PRIME MINISTER:
Ministers, delegates, Excellencies, I am delighted to be here to represent Australia at the inaugural IORA Leaders’ Summit.
I want acknowledge President Widodo as the Chair of today’s landmark summit and thank him and the people of Indonesia for welcoming us with such warmth.
Australia applauds Indonesia’s vision and ambition in bringing together leaders for IORA’s 20th Anniversary. The Indian Ocean washes on all of our shores. It has been an ocean for over a millennium that has seen trade, exchanges, in goods, trade in cultures, languages, movement of peoples. It has been a remarkable exercise in what we would now call globalization, preceding the term by well over 1,000 years. In many respects the Indian Ocean and the cultures of all of the people and nations that surround it, have made us what we all are today.
So a dozen centuries on, from the time when traders were moving across from Indonesia from East Africa to the Gulf, I want to commend Indonesia’s leadership, Mr President, in carrying on this great legacy and by championing the IORA Concord.
It provides a roadmap for IORA's future work.
It affirms our shared commitment to building peace, stability and prosperity in our region.
These initiatives symbolise IORA’s growing influence and stature as the premier organisation of the Indian Ocean region.
Today’s Summit is an opportunity to take stock of IORA’s achievements, and look forward and set out, a vision for IORA’s future.
A secure, stable and connected Indian Ocean is crucial for Australia’s national security and prosperity.
Our economy relies on the free and secure passage of maritime trade through the region—as do the economies of all of us; our Indian Ocean neighbours and major powers around the world.
We have a fundamental national interest in fostering peace and security in this maritime domain, that as President Zuma describes, straddles half the globe, accounts for approximately half of the planet’s container traffic and carries two-thirds of its petroleum.
To do this effectively, IORA must look beyond a narrow mandate of economic and technical cooperation and sharpen its strategic focus.
We should reflect on the very substantial and extensive regional architecture we have in South East Asia and in East Asia. We don’t have as much across the Indian Ocean. IORA can be the platform for building that in the means of the further cooperation.
That’s why the landmark Declaration on Preventing and Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism, issued yesterday by our foreign ministers, is a welcome addition to the scope of our organisation.
We cannot underestimate the costly impact of terrorism and violent extremism to regional peace and security, economic development and social cohesion.
The Declaration sends a powerful message that we will stand together in the global fight against terrorism and violent extremism. We hope that this initiative will lay the foundation for future discussions in IORA on this and other related issues.
Now, as a nation, Australia is proud of our role in IORA’s success.
As IORA Chair from 2013 to 2015, we built on the foundations laid by India as the previous Chair.
Our goal has always been to make IORA as strong and relevant as possible and I believe we’ve succeeded.
As Chair, we introduced the Blue Economy policy priority.
We welcomed the overwhelming endorsement of this initiative by IORA members, recognition of the imperative for using our region’s marine resources in a sustainable manner.
In Australia alone, marine industries are expected to contribute $100 billion per annum to our economy by 2025.
Australia’s $3 million Blue Economy Aquaculture Challenge, launched in 2015, is now funding nine cutting-edge aquaculture projects across the Indian Ocean.
These projects demonstrate how we can harness the power of innovation to boost economic productivity and create jobs, while preserving our precious ocean resources for the future.
As Chair of IORA, Australia also expanded the Association’s economic agenda by presenting gender equality as a priority across all of IORA’s work.
The endorsement of the IORA Declaration on Gender Equality and Women's Economic Empowerment last October in Bali was a powerful statement of our commitment to unlocking the economic potential of women across the Indian Ocean.
Finally, we used our time as Chair to raise IORA’s international profile. We advocated successfully on behalf of the IORA membership to become an observer of the United Nations General Assembly and the African Union as President Zuma referred to earlier.
So we are encouraged by IORA’s growing ambition and stature.
We look forward to greater things in the future. We urge member states to capitalise on this momentum as we look forward to IORA’s future as a leader in regional stability and prosperity.
[ENDS]