AUKUS allies must rally amid global turbulence
When I was at university, I visited Gallipoli with a group of Aussies. It was deeply moving to see the memorial and contemplate what our forefathers had done together.
As prime minister, I later visited Perth in 2011, ending the anachronism of sons preceding daughters in our royal succession. As Julia Gillard said at the time: “good news for sheilas everywhere”. A few years later I had the honour to address your parliament in Canberra.
On my most recent visit, I found myself giving a speech on conservation with the koalas of Sydney Zoo looking on.
Two things always strike me when I come here. The first is an awe and respect for what you have built. And the second is how easy it is to form bonds, build relationships and feel like true partners. That goes for politicians, too – and it transcends party. Rudd and Gillard, Abbott and Turnbull – all very different people from different parties, but all great partners. In fact, I still see them all today.
In this feeling of kinship, I am not alone. More Brits living abroad come to Australia and more Australians living abroad head to Britain than anywhere else in the world. Family, history, travel, language, sport – for all these reasons and more, it’s hard to think of two countries who know one another so well.
And this remains true even as our societies evolve. Today, we are two multiethnic democracies celebrating a first British prime minister and first Australian foreign minister of Asian descent. The world can see itself in Australia and Britain.
This might make a British foreign secretary visiting Australia seem unremarkable. But the truth is rather different. Before I became prime minister, no British foreign secretary had made the trip in nearly 20 years. Fast forward to today and I am making the ninth such visit since 2010. The AUKMIN meeting between our foreign and defence secretaries is now as regular a fixture as the Ashes, even if it’s all about close co-operation rather than fierce competition.
This engagement is paying dividends: the groundbreaking AUKUS partnership; exciting new trade deals; much closer work together to address global challenges. The bedrock of this transformation in our friendship is our shared values. Today the world is far more dangerous, volatile and disputatious than any of us would have imagined was possible when I was prime minister. This makes it all the more urgent that we stand up for these values, taking determined action together.
I see three priorities. First, we have to keep our people safe. When I was prime minister, we fought together to defeat the fanatical terrorists of ISIL. Today, your military has joined us in training Ukrainian soldiers and supported our strikes against the Houthis. Defending sovereignty, territorial integrity and freedom of navigation matters as much as defeating extremism. And, of course, AUKUS shows our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. This is the biggest investment in our global security for half a century. We are absolutely focused on maximising the opportunities it offers our defence industries and capabilities.
Second, we have to win the argument for open economies and free trade. The spectre of protectionism we could glimpse when I was PM has today grown larger.
Speaking at a G20 meeting in Brazil recently, it was worrying to hear how many ministers seemed more focused on reasons to erect barriers rather than build connections. The strength of our trade and investment relationship shows how shortsighted that is.
Over 99 per cent of your goods exports to Britain are now tariff free. Our bilateral trade relationship has grown over 10 per cent since I last visited Australia as prime minister, adjusted for inflation.Just a few days ago, your biggest pension fund announced a fresh £8bn ($15.5bn) investment in British clean energy, tech and infrastructure projects.
We have a major opportunity as Britain joins the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Rapid ratification of UK membership will strengthen this group’s voice in the Indo-Pacific and beyond to champion free trade.
Finally, we have to show democracies can tackle global challenges. Since I was prime minister, it has become much clearer how we are competing with those with an alternative model of authoritarian capitalism. The challenge is to assert our belief in our values and make our alliances with like-minded countries count. At the same time, we must demonstrate that we can make more progress on issues like climate change too.
This is what matters to partners on the frontline, such as small island developing states in the Pacific. I hope we can work together to make it much easier for these states to access green finance from multilateral development banks and other international funds – the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting this northern autumn in Samoa is a major opportunity to showcase progress.
We face a daunting set of challenges. But we must take heart from the transformation in our relations in recent years. When I became PM, both sides knew our ties could be stronger. Together, we chose to turn that around. Today, we know this gives us a platform to come even closer together in defence of our values. We must make the right choice once again.
David Cameron is UK Foreign Secretary and former UK prime minister, 2010 to 2016.
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