I acknowledge the substantial cost of the US commitment to stability in our region. And we understand President Trump’s request that those who benefit from the peace America secures do more militarily and financially to contribute. As my government demonstrated in our 2016 Defence White Paper, Australia will pull its weight in an increasingly multipolar region. Our investment in new and expanded capabilities for the ADF and in particular our Navy is the largest in our peacetime history. Our defence spending will have reached two per cent of GDP by 2020-21. In these uncertain times, we should all be thinking about what more we might contribute.
Islamist terrorist organisations, including Al Qaida and ISIL are very active in our region as recently demonstrated by the bombing in Jakarta and the large scale attacks in Mindanao last week. In this hyper connected world, terrorism is a global threat, as digital as it is dangerous, harnessing technologies which have been the source of so much progress and enlightenment for their own dark and destructive ends.
A new generation of criminals and terrorists is using a new generation of technology; attempting to divide us by exploiting platforms designed to bring us together.
We all have a vested interest in each other’s security, we all have a vested interest in each other defeating terrorist movements wherever they arise. With the bitter memory of the 2002 Bali bombing, I am keenly alert to the risk that the next mass casualty attack on Australian victims could well be somewhere in Southeast Asia, where ISIL propaganda has galvanised existing networks of extremists and attracted new recruits.
As ISIL’s so called caliphate is destroyed in Syria and Iraq more fighters will seek to return to our region - battle hardened and trained. And just as the terrorists’ networks are transnational so must be our collaboration - and nowhere more so in the sharing of intelligence. To that end, Australia will continue to work with our friends in the region and beyond. This means joining international coalition efforts to defeat Islamist terrorism at its source. And working together to stem the flow of foreign fighters to conflict zones and manage the threat from those who return.
In marking ASEAN’s half-century this year, we should acknowledge its success. ASEAN embodies opportunity in our region. It is the region’s strategic convenor. It has used its influence, over time, to support and maintain the rule of law. ASEAN has sought to shape a region in which might is not right and where inclusiveness is the norm. It has helped create an environment in which GDP has more than tripled in real terms in less than two decades.
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