SENATOR THE HON PENNY WONG
LEADER OF THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SENATE
MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Thank you John.

We gather on the traditional lands of the Kaurna people.

I respect their spiritual relationship with their Country. I also acknowledge the Kaurna people as the traditional custodians of the Adelaide region, and that their cultural and heritage beliefs are still as important to the living Kaurna people today.

First Nations people were this continent’s first diplomats and traders. I recognise their ongoing connection to the peoples of our region – a connection that makes our nation stronger.

I pay my respects to elders and to First Nations people here this evening.

Professor Marcia Langton – thank you being here and for your decades of courageous leadership.

Thank you to the Hawke Centre, and to the University of South Australia, for inviting me to give this year’s Hawke Lecture.

Friends one and all, thank you all for joining me this evening.

I particularly acknowledge the Governor Frances Adamson, former Governor Eric Neal, Chancellor John Hill and Vice Chancellor, Professor David Lloyd, former premiers Mike Rann and Jay Weatherill, former Chief of the Defence Force Angus Houston, and I want to especially acknowledge Blanche D’Alpuget.

For me to be asked to give the Hawke Lecture is a great honour – doubly so in your presence, Blanche. Triply so on what would have been Bob’s 95th birthday.

In thinking about this lecture, I’ve been reflecting on Bob’s love affair with the Australian people.

Australians could see in Bob the full sweep of their own humanity.

This was captured by Blanche in her complete biography, where she said that Bob’s:

“desire to bridge the gaps, to reconcile opposites, has been a major shaping force through Hawke’s life: hymn-singer and boozer; family man and philanderer; mate of the manual worker and the millionaire. Sinning and saint.”

I had the privilege of knowing Bob. Of learning from him.

Bob was always generous with his wisdom but never assumed he knew everything.

I remember campaigning with him at elections. His spark never dimmed; his connection with everyday Australians was always electric.

That’s because while he was a famously good talker, he was an even better listener.

This is what enabled Bob to understand and relate.

It’s what enabled Bob to be a unifying force - always bringing people with him on his lifelong project of modernising Australia.

Bob’s pitch to the nation in 1983 was “Bringing Australians Together.”

His efforts to unite had a big impact on me as an Asian-Australian teenager.

When Opposition Leader John Howard called for a reduction in Asian immigration, Bob persuaded people of the case for inclusion.

Throughout his time in public life, across all the potential fault lines – class, gender, race, sexuality – Bob brought people together.

Australia has known our share of discord and conflict – including the struggles between First Nations people and colonial powers, generations of sectarianism and the White Australia policy.

But Bob believed, just as I believe, that Australians want to define ourselves by what we share.

A fundamental belief, in his words, that “there are no second-class Australians.”

At the launch of his 1984 campaign, Bob affirmed that:

“…At the heart of national self-respect lies respect for each other and for the rights of all… The truth that the legitimate aspirations of each group can best be achieved, not by fighting each other, not by contrived conflict, not by setting group against group, Australians against Australians, but by working together, recognising and respecting each other’s rights, reasonable expectations and fair aspirations.”

It is even more vital that we hold to that truth now.

Tonight I want to talk to you about what we must protect about Australia and what we must project to the world.

I want to talk to you about how we can succeed in building Australia’s future in a world that is increasingly unstable and uncertain.

And how that future relies on us fully engaging all aspects of our national power, including being more economically resilient and more diplomatically adept.

How building that future demands we diversify and strengthen our international relationships, focus on our region, and work to uphold the rules that underpin our peace and prosperity.

And how building our future demands we maintain our respect for each other as Australians.

Respect for each other’s rights and aspirations, each other’s contributions, each other’s perspectives.

Some parts of the world are defined by conflict. Hostility between countries, fragmentation within countries.

I believe that Australians don’t want that conflict reproduced here.

We wish to maintain our place as the most successful pluralist, multicultural democracy the world has seen.

Yet there are politicians on the right and left who see their own interests in making Australians turn on each other.

Misrepresenting views and exaggerating differences. Delegitimising each other because of different opinions or backgrounds.

Trying to convert global uncertainty into domestic anxiety.

Exploiting the trend towards echo chambers, where people only hear bad things about others, and don’t see for themselves what’s good about others.

There are too many politicians and activists whose business model is outrage.

We see complexity replaced with absolutism, persuasion replaced with incitement. Endless aggression and shouting.

Perpetuating what Bob called “the vicious cycle of confrontation”.

We cannot allow extremes to intimidate and overwhelm.

Rather than fight each other, we must defend the space to agree with enthusiasm, disagree with respect, and sometimes neither wholly agree nor disagree.

All Australians have a right to be and feel safe. All Australians have a right to practice their faith in peace.

