Speech - Landing Defence Partnerships

The Indo-Pacific and Beyond

Speech to the Chief of Army Symposium 2023, Perth Convention Centre, 30 August 2023

[Editorial note: This speech has been edited and condensed for clarity.]

At the Shangri-La Dialogue last year, the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, and the United States Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, both spoke to the importance of guardrails—that is, simple practical structures to prevent a worst-case scenario. The bases for these guardrails are dialogue, communications, transparency and cultural understanding. Ultimately, defence partnerships with our region are one of our guardrails. We need to build these guardrails with our allies, partners and competitors. But you can’t build a strong guardrail in a time of disaster, crisis or war. It is too late. 

The time is now to invest in our defence partnerships so that during a time of crisis or conflict we have the necessary relationships, networks and understanding to talk and work together. Regional defence partnerships are essential to achieving Australia’s national interests, as well as for the collective security and prosperity for our region. One partnership that exemplifies how a collaboration can strengthen both partners and global security is Australia’s collaboration with Vietnam in support of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. I saw it up close when I served as the Australian Defence Attaché to Vietnam and Laos for three years from 2017. 

Vietnam is a valuable security partner for Australia, and Australia is a valuable security partner for Vietnam. But we are also very different countries. Our languages are as different as two human languages can be. We have different governance, and we have different priorities. The key to strengthening defence relationships is finding and operationalising our common interests. 

When Vietnam decided to take a bigger role in international peacekeeping by operating a field hospital in South Sudan, a common interest crystallised that was right in our lane. Australia has a longstanding commitment to United Nations (UN) peacekeeping and has expertise in establishing and operating field hospitals. The potential for partnership was obvious, but delivering took genuine effort and commitment on both sides. 

Vietnam committed its people to extensive training by Australia, including in English language, aeromedical evacuation techniques and UN processes. Trained and certified Vietnam People’s Army nurses and doctors deployed on an Australian C-17 flight to South Sudan, where they successfully operated a Level 2 field hospital. Twelve months later I saw them return, the pride of their nation, confident and ready to train another rotation themselves. They had put their Australian training to the test and found it to be world class. They had also built on that training with their own experience. Now they were ready to build the Vietnam People’s Army capacity, and to mentor other nations to prepare for their UN deployments. 

That is how you build trust. That’s what a legacy is. And that is what we mean by building defence relationships. We need all our defence relationships to be as strong as they can be, because our region is being reshaped and our national interests are under pressure.

Strategic Circumstances

Reflecting Australia’s 2020 Defence Strategic Update, the 2023 Defence Strategic Review (DSR) and the National Defence Statement 2023 both acknowledged that the pace of strategic change has continued to accelerate. We have all observed that our operating environment is becoming more challenging to predict and manage. There is increasing competition economically, militarily, strategically and diplomatically, alongside a contest of values and narratives. At the same time, the effect of climate change is amplifying these challenges. 

Climate change is the greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific. As the oceans rise and islands disappear, aside from displacing thousands of people, this will create tension around the definitions of sovereignty and exclusive economic zones. As we are all too acutely aware, Australia is also feeling the impact of climate change, and the Australian Defence Force (ADF) will be expected to respond to extreme weather events, in both the short and longer term.

Previous Defence White Papers have tasked Defence to put more effort into building relationships with partners, prioritising international engagement as core business. The government’s response to the DSR turbocharges this trend, directing that the deepening of our diplomatic and defence partnerships with partners in the Indo-Pacific is now one of Defence’s six immediate priorities. 

Partnerships in the Indo-Pacific

For Australia, the Indo-Pacific region not just our geography. It describes our strategic and economic reality, the close partnerships we have with our Indo-Pacific neighbours, and the trade routes which are our economic lifeblood. Maintaining open and inclusive connections to the nations of the Indo-Pacific is crucial because this region will have the greatest impact on our nation’s future. Further, the trajectory of that future will be increasingly shaped by the countries that comprise the Indo-Pacific. What this means for Defence is that we have plenty of work to do. More than ever, we need to actively engage in our neighbourhood. 

Australia is committed to an Indo-Pacific region that is open, stable, prosperous, and respectful of sovereignty. We aim to foster a region characterised by strategic balance, with regional architecture at its centre. Defence has built and sustained a web of regional relationships and partnerships. Our Defence attaché network consists of over 260 ADF and Australian Public Service (APS) personnel, with over 250 locally engaged staff in 38 countries around the world. We rely on our Defence attachés and overseas Defence members as representatives and ‘on-the-ground’ experts, shaping and delivering Defence engagement activities alongside our partners. 

In the Indo-Pacific, we also have long-term Defence Cooperation Program commitments. Aside from the multitude of long and short training courses partners conduct in Australia, we also have over 120 personnel permanently posted across the region in support of capacity building, English language training, the Pacific Maritime Security Program, and departmental policy and governance programs. Yet another layer of engagement is achieved by the hundreds of ADF and APS personnel who deploy every year to the region to conduct mobile training teams and exercises. We also have Australian alumni throughout the region who are a powerful force multiplier in that they assist their nations in understanding Australia better. These people are all part of our defence international engagement system to grow and foster defence partnership—through shared understanding and awareness, as well as to increase our human, procedural and technical interoperability with the region. 

But how do we continue to maintain and (where practical) grow this presence and expertise in a resource-constrained environment? While I don’t have all the answers, it is evident that Defence needs to invest in and develop the capabilities of our people. We must also acknowledge that international engagement is not a designated role, but a persistent and enduring effort. The reality is that Defence remains a core contributor to Australia’s international engagement architecture, and this includes the strategic dialogue structure. 

