I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we meet, and pay my respects to Elders past and present. I extend that respect to all First Nations people here today.
Thank you to Asialink for bringing us together.
When I was 5 years old, I briefly attended a local school in Banda Aceh.
Lessons were conducted in Indonesian. Much of the school day involved singing songs carrying a strong nation‑building message. Afterwards, we played in the muddy playground. My mother recalls that the sole white child in the class was also the child whose white shirt came home brown each afternoon.
My father was working at Syiah Kuala University, helping strengthen social science research across Indonesian universities and Islamic institutes. My mother was beginning the research on Indonesian education that became her doctoral thesis. Our family lived first in Jakarta and then in Banda Aceh.
That childhood also shaped how I see Australia. Our place in Asia is geographical, and deeply personal. It is found in the families who cross borders, the students who study together, the tourists who explore each other's countries and the colleagues who build businesses across the region.
Connecting with others changes who we are.
Economists often distinguish between flows and stocks. Income is a flow. Wealth is a stock, accumulated over time.
Influence works in much the same way.
A meeting is a flow. Trust is the stock built through repeated contact. A ministerial visit has immediate value, while the deeper return comes from the relationship it strengthens.
Like other forms of capital, influence can depreciate. Relationships thin when contact becomes sporadic. Institutional memory fades when expertise retires without a successor. Assumptions harden when people view one another mainly through headlines.
Australia's image in Asia is accumulated in thousands of encounters. A commercial negotiation sits beside a student exchange. A sporting contest sits beside a diplomatic meeting. Each offers a small answer to a large question: what kind of country is Australia?
Our identity follows the same path. Geography places Australia in the region. Our institutions and daily choices determine whether we act like a country at ease in Asia.
This is one reason the Albanese government has put the Indo‑Pacific at the centre of Australia's foreign policy.
The Prime Minister chose Indonesia for his first bilateral visit after the 2022 election. Foreign Minister Penny Wong set herself the task of visiting every ASEAN country apart from Myanmar during her first year, along with every member of the Pacific Islands Forum. That was a statement of intent, followed by sustained engagement.
Since May 2022, Australian ministers have made more than 140 visits to Southeast Asia, including 20 by the Prime Minister and 31 by the Foreign Minister. The Prime Minister has attended every summit with ASEAN leaders, while Penny Wong has attended every ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
Showing up consistently changes relationships. It gives leaders time to discuss emerging challenges before they become crises. It allows officials to build the habits of cooperation that serve countries well during difficult periods.
In 2024, Australia hosted the ASEAN‑Australia Special Summit in Melbourne, marking 50 years since Australia became ASEAN's first dialogue partner. It was the largest diplomatic gathering Australia had hosted in more than a decade. The government also established the ASEAN‑Australia Centre to deepen links across business and education, together with civil society.
We have backed diplomacy with economic engagement.
The government commissioned Nicholas Moore to prepare Invested: Australia's Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040. Its implementation includes investment deal teams and a $2 billion Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility. These measures help Australian firms overcome the information gaps and financing hurdles that can deter promising investments.
By July this year, two‑way trade with the region was approaching $200 billion, while two‑way investment was nearing $300 billion.
The relationship with Indonesia has grown stronger. In February, Prime Minister Albanese and President Prabowo signed the Jakarta Treaty 2026, the Treaty on Common Security. It reflects the trust between our countries and creates a foundation for further cooperation. The 2026-27 Budget also provides $33.2 million to deepen institutional ties, build Indonesian language and country expertise, and establish a new leadership dialogue.
The Prime Minister visited Brunei and Malaysia in April. In Kuala Lumpur, he described the Indo‑Pacific as Australia's home, with ASEAN central to its success. Australia engages with the region as a permanent participant whose future is bound to that of its neighbours.
In July, Prime Ministers Albanese and Modi held the third Australia-India Annual Summit in Melbourne. They agreed to expand the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and pursue fresh areas of economic cooperation. Australia has also strongly supported Timor‑Leste's accession as ASEAN's eleventh member, including technical assistance to help it participate effectively.
The government has stabilised the relationship with China while protecting Australian interests, and without compromising what matters to Australians. Clear communication supports trade and reduces the risk of miscalculation. It also gives Australia greater scope to cooperate where our interests align.
Australia's interests are advanced through relationships built patiently and sustained through changing circumstances.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has described foreign policy as starting with who we are. The way Australia presents itself is part of our national power. Our multicultural character allows Australians to see themselves reflected across the world, while people across the region can see part of themselves reflected here.
Influence grows when a country's image feels authentic. Australia gains strength when our representatives reflect the country we have become. Asian‑Australian leaders bring professional skill, regional relationships and experiences that sharpen institutional judgement.