Last week’s firebombing of the Addas Israel Synagogue in Melbourne was a shocking crime.

It’s clear that its purpose was not just to burn down that shul but also to cause terror among its community.

It will be investigated as a terrorist incident.

We know that cruel acts of antisemitism evoke some of the darkest episodes in the history of the Jewish people.

I know that so many in the Australian Jewish community are feeling scared and unsafe in a way that should never happen in a society like ours.

You should not feel that way anywhere or at any time.

I say to you this evening what the Prime Minister has said. Those responsible will be tracked down and brought to justice.

We know this is the third arson attack in recent times targeting Jewish Australians.

Today the Prime Minister announced AFP Special Operation for Antisemitism – counter-terrorism experts focusing on threats, violence and hatred towards Jewish Australians.

We condemn and reject antisemitism wherever it occurs. Acts of hate have no place in Australia.

In a world more uncertain and unstable than it has been in most of our lifetimes, it is especially important that we resist those who would fracture our common purpose as Australians.

We face a climate changing faster than our combined efforts to stop it.

We face risks to global prosperity from disruption of trade and investment.

We face the risks inherent in great power competition.

More people needing humanitarian assistance – 302 million people this year, up by nearly 30 million in just the last two years – and record numbers of humanitarian workers being killed.

More than 117 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes.

We see rules being broken. Institutions eroded. Countries shifting alignment. Authoritarianism spreading.

We face increasing nuclear proliferation and a major power threatening nuclear attack against its neighbour.

We face more conflict than any time since World War Two. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Conflict in Sudan. In Myanmar. In the Middle East.

Since Hamas’ atrocities on October 7 that left 1,200 Israelis dead and more than 200 hostages taken – more than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed. More than 13,000 children.

Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.1 million people have lost their homes and do not have enough food, water, medicine or shelter.

The vast majority of the international community – including Australia and key partners – have been calling for a ceasefire and the release of hostages. Indeed, this Thursday marks a year since we voted for a ceasefire at the UN.

Australia and Israel are democracies where our citizens can agree or disagree with individual policies or actions of their governments.

The fact that we are both democracies should mean that there is respect for disagreement. Respect and tolerance.

Let me be clear – we have seen a devastating rise in antisemitism in Australia and elsewhere that is unacceptable, and I have expressed my horror at last week’s attack.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance sets out a definition of antisemitism, and it says, “criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”

It is not antisemitic to expect that Israel should comply with the international law that applies to all countries.

Nor is it antisemitic to call for children and other civilians to be protected, or to call for a two-state solution that enables Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security.

Bob Hawke recalled a meeting in the 1970s with then Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Meir, who, he said:

“Looked into my eyes and said there could be no peace for Israel until there was an honourable settlement of the aspirations of the Palestinian people.”

Last week, Australia was part of the overwhelming majority of the international community that supported a resolution calling for the peaceful settlement of the Palestinian question.

The UK, Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand – 157 countries voted for this resolution, including Australia. Eight countries voted against it.

Our vote is part of the international push for peace through a two-state solution.

And why is that? Because it is the only outcome which keeps faith with the imperative of the existence of Israel, that fulfils the world’s promise to the Palestinian people, and that enables the two peoples to live in peace.

It is for Mr Dutton to explain why he has walked away from decades of bipartisan support for it – and why he is insistent on reproducing the conflict here, rather than defending national unity.

From the day I was sworn in as Foreign Minister two and a half years ago, my purpose has been to see Australia succeed in the face of ever-growing challenges.

And my driving belief is that whatever challenges we face, Australia has agency.

We cannot control the world, but we can control what we do to build our future.

Strategically and persistently advancing Australia’s interests.

Combining all arms of our statecraft – our national power – so our diplomatic, economic, strategic, and military capabilities are all going in the same direction.

All reassuring our region of Australia’s peaceful intent. Of our desire for cooperation, stability and shared prosperity.

All helping deter any potential aggressor from thinking conflict in our region is worth the risk.

All making Australia stronger and more influential in the face of great power competition and a more uncertain world.

We’re doing that through A Future Made in Australia – helping make us an indispensable part of the global economy including by developing new industries like green metals and low carbon fuels.

We’re doing that by modernising our military capability, which was left so degraded by the Liberals despite all their tough talk.

We’re investing in our engagement in the region, because diplomacy is always our first line of defence, and key to shaping our region and world in support of our interests.

And we’re increasing our development capability and assistance, to help our regional partners deal with climate change and grow their economies.

Since coming to government, our foreign policy has advanced Australia’s interests by investing in relationships, our region, and the rules.

I want to deal with each in turn, starting with our relationships – which we have been diversifying where they are underdone, repairing where they have been neglected, and strengthening further where they are already robust.

