Foreign Policy Agenda for the new Australian government under Anthony Albanese

Paradigm shifts in Australian Foreign Policy:

But, in contemporary times Australia has met with challenges that are even more complicated. Allan Gyngell has highlighted three intertwined strands of the foreign policy of every post-World War II government in Australia. First is the commitment to maintaining a strong alliance. The second is to get recognized as a nation with limited power but global interests. The third is that Australia is better off in a world of agreed-upon rules. Australia’s relationship with the US is crucial for sustaining the liberal character in the rules-based society. Allan Gyngell further elaborates that while Australia is open to China’s role in sharing responsibilities in support of regional and global security, it needs to be in line with the “rules-based order”. According to Sam Roggeveen of the Lowy Institute, “the order” that is often referred to in the context of Australia’s position in global politics is dictated by American influence. Julie Bishop has also observed that American hard power is an essential underpinning of the rules-based order. Therefore, Australia must align itself with the USA. Regarding China, the white paper suggested that Australian engagement towards China should be non-offensive and safe because economically, Australia has benefitted greatly from China. Peter Hartcher of the Sydney Morning Herald was able to identify the paradox of China’s rise which was first stated in The Economist in April 2017. The paradox is that China is neither a revolutionary power nor it seeks to grab global control. Chinese actions in the South China Sea becomes a concern for Australia since it is a hostile neighbour. Democratic resilience and a strong Australian economy are the foundation of economic prosperity in Australia [1]. Therefore, a balance of power between China and the USA is of great strategic importance.

Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s speech on 9 June 2021 highlights how the country’s foreign policy is underway a significant transformation in accordance with the changing world order. Scott Morrison and former Foreign Minister Marise Payne’s remarks in the Senate on 15 June attempted to reconceptualize Australian interests and priorities. Both defined five objectives that would advance Australian interests. The first objective was to support open societies, open economies, and rule-based order. The second objective was to build capability, capacity, and resilience for Australian sovereignty. The third objective was to foster cooperation on global challenges. The fourth objective was set to enable business-driven economic growth. The fifth objective was to demonstrate that liberal democracies are functional. These objectives were set considering both dealing with China as well as the pandemic. With this Australia’s foreign policy agenda of working with like-minded nations to counter China in the Indo-Pacific became very apparent. Since then, Australian foreign policy under Scott Morrison had made strides to rally with like-minded nations to counterbalance China’s zero-sum diplomacy [2].

Approach towards China:

During the 2022 Australian federal elections, the security pact signed between the Solomon Islands and China became a crucial issue during the election. The pact which according to White House sources was initiated by China would allow the Chinese military access to the South Pacific [3]. Since the Solomon Islands have traditionally been allied to Australia in the Pacific Ocean this development seemed to be an expansionist move from China despite objections from the West. For this Scott Morrison was met with severe criticism. His response targeted Anthony Albanese for being too sympathetic to China [4].

Back on 30 May 2019, Anthony Albanese during a press conference stated that the USA was the most important ally and China was an important trading partner and it does not mean that Australia cannot have good relations with China if it has a relationship with the USA. This statement hints that Albanese is aware of the value of Australia-China relations that the 2017 white paper mentioned. He further mentioned that it is not in Australia’s favour to be xenophobic regarding China and its role in the region. Highlighting the Whitlam Government’s recognition of China in 1972 as Labour Party’s legacy, Albanese said that friendly relations with China must be acknowledged but at the same time, legitimate security concerns should also be examined [5]. These statements show that Albanese is also aware of security concerns regarding China. Therefore, Albanese’s approach towards China is likely to be primarily focused on commercial activities which would be balanced with security arrangements like the Quad and AUKUS.

Engagement in Southeast Asia:

