L’Australie noue enfin des liens plus profonds avec l’Asean. Alors pourquoi ne fait-il pas appel à sa diaspora asiatique ?

So it is surprising to see so few members of the diaspora nominated as Canberra’s 10 new Southeast Asian business champions, whose jobs are to turbocharge commercial ties between Australia and Asean. It is also a shame not to see Canberra nurture new names from the diaspora to represent Australia.

At a special Asean-Australia summit a few weeks ago, Canberra named Macquarie chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake to champion business links with Les Philippines, Western Sydney University chancellor Jennifer Westacott for Indonésie and ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott for Singapour.

Aurecon chief operating officer Louise Adams will handle Vietnam, Lendlease CEO Tony Lombardo will tackle Malaisie, while AgCoTech chairman Charles Olsson will connect with Laos.

Then there are Linfox executive chairman Peter Fox for Thaïlande, MGA Insurance Brokers executive chairman John George for Cambodge, Pristine Pacific Australia executive director Nur Rahman for Brunei, and East Timor Trading Group chairman Sakib Awan who will look after East Timor.

Qu'est-ce qui se cache derrière la réticence des investisseurs australiens à s'aventurer en Asie du Sud-Est ?

These people have solid credentials and many are known in the Australian business circuit, have a media presence, are polished and represent mainstream brands.

The foreign affairs department said the new champions were chosen for their leadership, understanding of Australian business and connections in Asie du Sud-Est.

Various departments had a say in the nominations, as did Special Envoy for Southeast Asia Nicholas Moore.

Of course, calling for more Southeast Asian-Australians to lead Australia in the region does not mean not having a Southeast Asian background will render some of these champions less effective.

But wouldn’t it be great to have more Southeast Asian-Australians showcase Australia’s multiculturalism and for Canberra to show leadership in harnessing the diaspora? There’s a festering gripe among the diaspora that Canberra is famously bad at not reaching out to it.

Credit must be given to the Albanese government, however, because this is the closest Canberra has come to putting money where its mouth is in relation to a deeper Southeast Asian connection.

The new government shows intent at turning things around. After all, it is telling when Australia’s direct investments in Asean are only a third of its direct investments in New Zealand – a country of 5 million people, or less than 1 per cent of Asean’s population.

But it has cowed to inertia when it comes to change by, once again, leaning towards established names, safe names.

Many of these new champions are familiar with Canberra, and have been moving in the same professional circles as bureaucrats.

Some of their organisations may even have a preference for conservative business approaches, the very reason for Australia’s lack of business interests in Southeast Asia.

Des « investissements paresseux » entravent le renforcement des liens commerciaux entre l'Australie et l'Asie, selon des experts

So isn’t comfortable the problem?

Using more Southeast Asian-Australians is a double win, too. It sends a message that Canberra is willing to invest in new talent and is not afraid to back new faces.

There are many successful entrepreneurs in the diaspora who may not know the right people to be able to throw their hat in the ring for such appointments, but they certainly have the ability.

This is where Canberra steps in. Granted, it takes a long time to cultivate new talent, and it can be difficult to convince entrepreneurs to work in government when they themselves are privately trying to do business in Asia or have already fostered partnerships there.

But if Canberra wants to make big shifts with the region, it has to take big shifts with its approach.