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Pacific Islands Forum, and the South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting are just a few of the numerous regional fora that Defence participates in to promote a rules-based order and a sense of strategic community. Meaningful discussion in these dialogues is critical to developing shared understanding and outcomes benefiting Australia’s—and our partners’—security and prosperity. At the strategic level, this means continuing to build support for the governance and regional security structures emerging in the Indo-Pacific system. In parallel, at the operational level, we identify areas of engagement that build partners’ and regional capacity to solve real problems. Often our efforts focus on disaster relief and response. Defence also plays a role in managing the tensions expected in an increasingly crowded and competitive strategic environment. 

In order to deepen our security partnerships and enhance our footprint, Defence needs to:

• undertake meaningful diplomacy, listening to the region and measuring our actions as proportionate to what we hope to achieve
• through the creation of the Pacific Division, demonstrate the government’s commitment to deliver on the Defence Strategic Review’s recommendations on the Pacific
• maintain and grow deep people-to-people links based on principles of transparency, openness, and sustained engagement
• consult on our regional priorities through dialogues and regional architecture, including the Pacific Islands Forum and ASEAN.

Army’s Role

Today we talk a lot about the importance of listening really carefully to our partners and understanding the nuance of language. In my own case, I learned this lesson as a young cadet in Papua New Guinea (PNG), traversing the steep peaks and plunging valleys of the Finisterre Mountains, in a place known as Shaggy Ridge. You see our Papuan guides at the time taught me that ‘lik lik’, or ‘just a little further’ in Pidgin, was their way of saying we actually still have a very, very long way to go! More importantly, they taught me about the enduring value of comradeship, perseverance and trust. They also showed me that no mountain is a match for the soldier who keeps getting up every time they fall down. 

Today, as Director General Pacific and Timor Leste, I witness the start of the Pacific journey for many of our young soldiers, sailors and aviators. Often this is their first overseas experience. They work hard sharing their expertise in building infrastructure and they train our partners in combat, maritime surveillance and humanitarian techniques. They develop culture awareness through playing sport, sharing of stories over kava and singing songs at church. They learn the ‘Pacific way’, that consensus is important, that connection to land and water is essential, and that—before undertaking business—we must first take the time to listen and get to know each other. They build long-lasting friendship and understanding, which is a benefit for them and an asset for the ADF. And above all, they learn that partnership is a process you work at together. At the strategic level, these young men and women are building the guardrails to which our Prime Minister and the US Secretary of Defense referred at Shangri-La. 

The benefits to Australia from these partnerships are broad ranging. Our engagement, our mutual respect, and our drive to create connections has seen our partners in the Indo-Pacific reciprocate in times of crisis. During the 2019–20 bushfires, partners from Fiji and PNG, among others, came to Australia’s aid. The strengthening in connection and community is what we seek to foster in all the work we do—to support a region capable of meeting the challenges of the future.

The ADF are the face of Australia’s engagement with our partners. We are a visible, enduring presence, demonstrating the importance we place on our regional connections. It is the people of Defence who create, build and nurture the partnerships and leadership which will prove critical as our region grows ever closer.

Army units are central to many of our engagements. They demonstrate the value of collaborative planning and effects that Defence and the ADF can achieve together with our partners. The work that Army does through support operations and training to work with, and learn from, Indo-Pacific security forces has been instrumental in building regional capacity—ours as well as theirs.

This year’s Exercise Puk Puk with the PNG Defence Force (PNGDF) is a case in point. It is an engineering exercise where PNG, Australian and British forces train together, sharing skills and experiences to address PNG’s security infrastructure priorities. Exercise Puk Puk is coordinated by the PNGDF, with supplies delivered through our combined maritime capabilities. It is a powerful example of the effects and benefits we can generate together with joint and partnered forces. But I also acknowledge it comes at a cost. 

There is a tension between securing personnel for partnership building at the same time as Army focuses on its ‘raise–train–sustain’ priorities and core warfighting skills, particularly when Army is facing its own workforce challenges. We therefore need to be open to finding new ways to adapt to the greater demands of relationship building on Army, while ensuring they nest with the needs of our partners. When balancing these priorities, it is worth remembering the valuable contribution that international engagement already makes to Army’s raise, train, sustain and preparedness priorities.

Closing

I want to leave you with a final example of defence and security partnerships. It is a story of immense shared terror, particularly for Australians. It demonstrates the vital importance of working together to overcome capability gaps. 

Imagine, if you will, a group of defence ministers and chiefs of defence forces at a regional conference. The challenge given to them is—karaoke! For the next few hours I witnessed mates helping mates, the strong helping the weak, and our leaders working together in harmony. While the results were hard to listen to, I am sure you will agree that this example truly reflects defence regional partnerships in action!

I am immensely grateful for the incredible work that Army does, under pressure, to build understanding, cooperation and respect with our partners in the region. As members of the military and national security community, you play an important role in building the defence relationship guardrails that are essential in times of disaster, conflict and crisis.

About the Author

Brigadier Nerolie McDonald has been employed in a wide variety of tactical, operational and strategic level intelligence roles within land, training and joint environments. She has also undertaken postings in the disciplines of international policy, capability, strategy, operations and command. Brigadier McDonald has a Bachelor of Arts Honours (Economics) and a Master of Arts (Strategy and Policy) from the University of New South Wales and is a graduate of the Australian Defence Force Academy and the Royal Military College Duntroon.