AIIA

Book Launch: The Consul by Ian Kemish

As head of Australia's consular service, Ian Kemish played a central role in the nation's response to some of the most dramatic events of the early twenty-first century, including the September 11 attacks and the Bali bombings. He led the small band of Australian consuls as they confronted the new challenges of global jihadism, supporting families who lost loved ones, and negotiated the release of Australians unjustly detained abroad.

In The Consul, Kemish offers a unique and personal perspective on Australia's foreign affairs challenges of the last two decades, from hostage diplomacy to natural disasters and evacuations from war zones. This timely and engaging book also asks us to consider how world events have changed the way we travel now and in the future.

Playing to win: Australian sports diplomacy in Asia

At our July event Robbie Gaspar and Chris Ciriello, two sportsmen who have been involved in sports at elite levels in Indonesia, Malaysia and India, shared their views on Australian sports diplomacy

Australia's recognition as a sporting nation has delivered soft power dividends over many years. But few of these dividends have been delivered in Asia.  Arguably, because Australia is focused on particular sports which, with the exception of cricket in South Asia, do not have a large spectator base in Asia.  Chris and Robbie will discuss  the prospects for Australia’s sporting brand to be better utilised to build relations in these key countries and the region more broadly.

Global Citizen in the Age of the Pandemic

More than a decade ago, Michael Sheldrick helped co-found an Australian initiative known as Global Citizen after being one of the first recipients of the AIIA WA Bursary for Studies in Asia Program.  In March 2020, at the request of the World Health Organisation, Global Citizen turned its attention to supporting Covid-19 relief efforts worldwide.

Within weeks, the organisation produced its biggest show ever reaching 150 countries, with over 100 musicians.  It raised $127 million for Covid-19 relief.  In the 2 years since, Global Citizen has raised billions of dollars to address problems ranging from voter registration, vaccine inequity, climate change and, most recently, Ukrainian refugee efforts.

From vaccine nationalism to the war in Ukraine, it is clear that our current approaches to global cooperation are failing.  In this presentation, Michael proposes new approaches for addressing the key challenges of our time. He draws on insights from the last decade working alongside the UN, governments including that of President Zelenskyy, and grassroots organizations from Poland to Nigeria.

Timor-Leste: Twenty Years of Independence

At our May Event, AIIA WA  hosted a panel discussion to mark the 20th anniversary of the independence of Timor-Leste.  Less than 600km from Australia’s North, Timor-Leste has featured prominently in Australia’s foreign policy for many decades: from its annexation by Indonesia in 1975, its struggle for independence, and its development since.

Two of AIIA WA’s past presidents, Sue Boyd and John Goodlad, and our current president, Brendan Augustin, have all had significant involvement in Australia’s relationship with Timor-Leste from the mid 70’s through to the present.
Sue, John, and Brendan discussed their personal experiences in this relationship and their views on the key issues pertaining to it.

Australia and India Trade and Economic Agreement: Moving the Dial?

On 2 April 2022, Australia and India signed the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI ECTA), after more than ten years of negotiations.  In this event, Dr Jeffrey Wilson, one of Australia’s pre-eminent trade and investment policy experts, provides his analysis on the prospects for the new agreement to move the dial in the economic relationship.

Despite strong historical and cultural ties, India has long underperformed as an economic partner for Australia. This has been due to a lack of complementarities between the two economies; differing economic strategies, and the legacy of past business experience.

The Australian Government’s goal is to make India a top three export market by 2035, and third largest destination in Asia for outbound investment. A key driver for this ambition is the risk posed by Australia’s strong reliance on trade with China during an era of geopolitical uncertainty. India provides an opportunity to diversify our trade as the “world’s fastest growing major economy”. But how can this agenda be realised given past experience, and how can we leverage the free trade agreement for developing new economic ties?

Western Australia and Solar/Hydrogen with Professor Peter Newman AO

At our March event, Professor Peter Newman AO, an author of the next IPCC mitigation report, showed how producing solar energy and green hydrogen is likely to transform Western Australia’s economy in a geopolitically significant way.  The slides used in this presentation can be downloaded here

The existing geopolitical order of manufacturing was based firstly in places near coal in Europe and America and then to wherever coal and gas could be shipped easily. That world is changing. Solar and wind energy are now cheaper than any other form of power and it is needed for all parts of the zero carbon economy. Solar and wind-based electricity are needed to make Green Hydrogen which is the only real option to decarbonise process industries. Thus solar power and hydrogen will be the basis of processing minerals and hence down-stream manufacturing. Hydrogen is fundamentally difficult to store and shipping will be extremely expensive.  This is a thermodynamic necessity with geopolitical implications. The world will move towards the production of solar power and green hydrogen near to where minerals are mined.

