Wong’s own logic makes the case for more Ukraine aid

Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s Allan Gyngell Lecture (Opens in new window) to the Lowy Institute achieved many things. Among them was the establishment of a clear framework for Australia’s continued support for Ukraine – support for which my government is deeply thankful.

Wong organised the Australian government’s foreign policy approach around four key pillars. Each is directly relevant to Australia’s relationship with Ukraine and provides a compelling basis for strengthening the partnership between our two countries.

First, Wong indicated that Australia’s foremost strategic priority must be the Indo-Pacific because this is the region where Australia has the most to gain or lose. While Russia’s invasion is taking place geographically in Europe, it is also an Indo-Pacific security issue.

Russia’s status as a Pacific nation is often overlooked in discussions of the “Indo-Pacific” – but Russia is part of the region’s security architecture.

Russia is a member of APEC, it is one of the eight non-ASEAN “Plus” countries in the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus, alongside Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and the United States. It is a member of the East Asia Summit, the ASEAN Regional Forum, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Wong is right in saying Australia has much to lose in the Indo-Pacific, and this will be starkly true if Russia, a nuclear weapons-armed permanent member of the UN Security Council, succeeds in the violation of one of the founding principles of the UN Charter: that sovereign borders cannot be changed by territorial wars of aggression.

These implications have become even more pronounced with North Korea’s growing involvement in the war through the deployment of troops and the supply of weapons to Russia. The conflict is increasingly bringing together authoritarian governments from Europe and the Indo-Pacific, demonstrating that security in these two regions cannot be neatly separated.

Encouragingly, Australia already recognises this reality. Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles noted (Opens in new window) as recently as June:

“What happens in Ukraine matters here in the Indo-Pacific, which is why it is so important for Australia to stay the course and continue to stand with Ukraine until they find peace on their terms.”