Dated strategy ‘is costing DFAT its relevance’, says Sharma

Wentworth candidate Dave Sharma says the Department of Foreign Affairs is paying for poor communications methods.

Dave Sharma at the Paddington Hotel in Sydney’s east. The Liberal candidate for the seat of Wentworth says DFAT needs to update its communications methods or continue losing relevance. Picture: John Appleyard

Australia’s Foreign Affairs Department is losing influence among the country’s leaders because of its poor communications strategy, Liberal candidate and former ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma has argued in a paper he will release today alongside Foreign Minister Marise Payne.

The research paper, published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, slams the department’s preferred communications system — the internal cable network — and says Australia’s national ­security agencies either cannot ­access or “don’t bother” reading the advice.

“DFAT’s continued reliance on this system as its primary means of communication needlessly restricts its audience and increasingly deals it out of policy influence in Canberra, where many of the nat­ional security agencies don’t ­access or don’t bother to read DFAT’s cables,” he wrote in a copy provided to The Australian.

“For the demands of the modern ship of state, it’s too slow, too cumbersome and too difficult to access to be of much operational use. It’s thoroughly analog, is largely internally focused and has a steadily shrinking readership and impact.”

Diplomatic cables are written by officials at Australia’s embassies to communicate what is happening overseas and how it will affect the country’s interests.

Senator Payne’s presence at the launch is interesting as she has been criticised for being media-shy and repeatedly turning down interview opportunities.

Mr Sharma is trying to take back Malcolm Turnbull’s former seat of Wentworth from independent Kerryn Phelps. He said while DFAT had 249 active social media accounts across a number of platforms, they often recycled “old”, staid media content and chose not to address difficult global ­issues that could affect Australia.

“In diplomacy, words are the bullets. A strategic effect is delivered through persuasion, influence, argument and advocacy directed towards a foreign population, nat­ion or group of key actors or ­decision-makers. For this task, new communication tools — and especially social media — are a ­potential boon for diplomats.”

He compared DFAT’s social media posts with those of Britain’s Foreign Office and the US State Department to show the department declining to comment on Australia’s stance on current ­affairs and international events.

Mr Sharma made several suggestions and said there should be an independent review of DFAT’s digital diplomacy efforts and that the secretary of DFAT, Frances Adam­son, should open a Twitter account.

He said DFAT should also appoint ambassadors to consult with US and Chinese tech sectors.

“Together, their market capitalisation is $US3 trillion, but it’s their business model and ubiquity as much as their size that make them key actors for states,” he said.

Mr Sharma also said the department should set up an alter­native digital method.

“As just one suggestion, why not create the equivalent of an encrypted telegram group or closed Twitter feed that allows non-sensitive but time-critical reporting from across the diplomatic network, with a smattering of judgment and analysis, to be accessed by decision-makers in newsfeed style from their handheld devices.”

The paper was commissioned after Mr Sharma left DFAT.