In a speech at the National Press Club today, Foreign Minister Penny Wong will reiterate the importance of a “strategic equilibrium” in Asia where “no country dominates, and no country is dominated.”
In excerpts of her speech released ahead of her address at 12:30pm today, Senator Wong will warn commentators and strategists who “love a binary” with “simple, clear choices” to not view “the future of the [Indo-Pacific] region in terms simply of great powers competing for primacy”, since it “means countries’ own national interests can fall out of focus.”
“We need to understand what is being competed for – that it is more than great power rivalry and is in fact nothing less than a contest over the way our region and our world works,” Senator Wong will say.
China – US relations
“It’s clear to me from my travels throughout the region that countries don’t want to live in a closed, hierarchical region where the rules are dictated by a single major power to suit its own interests,” she will say.
“Instead, we want an open and inclusive region, based on agreed rules, where countries of all sizes can choose their own destiny,” she will say.
Though she does not directly reference the tariffs China has imposed upon certain Australia industries in the released speech excerpts, Senator Wong does acknowledge that countries “want a prosperous, connected region, trading together at the epicentre of global economic growth, through a transparent system, where economic interdependence is not misused for political and strategic ends”.
In May 2020, China imposed a combined 80.5 per cent tariff on Australian barley for five years, crushing a trade worth up to $1.5 billion a year.
Less than 12 months later, China imposed tariffs of 116–218 per cent on bottled Australian wine imports through to 2026.
Last week Senator Wong announced that Australia had agreed to temporarily suspend its World Trade Organization appeal against China over the tariffs on Australian barley, and that China had promised to conduct an “expedited review” on the tariffs.
“The government is seeking to expedite the resolution of this matter,” Senator Wong said last week.
“Obviously, we retain our rights in the WTO if we’re not able to get agreement. Stabilisation and the resolution of trade issues will take time, but we are pleased that constructive dialogue has resumed.”
In an interview with Laura Jayes, Senator Wong addressed the issue of what she called “those additional impediments, saying they are “not justified.”
“China imposed additional duties on a number of Australian products – obviously barley is the one we’re dealing with right now,” she said. “We took it to the WTO. What China has agreed to do is an expedited review of those tariffs and in return for that what we have said is, “All right, we will suspend our World Trade Organisation dispute while you look at reviewing these tariffs on barley.”
“What the government is trying to do is to expedite the removal of those trade tariffs, those duties. Obviously, you know, there’s still a way to go so I’m not going to come on your show and say it’s all fixed because it isn’t. We’ve still got a way to go, but we are seeking to have a pathway to clear that impediment, and if that works we will work to apply that to other Australian products, probably the next one I would want to look at is wine.”
In a joint press release a day prior, Senator Wong also addressed the tariffs on Australian wine, saying the government “…remain confident in the outcome for Australian wine at the WTO. If today’s agreement is successful in providing a pathway for lifting duties on barley, we expect a similar process to be followed to remove trade barriers for Australian wine.”
AUKUS Nuclear-Powered Submarine Plan
Senator Wong will also respond to former Labor prime minister Paul Keating’s criticism of the $368 billon dollar AUKUS deal with the US and the UK to build nuclear powered submarines, arguing that “strategic reassurance through diplomacy” must be “supported by military deterrence.”
“By having strong defence capabilities of our own, and by working with partners investing in their own capabilities, we change the calculus for any potential aggressor,” she will say.
“We must ensure that no state will ever conclude that the benefits of conflict outweigh the risks. This is fundamental to assuring the safety and security of our nation and our people.”
“It is also clear that countries want a region that is peaceful and stable. And that means sufficient balance to deter aggression and coercion – balance to which more players, including Australia, must contribute if it is to be durable.”
Last month at the National Press Club, Keating called the Aukus nuclear-powered submarine program “the worst deal in all history.”
Keating criticised Wong for “running around the Pacific islands with a lei around [her] neck handing out money”.
The 79-year old former prime minister said that “foreign policy is what you do with the great powers, what you do with China, what you do with the United States”.
Despite not addressing Keating’s criticism directly in her speech, Senator Wong will respond to the arguments he made, including the fact that the military does dominate foreign policy today, since Australian’s government wishes to “avert war and maintain peace” and that both foreign and defence policies are “essential and interdependent parts of how we make Australia stronger and more influential in the world”.
“Together, they make it harder for states to coerce other states against their interests through force or the threatened use of force,” she will say.
“We must ensure that no state will ever conclude that the benefits of conflict outweigh the risks,” Senator Wong will say.
The foreign minister, who was appointed a little less than 12 months ago, believes that Australia and its partners require strong defence capabilities to “change the calculus for any potential aggressor”.
“This is fundamental to assuring the safety and security of our nation and our people.”