Diversifying, repairing and strengthening our relationships gives Australia more choices and more control in building our future.

We’ve been putting the work in with India, Japan, South Korea and the countries of Southeast Asia.

Just last week I was again in Singapore and Malaysia, and this week I’ll be hosting the Thai foreign minister here in Adelaide.

To signal our intent, in just my first year as Foreign Minister, I visited Japan twice, India, Timor-Leste and every ASEAN country except Myanmar.

We’ve also been repairing strained relationships in the Pacific by being a more respectful and engaged partner.

Turning up, including by visiting all Pacific Island Forum members in my first year in office. Listening and acting, instead of joking about climate change.

We’ve got the relationship with France back on track with the Australia-France Roadmap for cooperation.

We have worked to stabilise the relationship with China, restoring trade for our miners, farmers, growers and winemakers, without compromising on our national interests.

And we’ve been strengthening our already robust traditional relationships. Next week I will again travel to the United Kingdom and Europe.

Of course, at the heart of our traditional relationships is our alliance with the United States. Our most important strategic relationship.

While I understand the heavy focus in public commentary on our relationships with the great powers, the truth is that advancing Australia’s interests demands our diplomatic efforts are far broader.

Australia is an important power – not least as one of the world’s twenty largest economies – but we are not a superpower.

So to preserve our sovereignty and safeguard our interests amid global uncertainty, Australia must have a durable and comprehensive network of relationships with other middle powers and with smaller powers.

These countries, like us, can’t just throw our weight around. We share an interest in a world guided by rules and in working together to uphold these rules – something none of us can do on our own.

Australia and most other countries do not want the world’s future to be determined by force or power alone.

I had the privilege of speaking at the UN General Assembly this year. Australia has a different vision for the world. One where no country dominates, and no country is dominated.

Building our future in these times demands calm, consistent international engagement, methodically working with countries of all sizes to find common interests that strengthen our bonds.

This is the kind of engagement that Bob modelled. He opened Australia to the world, and sought to have the world open up to us.

He sought, and achieved, a greater role for Australia in international affairs, knowing we could not protect our interests and project our values as bystanders.

Through the Cairns Group and APEC, through the GATT negotiations and the Cambodian Peace Agreements, Australia led with ambition, and helped create norms and rules that underpin our peace and prosperity.

Our Government takes forward Bob Hawke’s legacy of respectful, substantive, creative engagement – because like Hawke, we want Australia to be stronger and more influential in the world.

Yet the same echo-chamber dynamic I spoke of a moment ago is permeating our national discussion on international relations.

This is exacerbated by both ends of the political spectrum reducing consequential foreign policy to popularity contests.

They falsely equate engagement with endorsement – when instead, the purpose of engagement is to press our own interests.

As we approach next year’s election, we can expect that Peter Dutton and the Greens have the same goal: to convert global uncertainty into domestic anxiety.

We all know Mr Dutton loves a fight on China and the Greens have always wanted a fight on America.

Their claims that Australia’s relationship with the United States undermines our sovereignty or makes us less safe are simply wrong.

As Bob Hawke told the US Congress in 1988, the alliance “is a dynamic arrangement serving the modern needs of both sides.”

And it will keep being dynamic, to serve the interests of each side.

America is critical to balancing our region and will remain central to the world’s security and economy.

President Trump has made it clear he’s going to do things differently. So we shouldn’t be surprised as he implements his America First agenda.

But equally, we should be confident in ourselves. Sure of our values and our place in the world, and our ability to work together and deliver on our interests together as Australians.

And central to that is having more choices and more control over our future in an uncertain and stable world. That means having more relationships, not fewer.

And Australia is not stronger when politicians go around arrogantly beating their chest or the drums of war – at a time when we need cool heads and steady hands.

Unlike our political openness at both ends, we don’t just rage against the world when we disagree.

All that is most important of all in our region, where our future lies.

It is understandable that the heightened geostrategic competition in our region, and China’s pursuit of its interests attract so much attention.

But it does mean that debate in Australia about our region is often oversimplified. As if the only elements that matter are China, the United States and ourselves.

Many overlook the thousands of kilometres between Australia, the United States and China.

Many oversimplify the dynamics of the region to a choice between American primacy or Chinese hegemony.

And many don’t see the economic opportunity that waits for us in Southeast Asia, home to some of the fastest growing economies in the world.

The world is inexorably linked, but what matters most to Australia’s future is our own region, the Indo-Pacific.

Our success in making ourselves an economic and security partner to the countries of our region will be decisive in navigating global uncertainty and instability.

Since day one of the Albanese Government, we have sent the message that Australia is back in our region, proudly continuing the Labor tradition of foreign and defence policies anchored Asia and the Pacific.

