Australian Maritime Issues 2007 - Royal Australian Navy

New Threats, New Approaches: Australia’s Maritime Security Cooperation in South East Asia
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arrangements and operational methods, and to build personal relationships. South
East Asian countries might also consider posting a maritime security liaison officer
to their embassy/high commission in Canberra to act as the focal point for interaction
with Australian Government agencies and for channeling information back to relevant
home-country agencies.
Third, partnerships require a balance between firmness and pragmatism, and
sensitivity to local environmental conditions, and greater recognition is needed of
this. In that context, little is gained by ‘megaphone diplomacy’; indeed, much of the
good progress achieved to date risks being undone by incautious words or actions or
inadequate appreciation of how domestic politics can act as a brake on the foreign
policy behaviour of states and their representatives. At the same time, further effort
is required to understand how each side prioritises maritime security threats and to
identify areas where mutual interests intersect, providing a basis for strengthening
dialogue and cooperation.
Conclusion
Australia and its neighbours in South East Asia have made commendable progress
in strengthening their capacity to deal with maritime threats relating to port
security and terrorism at sea. While Australia’s cooperation on maritime issues with
Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam has increased, greater emphasis has been placed
on strengthening relations with Indonesia and the Philippines. This recognises their
vulnerabilities as archipelagic states spread over a large sea space and with few
resources to adequately patrol it. Self-interest has also been a factor behind Australia’s
initiatives since these two countries are located near sea lanes vital to Australia’s
security and trade interests. Supplementing these bilateral measures, Australia has
actively supported counter-maritime terrorism and anti-piracy initiatives in regional
forums such as APEC.
One implication of Australia’s focus on the PSI, piracy and maritime terrorism is that it
has narrowed the lens through which maritime security is viewed. Other dimensions,
such as naval modernisation, incidents at sea, search and rescue, marine resource
management, pollution control, marine scientific research and oceans governance,
have been overshadowed. 49 However, their relevance has not diminished. In South
East Asia, this includes the recent acquisition of new and more sophisticated naval
platforms by a number of countries in the region, 50 continued degradation or loss of
mangrove forests and coral reefs, 51 and inter-state tensions arising from illegal fishing
and unresolved maritime territorial claims. This is not to suggest that countering the
spread of WMD or combating piracy and maritime terrorism threats is unimportant.
They clearly are important. But it is to remind us that a broader conceptualisation of
maritime security is required to reflect the diversity of challenges in the maritime
domain in the 21st century.