First Nations history also changes Australia's regional story. Long before European settlement, Yolŋu people traded with Makassan seafarers. Those exchanges left their mark in language, art and ceremony. The Albanese government's first First Nations International Engagement Strategy brings that history and knowledge into Australian diplomacy.
This gives Australia a richer account of itself. We are an old continent with ancient regional ties and a modern multicultural society. Each source of identity expands our ability to connect.
There is also a hard economic case for Asia capability.
Asia accounts for more than 60 per cent of Australia's two‑way trade. Southeast Asia is one of the world's fastest‑growing economic regions. Its consumer market is around 20 times the size of Australia's, with rising demand for Australian services and commodities.
Those facts create opportunity. Converting opportunity into higher living standards requires capability.
Productivity rises when workers and firms combine resources more effectively. It grows through stronger management and technological adoption, along with trade and investment. Asia capability supports each channel.
A business entering a regional market needs to understand local regulation and commercial practice. It needs a sense of how decisions are made and how trust develops. Contracts carry the formal terms. Cultural judgement helps determine whether the relationship succeeds.
Language skills widen the range of people with whom an Australian can communicate directly. Country knowledge helps leaders distinguish a temporary setback from a structural shift. Regional networks can reveal opportunities before they reach a public tender or an investment prospectus.
Cultural fluency also helps organisations use talent effectively. A bilingual employee who understands the commercial setting of another country carries an asset whose value may reach far beyond translation.
There is a productivity loss when that capability remains invisible. There is another when employees see little reward for maintaining language skills or regional networks.
Asialink's own research points to the gap between aspiration and investment. In a 2025 survey of Asialink Leaders alumni, 98 per cent described Asia capability as very important to Australia's future success. Yet 66 per cent rated their organisation's investment in it as low or medium.
That gap is an economic signal, which appears to be shaping students' choices.
Students look at which subjects help them enter university. Graduates watch which skills appear in job advertisements. Employees notice which experiences lead to career advancement.
When employers reward Asia capability, educational choices respond.
Asia is changing fast. China's advances in automotive manufacturing and artificial intelligence are affecting industries around the world. Southeast Asian economies are experimenting with digital payments and clean‑energy systems. India's technology sector is producing firms whose scale and ambition command global attention.
Australia gains from understanding these developments early. Regional knowledge helps local firms identify useful technologies and promising partners. It also allows policymakers to assess which overseas innovations suit Australian conditions.
Openness gives us access to ideas. Asia capability lets us interpret them.
Services make this especially important. Shipping a commodity requires sophisticated production and logistics. Exporting education or professional advice rests heavily on communication and trust.
Many of Australia's future opportunities will come through regional services supply chains. Australian firms will work with partners in clean energy and digital commerce, as well as health and advanced manufacturing. Technical excellence opens the door. Regional fluency helps sustain the relationship.
The state of Australia's Asia capability therefore deserves close attention.
In June 2026, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education, chaired by Tim Watts (a graduate of the Asialink Leaders Program), tabled Security and Prosperity in Asia: Building Australia's Asia Capability.
The inquiry was referred by Education Minister Jason Clare in September 2025. It received 195 submissions and held 11 public hearings. It examined how Australia can build Asia capability across the life course, from early education into the workforce.
The report defines Asia capability broadly. It includes language proficiency and cultural literacy, supported by country knowledge and regional experience. Its central argument is that Asia capability is a sovereign capability: one Australia can exercise in its own right.
Australia needs its own capacity to understand the region's languages, cultures, histories and economies. Independent judgement rests on independent knowledge.
The report documents a weakening pipeline.
Domestic university enrolments in Southeast Asian languages fell by 75 per cent between 2005 and 2024. Around 500 of Australia's one million domestic university students study Indonesian. Year 12 Indonesian enrolments fell from 1,161 in 2010 to 486 in 2024.
Australia has built a relationship of growing strategic importance with Indonesia. Implementing that partnership will require people who understand Indonesian institutions and speak the national language.
My own Indonesian has faded substantially since childhood. I retain a few useful distinctions, including the difference between panas, meaning hot in temperature, and pedas, meaning spicy. That linguistic distinction may assist at dinner. It will take Australia only so far in a complex bilateral relationship.
Past generations made Australia an international centre for Indonesian studies. Scholars such as Herb Feith and Jamie Mackie built deep expertise and enduring relationships. Their work shaped public policy and strengthened the relationship between our countries.
Today's thin student pipeline will become tomorrow's shortage of diplomats, researchers and business leaders.
