Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

Foreign and defence policy
Tony Abbott talked about ‘more Jakarta, less Geneva’ as the guiding principle for
foreign policy. 44
Canberra’s regional efforts have naturally focused upon the major powers in
Asia, with which Australia has successively built deep trading, and in some cases,
security ties. Successive government white papers have identified Japan, India,
SouthKorea,India,aswellasChina,asthemainfociofengagement.Firstcame
Japan from the 1960s onwards, as Australian natural resources played a major
role in that country’s economic boom and rise to regional pre-eminence into the
1980s–90s. From a long-term foundation of economic and cultural ties, more
recently the relationship has taken on a strategic aspect with the ground-breaking
Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation in 2007, which has since been reinforced
and is now described as a ‘Special Strategic Partnership’. 45 Second, India’s economic
liberalisation in the 1990s paved the way for its greater presence in Asian affairs and
indicated the importance of strengthening long-neglected bilateral ties. With the
reframing of Australian strategic policy under the mantra of ‘Indo-Pacific’, and its
accompanying ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’ strategy, the possibilities of enhancing
bilateral co-ordination with New Delhi, especially in the maritime sphere, have
gained increased attention. 46 The ‘Quad’ dialogue between Canberra, Tokyo, India
and the USA, also reinforces Australian engagement with these two leading Asian
powers. Third, South Korea is a significant Australian trading partner and Canberra
remains deeply engaged with the question of North Korean nuclear proliferation.
Fourth, managing relations with Indonesia has presented a major challenge in
Australian foreign policy, particularly as this emerging power acts as a fulcrum of
both ASEAN and the ‘Indo-Pacific’ concept, and ties with Jakarta have been subject
to a series of highs and lows related to human rights concerns, terrorism, irregular
migration, and pronounced cultural differences.
Moreover, Canberra is now deeply embedded in the ‘regionalism’ process in
the Indo/Asia-Pacific. Australia can count membership in a plethora of multilateral
regional organisations, mainly centred upon the ASEAN, such as the East Asia
Summit, ASEAN Regional Forum, APEC, which it helped found, and the Five
Power Defence Agreement (including Singapore and Malaysia). 47 In 2005, a
reluctant Howard government even signed the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and
Cooperation. Notably, due to the rise of China and India, and the now recognised
importance of Indonesia and other South-East Asian states, Canberra has even
sought to shape the very regional architecture itself through initiatives such as
Kevin Rudd’s ‘Asia Pacific community’ and participation in the ‘Free and Open
Indo-Pacific’ strategy of Japan (since joined by the USA, and potentially India).
Indeed, the Labor government’s Australia in the Asian Century white paper in
44 O’Neil 2018.
45 Wilkins 2018.
46 Brewster 2016.
47 He 2017.
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