Australia, the Philippines and Asean

For many Australian diplomats, a posting to an ASEAN country is a rite of passage. I have had the good fortune to serve in four ASEAN countries – Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand and for the past three years, the Philippines. Over the years, I have closely observed the region’s complexity and diversity, and I am continually impressed by its peoples’ resilience and dynamism.

During her first few days as Australia’s new Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong has outlined Australia’s vision for a stable, peaceful and prosperous region in which sovereignty and a country’s right to make its own decisions were respected, with ASEAN centrality at its core.

Minister Wong, who grew up in Kota Kinabalu before moving to Australia as a child, knows Australia’s future is linked to that of ASEAN – by more than just geography but deep links between families and communities, through education, tourism and business. Nearly one million Australians claim ancestry from an ASEAN country while over 100,000 ASEAN students study in Australia annually. Over 300,000 Australians have Filipino ancestry and just under 20,000 Filipinos study in Australia each year – making up a significant portion of Australia’s links to ASEAN.

From Australia’s perspective, we are very supportive of president-elect Marcos’ interest in working with ASEAN. As a founding member, the Philippines has helped shape the association’s agenda and outlook for decades. The Philippines has an important voice in ASEAN, which Australia deeply values.

Australia became ASEAN’s first dialogue partner in 1974 and is committed to being a trusted, reliable and steadfast partner for ASEAN at a time of rapid change. Our support for ASEAN centrality and ASEAN-led regional architecture, including the East Asia Summit, the Indo-Pacific’s premier forum for strategic dialogue, is unshakeable. We are a strong supporter of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific and its principles of openness, transparency, inclusivity, good governance and respect for sovereignty and international law. This extends to the seas where we support all countries to exercise their rights and freedoms consistent with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

In recent years, Australia has provided P44 billion to support regional COVID-19 response and recovery, including helping establish an ASEAN Center for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases. Minister Wong has announced an additional P18 billion over four years to support regional health sectors and support sustainable economic growth enabling the active participation of women.

In recognition of Australia’s longstanding commitment, in October 2021 ASEAN Foreign Ministers agreed to elevate the level of Australia’s relationship to become ASEAN’s first Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. We are deeply grateful for Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin Jr.’s support for the elevation of this relationship.

Australian Ambassador to ASEAN Will Nankervis’ visit to Manila in March 2022 illustrated how Australia’s engagement with ASEAN supports Philippine priorities. This includes helping to combat trafficking in persons, supporting technical and vocational education and training and developing “smart cities” which are adapted to climate change risks.

As a comprehensive strategic partner to ASEAN, Australia has pledged further cooperation which will benefit the Philippines, including through supporting the Philippines’ ability to lead and influence the region. For example, Australia will work with ASEAN members to ensure sustainable marine resource development and combat transnational maritime crime, such as illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing. These are areas in which the Philippines’ voice has weight and really matters.

Our bilateral trade and investment relationship already benefits from ASEAN-Australia links, in particular through the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area, which has strengthened commercial and economic opportunities for the past decade. Australia is currently working with AANZFTA parties to upgrade the agreement to support further economic integration in the region. Similarly, once fully implemented, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will be the world’s largest free trade agreement, putting ASEAN at the center of future regional economic architecture. To bolster these agreements, Australia plans to deliver an ASEAN Economic Strategy to map out potential current and future trade investment opportunities for Australia and other economies of the region.

The strength of Australia’s bilateral relationship with the Philippines underpins our cooperation in ASEAN and more broadly. As I have repeated through this piece, the Philippines has an important voice in ASEAN. In recent times, I have been humbled to see that voice used in ways, which supported Australia, and its role, in the region.

In addition to his support for the ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Secretary Locsin recognized the value that the AUKUS partnership between Australia, the UK and the US brings to the region, which we also very much appreciate. Additionally, in 2021, at the October ASEAN-US Summit, President Duterte acknowledged our assurances that AUKUS would promote peace and stability in the region and maintain support for ASEAN centrality. We fully intend to live up to these commitments and we are most pleased to work alongside our partners, in particular the Philippines, in doing so.

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Steven J. Robinson AO is the Australian Ambassador to the Philippines. Follow him on Twitter @AusAmbPH.