Prior to being elected, Anthony Albanese had promised a package of policies regarding Southeast Asia for the coming Quad meeting. This package included foreign aid, a dedicated office to focus solely on the region within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and the appointment of special envoys who would engage with ASEAN nations to develop stronger ties [6]. Under the newly elected government, Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s visit to Vietnam and Malaysia and Anthony Albanese’s commitment of attending Indonesia’s G20 Summit hint at the present government’s active focus on Southeast Asia. Engagement with Southeast Asian nations can be done through ministerial-level diplomatic dialogues to make it clear that regardless of challenges in the Indo-Pacific, Southeast Asia will retain its primary focus in Australian foreign policy. For this Australia need to clarify its position regarding the special envoys for Southeast Asia. The present government has announced $470 million as development assistance for Southeast Asia in addition to the $200 million earlier committed for climate infrastructure partnership with Indonesia. Such initiatives can be further extended with defence and security partnerships and putting support for ASEAN-centric institution building and regional activities. To initiate new domains for cooperation, Australian foreign policy can prioritize the Partnerships for Infrastructure program which assists governments of Southeast Asian nations to plan and regulate infrastructures. According to the Lowy Institute, there should be two guiding principles for the Australian foreign policy approach toward Southeast Asia. Firstly, to advance Australian interests in the region, more focus should be on bilateral relationships with countries since broad coordination with like-minded nations would not be enough to shift the regional balance and therefore Southeast Asian nations should be offered robust partnership and practical choices. Secondly, communication in the region should be clear and continuous to manage any possible shocks. This is crucial since the region is likely to come under the influence of Indo-Pacific policies [7]. There have been concerns that the Quad may overpower ASEAN in regional decision making and therefore communication would need to be managed according to the situation..

Approach in the Quad:

Anthony Albanese’s first meeting at the Quad occurred when the issue at large was whether the USA would militarily intervene in defence of Taiwan against China. Chinese media on the other hand reported that this meeting would test the political wisdom of Albanese in contrast to Scott Morrison whose approach was largely anti-China. Upon questioning from the press, President Joe Biden was firm that he is willing to use military intervention to defend Taiwan. This put Albanese in a dilemma since his previous views have indicated that he seeks to balance security and trade relations regarding China. Prior to the meeting, Albanese mentioned he expects the relationship with China to remain difficult but would not politicize national security interests in pursuit of overall national interests [8].

After the end of the meeting, Anthony Albanese stated that Australia will not bend to Chinese demands for resetting the tense relations. He stated that the demands from the Chinese side were not appropriate and are therefore rejected. Albanese’s statements indicated that he was serious about Quad engaging more in the Indo-Pacific region as he praised the grouping as like-minded friends of Australia. Albanese highlighted that the new government and Quad’s agenda converge regarding climate change, cybersecurity, economic, health, energy, and environmental security to build a strong and resilient Indo-Pacific region [9]. For Albanese the agenda of the meeting was clear. His stance on the matter focused on ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific and spoke only in security terms refraining from any overt anti-China rhetoric. In this way, the new Prime Minister was able to complement the objectives of the Quad.

Approach in the AUKUS:

Albanese has been critical of his predecessor Scott Morrison saying that he broke faith and trust with the USA for delaying to brief Labor about the AUKUS deal by four and a half months [10]. Albanese’s comments were in the context of the Biden Administration’s desire of considering the project if it had bipartisan support. The AUKUS pact came out of scrapping a contract between Australia and France which was to replace the Collins fleet of Australia with diesel-electric powered submarines. Anthony Albanese held the view that the Biden administration understands that this strategic alliance will have implications beyond a single term of government. Albanese stated that Morrison’s decision to delay the brief would have led to tensions with the USA while Australia was already facing a strained relationship with France as well. In May 2022, Anthony Albanese as newly elected Prime Minister spoke to his then British counterpart Boris Johnson about the expansion of AUKUS. The result of the discussion was positive with Johnson making a public statement highlighting the possibilities of extended collaboration in other domains. Albanese on Twitter expressed similar views that his government will continue to work on the foundations laid by the previous government [11].

Anthony Albanese later took the initiative of fixing relations with France which were strained due to the scrapping of the submarine deal. He announced a $ 584 million settlement with France’s Naval Group in order to compensate for the scrapped contract [12]. The Australia-France bilateral relations have since strengthened in discussing matters beyond AUKUS. Following Albanese’s visit to France in July 2022, in a joint statement, the two countries declared that they have agreed upon establishing a new agenda for cooperation based on three pillars. These pillars would be defence and security, education and culture; and resilience and climate action. Cooperation in these domains would allow both countries a strengthened collaboration on shared security interests. The statement further mentioned cooperation in defence industries, space domain awareness, maritime transport, and artificial intelligence [13].

