Pacific. This is no secret in WA, with businesses actively building relationships throughout the region and with ASEAN nations for many decades. They are relationships that create opportunities in trade and opportunities for closer engagement with our regional neighbours.

Our new Labor state government is helping drive these relationships by developing an Asian engagement strategy and appointing the first Western Australian Minister for Asian Engagement, the Hon. Bill Johnston. Closer to Perth than Canberra, civil society throughout the region discuss—as we do here—how Australia, Indonesia and all ASEAN nations might work together in policy development so that, together, we can meet the challenges of the region: nutrition, infrastructure, education, security, energy security, pollution and the effects of climate change. Our common concerns and common goals bring us together, and ASEAN can take credit for much of this cooperation.

Before I came here I established and was the chief operating officer of the Perth USAsia Centre, a think tank dedicated to strengthening relationships and strategic thinking between Australia, the Indo-Pacific and the USA. Of course ASEAN is very much a part of that. It is a very important part of strengthening the relationships and thinking on geopolitical issues that affect the region.

I was fortunate in September 2015 to help host a visit by the sixth President of Indonesia, Professor Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, to Perth to speak at the In the Zone conference. When asked how Indonesia and Australia could best work together in the region, Dr Yudhoyono said that he believed that our best means and avenue of cooperation is to work enthusiastically together to strengthen Australia's engagement with ASEAN and ASEAN nations in policy development, education and culture exchange across government, academia and civil society. And this we will see in the 2018 ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in Sydney.

I urge the government to recognise the Perth USAsia Centre's good work. It was originally funded by the Labor Gillard government and has had bipartisan support since its inception. I know its funding is soon to expire, and it is on the desks of ministers in this government. I urge the government to prioritise this in their in-trays and make sure they consider refunding the Perth USAsia Centre so that it might continue to strengthen relationships and strategic thinking across ASEAN and the Indo-Pacific.

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