But there was much more to Wong’s speech than what she had to say about the Middle East. She addressed the many foreign policy challenges Australia faces. There is no arena in which the subtleties of emphasis – or the lack of emphasis – is more revealing than in diplomacy.
Wong gave us a glimpse of where her priorities lie,not from her words alone,but from the issues on which she chose to concentrate – and those she failed to emphasise.
Foreign Minister signals Australia should recognise state of Palestine to end cycle of violence.
One particular global challenge notable for the lack of attention it received was the Ukraine War,dealt with in a single sentence. Wong’s failure to have more to say about the subject in her tour d’horizon of global issues was both revealing and symptomatic of the way in which Ukraine has slipped down the list of Australia’s priorities.
Yet the Ukraine War remains by far the world’s most important conflict. Serious though the Israel-Hamas war is – made even more so now by kinetic exchanges between Israel and Iran – it is essentially a localised and regional conflict.
Russia’s attack on Ukraine,by contrast,poses a direct threat to European peace,and thereby a confrontation with NATO. The nations of Eastern Europe and the Baltic,in particular,see Putin’s aggression as an existential threat,the necessity of defeating him as vital to their own security. In the words of Swedish Foreign Minister Pal Jonson:“Ukraine is the shield of Europe. Putin will not stop until somebody stops him. That is Ukraine right now. In fighting for their freedom,they are fighting for our freedom.”
The public has become bored by the seemingly endless stalemate.AP
When Russia’s tanks rolled across the border on the night of February 23-24,2022,President Volodymyr Zelensky’s brave defiance inspired the world. He was frequently – and not implausibly – compared to Winston Churchill. The President of the European Council,Charles Michel,captured the mood of the democratic world when,channelling John F. Kennedy’s speech at the Berlin Wall in June 1963 (“Ich bin ein Berliner”),he told the Parliament in Kyiv “Today we are all Ukrainian” – a phrase that emblazoned banners and T-shirts across Europe.
That was two years and two months ago. With the passage of time,the outrage has dissipated. The world’s attention has shifted to other issues,the Israel-Hamas war in particular. The public has become bored with the seemingly endless stalemate.
Yet the importance of defeating Russia’s aggression in Ukraine remains every bit as great as it has ever been. The consequences of ceding a victory to Putin – both in emboldening his aggressive intentions towards neighbouring European states,and in sending a message to autocrats elsewhere – are exactly the same now as they were two years ago.
Australia has begun to succumb to the ennui that has afflicted so much of the democratic world. As shadow foreign affairs minister Simon Birmingham wrote recently:“We are not doing enough to defeat Putin. By we,I mean Australia,but also some of our fellow liberal democracies,with signs of fatigue,disinterest or even worse.”
That is evident from Australia’s declining share of international assistance to Ukraine. Our initial response to the invasion,led first by Scott Morrison and then by the newly elected Anthony Albanese,was strong. In the months after the invasion,Australia was the largest donor of assistance to Ukraine of any non-NATO nation. But no longer.
Germany’s Kiel Institute publishes a. The latest data reveals that,in aggregate military,humanitarian and financial assistance,Australia has fallen well behind the other large Indo-Pacific economies,Japan and South Korea,in the assistance we provide to Ukraine. Of the donor nations in our region,only New Zealand contributes less.
Our failure is evident in other ways. One is the decision last year to refuse Ukraine’s request for our decommissioned Taipan helicopters. Even if dogged by safety issues,they had been an operational part of the army for years. We could have given them;instead we junked them. It is also evident in the refusal of requests to supply Hawkei vehicles,for reasons that sound very much like Defence bureaucracy doublespeak. Ukraine’s immediate need for these is obviously more acute than Australia’s. There is also our parsimony in the supply of Bushmaster PMVs:120 from a fleet of more than 1000.
It is understandable that Defence chiefs want to keep their inventories intact. But in the end,war machines are made for fighting;the Russia-Ukraine War is the world’s most dangerous conflict since World War II;and as leaders from both sides of politics acknowledge,it directly affects our national interests.
In our support for Ukraine,Australia has become rather like a well-meaning,well-to-do citizen who regularly makes generous contributions to charity,but not so substantial that they really notice it. More than a gesture,but well short of what we could and should be doing.
This Thursday – Anzac Day – the Kiel Institute will publish its latest update on support for Ukraine. As Australians reflect on war and sacrifice,it is appropriate,too,to reflect on the price of failing to stand up to aggressors. Which is not done by words alone.
George Brandis is a former high commissioner to the UK,and a former Liberal senator and federal attorney-general. He is now a professor in the practice of national security at the ANU’s National Security College.