Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2026-2027
Mr WATTS (Gellibrand) (17:17): There is no more important partner for Australia than Indonesia, or, as former Indonesian president Jokowi told this place in 2020: Australia adalah sahabat paling dekat Indonesia. And this year's federal budget says 'Oke, gas!' or 'Let's go!' to furthering Australia's engagement with our neighbour, partner and friend Indonesia.
The recently signed Australia-Indonesia Treaty on Common Security embodies the spirit of respect and friendship that lies at the heart of our relationship between our peoples and our governments. The treaty builds on our long history of cooperation and takes our bilateral partnership to the next level. To implement this treaty, to take this next step in our relationship, we need Australians who understand Indonesia and speak its national language.
While it's clear that there's no partner more important to Australia than Indonesia, it's also clear that there's no partner more important for Australia to understand than Indonesia. And that's why, in this year's budget, the Albanese Labor government has committed $33.2 million to support the implementation of the Australia-Indonesia Treaty on Common Security.
It includes $11.4 million to boost Indonesian language education and $3.4 million to establish an Australia-Indonesia leadership dialogue. Language is essential for building a relationship underpinned by trust and understanding between Australia and Indonesia. It's a pathway for deeper relationships across all sectors—government, business and civil society—for the benefit of both countries.
In his 2020 address to the Australian parliament, President Jokowi commended Australian students for learning Bahasa Indonesia. He noted that our people-to-people links were a strategic asset and that investing in the next generation would strengthen the bilateral relationship. In 2010, then president SBY said a similar thing to our parliament when he said that he knows of 'no other Western country with more Indonesianists in your governments, universities and think tanks'.
But, unfortunately, since 2010, when SBY gave that speech, there's been a 58 per cent decrease in the number of Australian year 12 students studying Bahasa Indonesia. In 2024, just 486 Australian year 12 students across the whole country studied Indonesian. Today, only 13 of our universities offer Bahasa Indonesia, almost half the number of institutions that offered it in 1992.
Without intervention, the teaching of Bahasa Indonesia in Australia will be extinct in the next term of parliament. This government has already started to take action to turn around this trajectory through our reforms to the New Colombo Plan. In 2025, NCP reforms placed greater emphasis on long-term, immersive experiences and study of priority Asian languages like Bahasa Indonesia.
As a result, this year, there are a record 29 long-term NCP scholars heading to Indonesia, an over 80 per cent increase from 2025. Under the new semester program, there were 170 grants awarded to universities to support students going to study in Indonesia for a full semester. New funding to support Indonesian study and engagement in the federal budget is another significant step.
The $11.4 million announced in the budget is a further targeted strategic investment for Indonesian language study. Funding will go towards increasing Indonesian language and country expertise, including through cultural exchange. A cultural exchange early in a student's life plays an essential role in fostering the Indonesian experts of the future.
Australia's Ambassador to Indonesia, Rod Brazier; and former ambassador to Indonesia Penny Williams are two key examples of this. Williams lived in Jakarta with a local Indonesian family for a year as a high-school student in 1981. She was our first ambassador who spoke Bahasa Indonesia.
Rod Brazier immersed himself in the local culture in Makassar in South Sulawesi on a university exchange in 1990. These opportunities are essential for building intrinsic interest and a deep passion for Indonesia, for its people, for its culture and for its language. To continue to be effective in our region, we need more people like Ambassador Brazier and former ambassador Williams.
We know that we need to have deep connections at a leadership level too, and that's why we've committed $3.4 million to establish an annual Australia-Indonesia leadership dialogue. Last month, I visited Indonesia as Chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Indonesia along with Vice Chair Senator Richard Colbeck. We visited Solo, a political and cultural hub in central Java and the home of President Jokowi and the current vice president, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, both former mayors.
We engaged with young political leaders, including the current mayor, Respati Ardi; and the 10th Prince of the Mangkunwgaran royal house. In Jakarta, we met with members of parliament, including the Chair of Indonesia's Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group, Ibu Sara. It's an experience that more MPs in this building need and more Australian leaders need.
The Australia-Indonesia leadership dialogue will help us better understand Indonesia. Shortly, the House Standing Committee on Education, which I chair, will release its report into building Asia capability in Australia, and it will make further recommendations on how to build a pipeline of future Asia-capable Australians to chart our way forward.