This week in Australian foreign affairs: Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei visits Canberra; Australia-Brunei partnership elevated to Comprehensive Partnership; Wong announces appointment of five career public servants to lead Australian posts; additional $4.45 million in support for Sudan; and more.

Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei visited Australia from 18 to 21 June as a Guest of Government. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with His Majesty on 19 June in Canberra, where the pair announced the elevation of the Australia-Brunei Darussalam relationship to a Comprehensive Partnership. Under the new Partnership, Australia and Brunei Darussalam will “work together on a range of issues including trade and investment, maritime security, education, the transition to net-zero and increased food security.” The leaders also articulated their “shared aspirations for a peaceful and prosperous region, and [their] respect for international law, sovereignty, open markets and ASEAN Centrality” under the Partnership.

On 16 June, Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong announced the appointment of five career public servants to lead Australian posts in Makassar, Athens, India, Bengaluru and Papeete. Todd Dias is Australia’s next Consul-General in Makassar, Indonesia. Alison Duncan is Australia’s next Ambassador to Greece, and will also be accredited to Bulgaria and Romania. Philip Green is Australia’s next High Commissioner to India, and will also be accredited to Bhutan. Hilary McGeachy is Australia’s inaugural Consul-General in Bengaluru, India, and will hold consular responsibilities for the states of Karnata and Telangana. Finally, Alison Shea is Australia’s next Consul-General in Papeete, French Polynesia.

Wong announced the provision of a further $4.45 million “to respond to the escalating humanitarian crisis in Sudan” at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Ministerial-level Pledging Event to Support the Humanitarian Response in Sudan and the Region on 20 June. She stated that the funds “will be used to provide immediate life-saving protection and assistance, including food, water and emergency medical supplies, delivered through the International Committee of the Red Cross.” The additional support brings Australia’s contribution to Sudan and “related support in neighbouring countries” to $10.45 million.

On 16 June, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Tim Watts addressed the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s launch of its Indian Ocean Strategic Map, which he referred to as “an important tool for policymaking and cooperation.” He noted that the Map is “an interactive tool that helps us understand what is happening in the Indian Ocean more succinctly in greater depth.” Watts also added that the Australian Government has supported Phase 2 of the Map, which “added important data streams such as population density, conventional arms flows, and liquid energy shipments.” He referred to the Map as “a tool to deepen our ties and to bring us closer together”, and that its display of maritime boundaries and maritime zones is “not just a marker of where our countries end, but importantly of where our relationships as neighbours begin.” Watts emphasised that the Map shows “that there are better, more productive ways to view the Indian Ocean than simply through a prism of great power rivalry”, but that this “doesn’t mean we should be complacent about the risks we all face.” He concluded by noting that “only through protecting countries’ autonomy can we hope to keep the Indian Ocean – the Indian Ocean that we see on this map – open, stable and prosperous.”

Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy noted on 15 June that the first group of eight workers from Papua New Guinea (PNG) to be employed in Australia’s aged care sector under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme had arrived in regional Queensland. Conroy stated that he “hope[s] this paves the way for more PNG aged care workers to come to Australia, sending home remittances to their families, helping Australian regional communities facing labour shortages and bringing our people closer together.”

Isabella Keith is a weekly columnist for Australian Outlook. She is also a Research Assistant, Sessional Academic, and Honours student in Law at the Australian National University, with a focus on international law. Isabella attended the AIIA #NextGen study tour to South Korea last year, and was also a delegate to the AIIA’s Australia-Korea-New Zealand and Australia-United States-Japan Policy Forums. She can be found on Twitter here.

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