Blue Security: A Maritime Affairs Series - Issue 1

Executive summary

Maritime security is vital for Australia and Southeast Asia, making it a shared priority issue for the region. With Australia’s future economic and energy security linked to the Southeast Asian region, maritime trade activities remain integral to prosperity, and open sea lines of communication are vital. Supporting maritime security directly contributes to Australia’s national security interests.

Australia must have a coherent and coordinated response to emerging maritime security challenges. Climate change is a priority issue for all nations, and aligns maritime security and safety with the environment, sustainable development and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HADR). Food security is an emerging challenge, with maritime boundary disputes, over-exploitation of fishing stocks and grey-zone activities a growing issue of concern. Resource exploration is increasing, linking energy and maritime security for countries in the region and becoming a potential source of conflict, making the capability to survey and enforce environmental protections critical.

Meeting these challenges will require Australia to become a trusted maritime security partner, with maritime cooperation serving as a key pillar of engagement with the region. While this report uses the term ‘Southeast Asia’, it is a complex region consisting of eleven diverse states, each with their own set of maritime security interests. There cannot be a ‘one size fits all’ approach to Australia’s partnership with Southeast Asian countries. Australia’s most effective interventions will stem from its experience, best practice and lessons learnt in managing its own marine environment, and knowledge gained from indepth engagement in Pacific maritime security, in order to build Southeast Asian maritime capacity.

Australia must integrate defence, diplomacy and development to become a reliable and capable partner. Diplomatic efforts will be required to advocate for international law while responding to complex and sensitive border disputes, which have created challenges and affected cooperation. There is scope for greater expansion of Australia’s development cooperation program to address challenges in coastal communities, where a lack of education and economic opportunities contribute to high seas security issues. While the breadth of issues encompassed by maritime security can seem overwhelming, the breadth of agenda also provides opportunities for a comprehensive and integrated approach.