Anthony Albanese has declared Australia is not trying to “hold back a changing world or isolate ourselves from it” as it pursues the Aukus pact while also rebuilding the country’s standing in the Pacific.
The prime minister used a keynote foreign policy speech on Tuesday night to claim “significant progress in the Pacific” since his government was elected one-and-a-half years ago, including a security agreement with Papua New Guinea.
With hundreds of pro-Palestine protesters rallying outside the Sydney event, Albanese also said he was “a strong supporter of both Israel and the rights of Palestinians for justice” and did not see any contradiction in that stance.
Amid an intensifying contest with China for influence across the wider Indo-Pacific region, Albanese said Australia was playing to its strengths.
In an address to the Lowy Institute at the Sydney Town Hall, he cited the new climate and security treaty with Tuvalu as an example of “the opportunities that only we can offer our neighbours”.
Albanese portrayed Australia’s looming defence agreement with Indonesia as just one part of a broader effort to ensure “a strategic balance that can adapt to a changing region”.
Albanese also implicitly pushed back at criticism from the Peter Dutton-led opposition and parts of the news media about the extent of his international travel this year.
The prime minister made the case that Australia needed to be active on the world stage so that “we are not just observers of the interplay of others’ ambitions and our foreign policy is not just a catalogue of things that happen to us”.
“What Australia says and does on the world stage matters – to our security, our prosperity, to the strength and stability of the region we call home,” he said.
“That’s why it matters that we take our seat at the table and have our voice heard in the debate.”
Albanese, who visited Shanghai and Beijing last month, said his government’s “principled and practical” approach to managing differences with China had delivered a win to Australian export sectors previously affected by trade impediments.
The Coalition has argued, at times, that the government has been “weak” in its handling of the relationship with China, while Dutton has insisted that Australia “shouldn’t sacrifice our values and our beliefs”.
But Albanese said his government’s focus on stabilising the relationship with China “doesn’t mean compromising any of Australia’s core interests or values”.
“In fact, we use dialogue to advance those interests and articulate those values – to advocate for the rules-based order, to assert our commitment to human rights and to affirm the peace and stability that has benefited both our nations,” he said.
He said the passage of Aukus-related legislation through the US congress last week would “transform our ability to contribute to the stability and security of the region”.
While critics have cast Aukus as proof of Australia binding itself closely to the US and the UK rather than its own neighbours, Albanese said his government was making “remarkable progress” in negotiating a legally binding defence cooperation agreement with Indonesia.
He said a new strategic partnership with the Philippines – accompanied by joint naval exercises in the South China Sea – was further proof “that Australia is seeking our security in Asia, not from it”.
That phrase is borrowed from former Labor prime minister turned Aukus critic Paul Keating, who has argued it would be fanciful for Australia to try to maintain US primacy in the region.
Albanese insisted his government was not trying to prevent tectonic shifts in the region but was “investing in Australia’s ability to shape the future”.
“When our government invests in Australia’s capability, when we invest in our relationships we are not seeking to hold back a changing world, or isolate ourselves from it,” he said.
Albanese did not announce any changes to the government’s position on the Israel-Gaza war but said he mourned “the loss of every innocent life in this conflict - Israeli and Palestinian – because every innocent life matters”.
At least 19,453 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its aerial bombardment and ground operation in response to the 7 October Hamas attacks, according to the latest tally by the territory’s health ministry.
Israel’s updated tally indicates that 1,139 people were killed in the 7 October attacks and about 240 people were taken hostage by Hamas.
A union-led protest held outside the Sydney Town Hall called for Labor to firm up its stance on a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and for the foreign minister, Penny Wong, to cancel a planned trip to Israel in January.
Police and security were on the scene as protesters attempted to disrupt the event with air horns, speakers and chants.
Among the hundreds of attendees were members of the Nurses and Midwives Association, Healthcare Workers for Palestine and grassroots group Jews Against the Occupation.
Despite renewed statements by Israeli government officials rejecting the idea of a Palestinian state, Albanese said no one should “abandon hope” in the ultimate goal of “a two-state solution with Israelis and Palestinians living securely and prosperously within internationally recognised borders”.
He said future stability in the region required “something other than security – it requires a political solution as well”. He reiterated that Gaza could not be used as a “site for terrorism” and that’s why there could be “no role for Hamas” in the territory’s future governance.
“I don’t think anyone has the perfect template at the moment but it’s very clear that the distinction that the world needs to draw between Hamas and the Palestinian people is an important one,” he said.
“We will continue to make it clear there is no place for prejudice or hatred, antisemitism or Islamophobia, here in our society,” he said.
