OSCE Asian Partners for Co-operation Group Meeting - Perspectives on Enhancing Stability and Prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and Trans-regional Co-operation

OSCE Asian Partners for Co-operation Group Meeting

Perspectives on Enhancing Stability and Prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and Trans-regional Co-operation

17 November 2023

Statement by Dr Katie Mead, Counsellor

Excellencies, colleagues

I thank the Republic of Korea and Poland for hosting today’s thematic dialogue on this important topic. Thank you also to our keynote speaker and the excellent panellists for sharing their valuable insights.

Australia has repeatedly made clear we want a world where each country's sovereignty is protected, and where the rule of law is respected and upheld. We want this both in our own region, the Indo-Pacific, and in the OSCE region.

As one of the largest non-NATO contributors of military assistance to Ukraine, Australia’s response to Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine demonstrates our steadfast commitment to these principles.

We value the important contribution of other OSCE Participating States and Partners for Co-operation in maintaining global peace and stability.

Our shared future is being forged by developments in the Indo-Pacific – as our distinguished panellists have noted, the challenges we face in our region will have a flow-on effect on the global economy and global security.

Australia, as a middle power dependent on maritime trade and investment, is deeply invested in supporting an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

But the rules and norms we all depend on are under increasing pressure, and are increasingly at risk.

Strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific is now occurring across all domains—economic, military, strategic and diplomatic—framed by an intense contest of values and narratives.

The region is home to an unprecedented military build-up, as China continues to modernise its military at scale and pace, without transparency or reassurance about its intent.

North Korea’s ongoing nuclear weapons program and ballistic missile launches continue to be a destabilising factor.

As my Foreign Minister said at the United Nations General Assembly, “today’s circumstances mean we need to commit anew to building preventive infrastructure to reduce the risk of crisis, miscalculation and accident”.

Australia supports practical steps to enhance Indo-Pacific stability and prosperity, focused on mutual strategic reassurance, military risk reduction measures and opening lines of communication at all levels.

It is why Australia is seeking strategic equilibrium in the Indo-Pacific, through new diplomacy, helping to maintain the conditions for peace and stability, while playing our part in collective deterrence of aggression and coercion.

As a nation, we are investing—transparently—in our defence capability, including through the AUKUS partnership, to ensure that no state concludes that the benefits of conflict outweigh the costs.

But we are also responding to the challenging strategic circumstances in the Indo-Pacific by harnessing all the tools of our statecraft.

We continue to enhance our engagement with our Southeast Asia and the Pacific partners by increasing our development assistance, supporting the centralisation of key institutions such as ASEAN and the Pacific Islands Forum, and strengthening our trade and investment links, as outlined through our recently released Southeast Asia Economic Strategy 2040.

Australia is strengthening our closest partnerships, including our alliance with the United States and strategic partnerships with the Republic of Korea, Japan and India.

And we are complementing and reinforcing the regional architecture through groupings such as the Quad, which delivers outcomes for the Indo-Pacific through its positive and practical agenda.

Above all, we strive towards an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific, based upon the rules based order that has served our region, the OSCE area, and the world, so well to date.

Thank you.