And that we are making our contribution to the region’s balance, with a clear stake in the region’s prosperity, working together to preserve sovereignty and build our collective resilience.

Australia is again a partner of choice to the Pacific family, responding to the needs of our Pacific partners and the Pacific Islands Forum.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Albanese and the President of Nauru announced an elevation in our long-standing relationship by signing the Nauru-Australia Treaty.

It is a landmark agreement, in which Australia will bolster the Nauruan Government’s economic resilience and security.

At the centre of this agreement is the certainty that Nauru will remain connected to the global financial system, with a commitment from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to provide ongoing access to banking services in Nauru.

This follows the groundbreaking Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union, which provides for both climate adaptation and mobility with dignity – the first treaty anywhere in the world which provides legal protection for sovereignty in the face of sea level rise.

In Southeast Asia, we are working more closely than ever with our partners, with ASEAN at the centre.

The Southeast Asia Economic Strategy that we commissioned is already delivering results.

Aside from offering enormous trade and investment opportunity, it sends a clear signal of our peaceful intent. It says we want to create shared value between our countries – that our success is their success.

We are working to reverse the slide in Asian language capability and make the most of the deep insights, understanding and language skills that Asian-Australian communities bring to our national power.

In the security domain with Southeast Asia, we’ve supported regional efforts to uphold international law in the South China Sea, and signed a landmark Defence Cooperation Agreement with Indonesia.

This growing cooperation with Southeast Asia and historic progress with the Pacific family complements our decision to pursue AUKUS in order to contribute further to stability and security in our region.

And it is a powerful corrective to critics of AUKUS who define it in isolation of our broader efforts.

In doing so, they ignore our clear purpose of preserving a peaceful, stable and prosperous region. And that we work with our allies and partners to that end, combining reassurance and deterrence.

They also ignore Australia’s increased credibility in our region - not least with our action on climate change and our increased high-level presence.

We don’t want the countries of our region to have their fate determined by one country - but rather we want a balanced region where all countries can determine their own futures, free of interference.

And like other countries in our region, we recognise the relationship with China will always be complex.

As a great power, China will continue to assert its interests in ways that differ from our own. And we are clear when these actions run counter to the region’s interests in peace and stability – including in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

But we are always going to be better off when we can talk to each other. And through dialogue and enforcing international trade rules at the World Trade Organization, we have secured agreement to lifting all impediments on $20 billion of Australian exports.

In trade and beyond, we want our region and our world to operate by rules.

Countries that are not superpowers benefit from a world of agreed rules.

And by definition, Australia can’t pick and choose which rules we are going to apply.

We expect Russia to abide by international law and end its illegal full-scale war on Ukraine.

We expect China to abide by international legal decisions in the South China Sea.

We also expect Israel to abide by international law.

Aside from backing the independence of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, Australia is demonstrating our support for international law by leading work on a new initiative for aid workers.

At the UN this year, I brought together a group of influential countries to pursue a global Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel, increasing pressure for countries to abide by international humanitarian law.

We simply can’t protect civilians without protecting the local aid workers who provide the food, water and medicine that civilians need to survive.

Australia felt this imperative deeply with the IDF’s strike against World Central Kitchen vehicles, which killed Australian Zomi Frankcom and her colleagues.

Friends, if Australia wants to be able to uphold our interests in a world operating by rules that preserve our rights, sovereignty and independence, we must work with others.

So the Albanese Government will keep working with more countries, cooperating more deeply in our region, to help build Australia’s future.

And in order that we can keep building our future in an uncertain, unstable world, we will keep strengthening and coordinating all arms of our national power - diplomatic, economic, strategic, military.

But I come back to the truth I began with, because the biggest part of Australia’s power is all of us. Our people.

We are 26 million people, from more than 300 ancestries, and home to the oldest continuing civilisation on the planet.

What an extraordinary story. What extraordinary people.

This gives us the ability to see and understand every part of the world.

To reach into every part of the world and find common ground.

Yet it's also something we need to nurture.

With a society as diverse as ours, bad actors will try to exploit differences for their own advantage.

Nothing is more important for our security, for our prosperity – for who we are - than ensuring that Australia remains a pluralist nation, welcoming different races, religions and views, united by respect for each other's humanity and for each other's right to live in peace.

And so I close with Bob’s enduring words – his:

“appeal to this great truth about the Australian community – the truth that the legitimate aspirations of the diverse groups and interests which go to make up the nation can best be achieved, not by fighting each other, not by setting group against group, Australians against Australians, but by working together, recognising and respecting each other’s rights, fair expectations and fair hopes and aspirations.”

Thank you Bob.

ENDS

Media Contact:
Foreign Minister's Office: +61 2 6277 7500

Authorised by Senator the Hon Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australia.