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4 australian maritime issues 2009: spc-a annual
maritime approaches near Indonesia and East Timor, to the close territorial boundaries
we share with Papua New Guinea in the Torres Strait. This presents the RAN with a
wide ranging operating environment across which to provide maritime security.
Having a strong strategic maritime security dialogue assists us enormously in
achieving this requirement across this broad global expanse. Opportunities to exchange
information not only assist in overcoming the tyranny of distance but also ensure that
we continue to maintain our traditional good order at sea through these and other
confidence building measures. It is of mutual benefit to us and to our friends and
partners who share the maritime operating environment. The ongoing global efforts to
secure the maritime trade base complement the legal framework established through
the various maritime security fora. They aim to help us all develop understanding,
transparency and confidence, and they ensure we have well understood and clear,
agreed options to work with to pursue the maritime security agenda. This not only
provides for a stronger and more stable strategic framework in our immediate
neighbourhood, but more importantly in the wider Asia, Pacific, and Indian Ocean
regions. It does so through defining and reducing potential threats to our respective
national prosperity through regional and global support. Australia is not alone in the
quest to develop a network of national partnerships in our region. Our alliance with
the United States will remain the bedrock of our strategic partnerships. It is an alliance
with a long and steeped history of cooperation in time of need. More broadly, the
RAN has, in the last ten years, increased its formal level of international engagement
by over 200 per cent. Regional security cooperation continues to be strengthened
through important cooperative exercises and agreements. Most recently, Australia
has conducted exercises with Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and
Indonesia. To further this endeavour, we seek to improve our already warm dialogue
and formal security policy cooperation with India, Pakistan and China.
The signing of the Lombok Treaty with Indonesia was an important and integral step
in providing mutual security assurance, and improving our level of understanding. 2
The treaty provides a framework for increased security cooperation to combat
terrorism, transnational crime and other security threats. The threat of terrorism,
transnational crime and other security threats from non-state actors have emerged
strongly throughout recent years and affected all levels of society and security. What
distinguishes this threat from the traditional maritime security threat is the lack of
adherence to established international law protocols. No nation, including Australia,
can afford to be isolated in the face of the threat of transnational organised crime. I
note that the ASEAN Plan of Action to Combat Transnational Crime makes this clear in
defining the threat and seeking to constrain and combat its effects. 3 Responding to a
threat from a singular origin is a traditional strategic goal for navies as it is a natural
projection of sovereign sea power. A successful response to a transnational criminal
enterprise is marked by international cooperation to address the many links of the
threat wherever they may be found. The criminal nature of the threat conflicts with