Conclusion:

Over the years, Australian Foreign Policy has remained relatively bipartisan and un-politicized. During the electoral debates, Marise Payne and Penny Wong discussed issues of leadership, state capability, and managing relations with China. For now, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s approach appears to be balanced [14]. He seeks to maintain commercial ties with China but would also consider the security concerns for which his engagement in Quad and AUKUS becomes crucial. For Australia, the issues at large would be maintaining the bilateral ties with its treaty-ally partner USA, balancing trade and security with China, strengthening ties with India, and also in multilateral platforms like ASEAN, Quad, and AUKUS. Under the current Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Australia has a lot to look forward to especially in the Indo-Pacific and Southeast Asia regarding security, trade, climate change etc. Therefore, while Australia’s foreign policy agenda may not change entirely, it is likely that its approach will.

 Endnotes:

1.       Pasan Ganegama, “Australian foreign policy and systemic paradigm shift”, October 2019 https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pasan-Ganegama/publication/338234132_Australian_foreign_policy_and_systemic_paradigm_shift/links/5e0a148892851c8364a6cc13/Australian-foreign-policy-and-systemic-paradigm-shift.pdf?origin=publication_detail

2.      Richard Maude, “The Transformation of Australian Foreign Policy”, Asia Society, Australia, 27 July 2021 https://asiasociety.org/australia/transformation-australian-foreign-policy

3.      Ralph Jennings, “Solomon Islands Pact Clears Lane for China to Sail into South Pacific”, Voa News, 26 April 2022 https://www.voanews.com/a/solomon-islands-pact-clears-lane-for-china-to-sail-into-south-pacific-/6545723.html

4.     Phil Mercer, “Candidates Consider China Threat as Australian Election Draws Closer”, Voa News, 19 May 2022 https://www.voanews.com/a/candidates-consider-china-threat-as-australian-election-draws-closer-/6580398.html

5.      “Anthony Albanese and the People’s Republic of China: an overview”, Australia-China Relations Institute, 18 June 2019 https://www.australiachinarelations.org/sites/default/files/20190618%20ACRI%20Facts%20-%20Anthony%20Albanese%20and%20the%20People%27s%20Republic%20of%20China_Elena%20Collinson.pdf

6.     Anthony Galloway and Peter Hartcher, “Albanese to take South-East Asia package to Quad meeting if Labor elected”. The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 May 2022 https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-to-take-south-east-asia-package-to-quad-meeting-if-elected-20220516-p5alst.html

7.      Susannah Patton, “New directions in Australia-Southeast Asia relations”, Lowy Institute, 27 June 2022 https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/new-directions-australia-southeast-asia-relations

8.     Sarah Martin, “Anthony Albanese in Tokyo for tense Quad talks after Joe Biden says US would defend Taiwan”, The Guardian, 23 May 2022 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/24/anthony-albanese-in-tokyo-for-tense-quad-talks-after-joe-biden-says-us-would-defend-taiwan

9.     Sarah Martin, “”Albanese insists ‘we will determine our values’ after Chinese premier reaches out to new PM”, The Guardian, 24 May 2022 https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/may/24/anthony-albanese-tells-quad-summit-australia-will-help-build-stronger-indo-pacific

10.   Lisa Cox, “Albanese says Morrison broke faith with US by delaying Labor’s Aukus briefing”, The Guardian, 14 May 2022 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/14/albanese-says-morrison-broke-faith-with-us-by-delaying-labors-aukus-briefing

11.     “Albanese, Johnson Seek to Expand AUKUS, Celebrate ‘Strong Alignment’ on All Issues”, Statecraft Global Affairs Daily, 24 May 2022 https://www.statecraft.co.in/article/albanese-johnson-seek-to-expand-aukus-celebrate-strong-alignment-on-all-issues

12.    Tiffanie Turnbull, “Aukus: Australia’s new PM vows ‘reset’ with France after submarine row”, BBC News Sydney, 24 June 2022 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-61919761

13.    “France, Australia move beyond AUKUS as Macron, Albanese discuss future ties in Paris”, The Print, 2 July 2022 https://theprint.in/world/france-australia-move-beyond-aukus-as-macron-albanese-discuss-future-ties-in-paris/1021474/

14.   Erin Watson-Lynn, “Strong under Wong: Taking charge of Australia’s foreign policy”, Observer Research Foundation, 25 May 2022 https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/strong-under-wong/ 

Pic Courtesy-Pankaj Jha

(The views expressed are those of the author and do not represent views of CESCUBE.)