WA has huge potential to generate solar and wind power in regional areas near mineral deposits required for this new zero carbon economy.  Solar and wind are already being procured for local mining and in the production of Green Hydrogen for use locally. This shift in geopolitics needs to be understood.  Professor Newman will show how Western Australia could become a major source of processed minerals (green steel and green aluminium), food products, and even manufacturing of batteries and electric vehicles. The potential to transform our economy from that of a primary commodities exporter to that of a high quality zero carbon producer will need a completely new set of partnerships between governments and industry.

Australia’s Foreign Policy and Domestic Politics : A Discussion with Ian Kortlang

To start our 2022 program, the WA Branch of the Australian Institute of International Affairs hosted a discussion with Ian Kortlang who reflected on his 50 year career in the making of Australian foreign and domestic policy.  From his first deployment to Vietnam in 1970 as an officer in the Australian Army to diplomatic postings in Asia, Africa and Europe, to senior domestic advisory roles in State and Federal politics and a long  - and still ongoing - successful career as a political strategist for domestic and international clients, Kort has had a unique vantage point from which to observe how Australian domestic politics has intersected with its foreign policy evolution.  During the discussion, in the form of Q and A with AIIA WA President, Brendan Augustin, he will share his firsthand political insider insights of this interplay, including letting us have a glimpse into how domestic policy battles can influence Australia’s international relations – and its reputation

The World in 2022 – Reasons to be Cheerful: Reflections of a Diplomat

At our traditional Christmas event we were pleased to have John R Goodlad as our end-of-year speaker.  In this special lecture, John took his lead from the Ian Drury and the Blockheads song “Reasons to be Cheerful” expanded on what is going right in the world as we enter 2022.  John reflected on noteworthy positive developments to show that it is not all darkness and gloom when it comes to international relations.  

 

John is our Immediate Past President and was a Member of the National Committee of the AIIA for 9 years. He has represented the Institute on various occasions including a lecture at NATO Headquarters,  leading a delegation to the Republic of Korea and participation in at the second track Australia-New Zealand/ASEAN talks in Kuala Lumpur in 2019. He is a former Australian diplomat who served in Thailand and Indonesia and he has a keen interest in the immediate region and Australia’s place in the world. John is the Honorary Consul for Colombia in Western Australia and is on the Committee of the Consular Corps of WA Inc. John is also a Master of International Law from the Australian National University.  He speaks fluent Thai and Indonesian, and some Mandarin, French and Spanish.

Hong Kong‘s ”Real Return”: the decimation of one country, two systems with Dr Jie Chen

At our October event, Dr Jie Chen reviewed the tumultuous political transformation of Hong Kong after the 1997 handover from Britain to China.  While Deng Xiaoping had pledged “one country, two systems” for the governance of the former British colony, the implementation of the principle was always lopsided. For example, the central government failed to honour the promise of universal  suffrage for both Chief Executive and Legislative Council.  Popular dissatisfaction, particularly manifest in the Umbrella Movement of 2014 and anti-extradition protests in 2019, triggered systematic and brutal crackdowns by the Xi Jinping leadership and led to the imposition of the National Security Law in 2020.

This presentation explains why Beijing’s approach has shifted from a relatively liberal policy towards a vehement existential assault on democratic institutions, civil society and rule of law – celebrated by mainland patriots as the achievement of the “real return” of Hong Kong. The presentation ended with some comments on Hong Kong’s future including the struggle of what remains of the democracy movement.

Submarines, Security, and Alliances with Hugh White, Susannah Patton, and Peter Dean

On 16 September the leaders of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States announced the creation of an enhanced trilateral security partnership called “AUKUS”.  Through AUKUS, the three governments reinforced their commitment to support each other’s security and defense interests; and as its first initiative the three leaders committed to support Australia in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy.

In the minutes, hours and days that followed governments, the press and commentators from around the world have been reacting to this announcement, which some have characterised as the most important defence and security policy decision Australia has made in over 50 years. Rarely – if ever - has an Australian policy decision received such global attention. France, whose contract to supply Australia non-nuclear-powered submarines was cancelled, has reacted strongly and is rallying its European neighbours to its cause. China and other regional countries, such as Malaysia, have warned that the decision could create a new arms race in the Indo-Pacific. Commentators are making assessments of what this means for the United States’ posture in the Indo-Pacific; its relations with China; and its ability devote increasingly scarce diplomatic and military resources to other regions such as the Middle East and Europe.

During this Webinar, moderated by the new President of AIIA WA, Brendan Augustin, our distinguished panel share their views on the rationale for this historic announcement and the possible ramifications for Australia, our region and the world.