'Friends of Victoria' Reception in Jakarta

It is a pleasure to join you all this evening.

The last time I was in Jakarta I was officiating the graduation of the first cohort of students from the Monash University Indonesian Campus.

It was to be one of my last formal engagements as Vice-Chancellor of the University, shortly before I was inaugurated as Governor of Victoria.

Though I now return in a different capacity, my Official Visit as Governor is underlined by the same spirit of collaboration and desire to create shared benefits.

It also remains true that higher education is one of the most important avenues to strengthen this relationship.

A few days ago, I had the pleasure to speak to students and staff at the Gadjah Mada University to reflect on the opportunities that will shape our shared future.

I am not the first Australian to do so.

In 1959, when Sir Robert Menzies became the first Australian prime minister to visit Indonesia, he too visited and spoke at Gadjah Mada.

Menzies visited at a time when Indonesia’s population was about a third of what it is today, and formal diplomatic relations between our nations had yet to be established.

In his address, he was optimistic about the future, stating that:

“I think that we have 10 times as much in common, and 10 times as much reason for friendship as we have reasons for matters of difference...”

Across the 75 years since those words were spoken, the Australia-Indonesia relationship has flourished in this spirit of finding common ground.

Often, our bilateral relations are framed through the lens of Indonesia being Australia’s largest and most populous neighbour.

Of course, our geographic proximity dictates that it should be in our mutual interest to have warm and productive engagement with one another.

However, from a Victorian perspective, our nation’s closest international neighbour to the North still means a separation over many miles of land.

That this gap has been bridged so successfully over the years is thanks is no small part to the work of people like yourselves.

Today, commercial ties between Victoria and Indonesia are thriving, supported by the Victorian Government Trade and Investment Office here in Jakarta.

Partnerships between our institutions are helping our students and artists to learn from one another.

And our people-to-people ties are further strengthening our cultural exchange.

The numbers speak for themselves:

Indonesia is Victoria’s sixth largest export market, valued at $1.3 billion.

Since 2019-20, two-way trade has increased by 58 per cent to reach a total of $3.7 billion.

And last year, there were almost 9,000 Indonesian students enrolled in Victorian institutions.

Our State is well-placed to provide for Indonesia’s growing demand for high-quality goods, and for the educational and professional services to support Indonesia’s development into the future.

Yet while we can see our partnerships through these impressive figures – it is people like yourselves who are really at the heart of this friendship.

It is through your contributions, in all their forms, that we have built the strength of the relationship we see today.

In speaking to you, I am reminded of an Indonesian proverb:

Sedikit-sedikit, lama-lama menjadi bukit.

[Little by little, over time, becomes a hill]

To prosper in the future, we must continue to be persistent in our efforts today.

As our relationship deepens, I know Victoria and its institutions will continue to do our part.

Fora such as this provide a valuable look into the work being done here in Indonesia, generating ideas for new avenues for us to pursue together as we work toward shared goals.

On that note – I look forward to hearing your insights.

Thank you.