China expertise faces similar pressure. Only 17 students completed honours in Chinese studies with language during the 5 years to 2021. Among more than 2,300 postgraduate coursework programs offered by Australian universities, only 21 include an Asia‑focused specialisation.
South Asian capability also requires greater depth. Australia's Indian diaspora is around one million people, and Punjabi is among the fastest‑growing languages in the country. Yet Hindi is taught at only 2 Australian universities, with a narrow pathway into advanced study.
These figures describe an education issue and an economic constraint.
There is also the potential for a cascade effect. Senior scholars train younger researchers. Advanced students become teachers. Teachers inspire school students. When one link weakens, the effect travels down.
Universities are especially important because Australia has a relatively small diplomatic service and a compact think‑tank community. Academic expertise forms a national reservoir that government and business can draw upon.
Tim Watts and his committee colleagues proposed stronger pathways through schools and university language hubs, supported by better national data. It also recommends targeted action for Indonesian and stronger recognition for community language education.
The government will consider the report carefully. Its evidence already provides a valuable basis for discussion.
Some people expect artificial intelligence to make language learning less important. Rapid improvements in translation tools certainly make routine exchanges easier. A traveller can order a meal or understand the gist of a document within seconds.
AI can also help students practise. It offers low‑cost conversation and immediate feedback.
Yet AI is far from making bilingualism redundant. Language learning develops an ear for context. It teaches how meaning shifts with hierarchy, humour and history.
The inquiry heard a useful analogy. A calculator can produce an answer, while mathematical knowledge allows the user to recognise a mistake. Language expertise plays a similar role when people use AI translation.
As routine translation becomes cheaper, deep regional judgement becomes more valuable. AI complements Asia capability. Trust still comes from people.
In‑country experience is another essential part of the pipeline.
Tim Watts' inquiry heard from Australians whose school exchange or university placement sparked a lifelong engagement with Asia. A homestay creates relationships and memories that can sustain years of study. Living abroad also builds confidence in navigating unfamiliar institutions.
Sport provides a useful analogy.
A strong sporting system needs broad participation and clear pathways. Talent flourishes when good coaching is followed by match experience.
Asia capability develops through a similar process. Classroom learning provides technique. Time in‑country provides match practice. Continued professional use keeps the capability sharp.
A fairer society follows the same principle. When institutions widen their talent pool, the whole team becomes stronger.
Australian institutions sometimes overlook expertise that already exists inside their workforce. Employees may possess language skills or regional networks that sit outside their formal job description. A simple capability map can reveal assets that the organisation has been carrying unnoticed.
Community language schools hold another major store of capability.
In 2023, 631 community language schools taught more than 100 languages to over 100,000 students. Demand in this sector has remained stable, with growth in some communities. Much of Australia's enthusiasm for language learning has shifted into education sustained by families and community teachers.
These schools deserve stronger connections with mainstream education. Students should receive recognition for the skills they build. Community teachers should have workable pathways into qualified classroom teaching.
This is also an issue of identity. A young Australian who studies Punjabi or Vietnamese through a community school is strengthening a family connection and building a national asset.
Leaders in business and government can help strengthen that asset.
Champion Asia capability in position descriptions and promotion decisions. Give employees time to maintain language skills and undertake in‑country placements.
Ask which regional capabilities already exist within your organisation. Give those employees a voice in decisions involving the markets and societies they understand.
Board members can ask whether regional strategy draws on people with genuine country knowledge. Senior public servants can ensure that language and regional expertise appear in workforce planning.
Universities and employers should maintain a closer conversation about demand. Clear career pathways help students see that years spent learning Indonesian or Hindi will carry professional value.
Leadership also means making capability visible. Celebrate colleagues who have built substantial regional expertise. Support Asian‑Australian staff into senior roles. Treat community language schools as educational institutions with a contribution to Australia's future.
Asialink's leadership community is well placed to carry out this work.
You span business and government, along with education and civil society. You understand that relationships often begin before a formal transaction and last long after a particular project.
Use those networks generously. Share opportunities and introduce people across sectors. Encourage younger Australians who show curiosity about the region.
The government's regional engagement creates a strong platform. Our diplomatic relationships are deeper. Economic links are growing. Australia's modern identity is increasingly visible in the people who represent us.
The next task is to align our domestic capability with the scale of our regional ambition.
When I sat in that Banda Aceh classroom, my understanding of Indonesia came through songs and classmates, followed by games in the mud. I saw the country from inside a small part of daily life.
That experience stayed with me because connection makes knowledge personal.
Australia's future in Asia will be shaped by people who understand the region and are trusted within it.
Our influence will grow from those relationships. Our image will reflect the country we have become.
And our identity will be stronger for feeling at home in Asia.
