Australian Congress For Indonesian Language

Selamat pagi Bapak Ibu sekalian.

I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which you are meeting, the Ngunnawal people and pay respect to their Elders, past and present.

I extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the room or online with you today.

Many of you joining today’s ‘Australian Congress for Indonesian Language’ will be familiar with the long connection between Australia and Indonesia through the Makassan sea traders and the Yolngu people of Arnhem land.

Long before a word of English was ever spoken here, Indonesian words were being spoken by indigenous peoples on this continent.

The Yolngu people still use some of these words today.

To this day, Yolgnu people still go for a jalan in search of babi and kelapa.

The sharing of language and culture between our two countries that continues today has a very long history.

I acknowledge of the organisers of this inaugural Congress especially the Republic of Indonesia’s Ambassador to Australia, His Excellency Siswo Pramono.

I extend a special thanks to Ambassador Siswo for convening this event and for your continued advocacy to revitalise the study of Bahasa Indonesia at Australian schools and universities.

Unfortunately, as everyone at this conference knows, the study of Bahasa Indonesia in Australia has been in decline for some time.

I don’t need to recount the statistics for this audience, but we all understand the current situation is seriously concerning.

The status quo is concerning because it represents a missed opportunity for our countries, but particularly for young Australians and Indonesians.

Learning Bahasa Indonesia is a great way to learn more about our close neighbour and friend.

To learn about its rich history and culture, and its diverse and youthful people.

This is important as Indonesia is and will continue to be a vitally important strategic partner for Australia.

Indonesia is a country that is expected to attain top-10 economy status in the next decade and may reach top five by 2040.

A country with almost 50 per cent of its population under 30 – with an aim to add 57 million skilled workers to the economy by 2030 and over 100 million by 2040.

Learning Bahasa Indonesia can help connect Australian and Indonesian people, it builds mutual trust and understanding and contributes to the important relationships that underpin our bilateral relationships.

Learning Bahasa Indonesia can place Australia and Australians in good stead to seize future opportunities.

I’ve seen the potential first hand. Just last month I travelled to Yogyakarta where I met with current Australian students studying through the support of NCP and ACICIS.

Young Australians thrilled by the opportunities that speaking Bahasa Indonesia opened up to them in Indonesia.

I also visited SMP Labschool Kebayoran in Jakarta which for over 17 years has been a sister school of Williamstown High in my electorate in Melbourne’s West – sending young Australians and Indonesians back and fourth on exchange for nearly two decades.

At this school visit, I met alumni of the exchange program – Clarice and Nadaa - who have remained friends for 13 years.

For Clarice, studying Bahasa Indonesia opened a new career path for her and she’s been living in Jakarta building economic ties between our countries for years now.

A few days later, I joined Ambassador Siswo at the NAILA Awards Ceremony in Brisbane, where we saw students, all the way from primary to tertiary level, and professionals showcase their Bahasa Indonesia skills.

The people’s choice winner of that prize – three diverse Australian boys from Melbourne arguing – in Bahasa Indonesia – over who was better between the Australian or Indian cricket team – was a beautiful glimpse of modern Australia.

On all of these occasions, I saw the value of learning about one another, and speaking each others’ languages.

I saw young Australians who are curious about, interested in and deeply invested in Indonesia.

It was inspiring and I hope one day, this cohort will take our seats at the tables we sit at, but for that to happen we need growing numbers of students at our schools and universities studying Bahasa Indonesia.

As most people in the room will know, I am leading a Parliamentary inquiry into Building Australia’s Asia Capability including the study of Asian languages such as Bahasa Indonesia.

The Inquiry’s purpose is to understand the challenge of building Asia capability, including the study of Bahasa Indonesia, in Australia, and to develop recommendations to try and reverse the approaching crisis.

I thank everyone for their participation in today’s Congress, and the work you are doing to keep the study of Bahasa Indonesia alive and flourishing.

Revitalising Indonesian studies in Australia requires innovation and collaboration with many stakeholders from both Australia and Indonesia.

I have been encouraged by the clear support from across Australia for this important issue and the momentum being built through this Inquiry.

The quantity and quality of the submissions to the Inquiry has been uplifting.

It shows how many people in Australia want us to succeed in this task.

There have been so many people who have volunteered their time and expertise to working together to find solutions to a complex systems issue.

Many of these stakeholders – long-term champions and advocates for the cause - are in the room or online with you today.

So, I thank everyone who has made a submission to the inquiry.

Your work will support the Committee to develop recommendations to try and reverse the approaching Bahasa Indonesia crisis in Australia.

I’d particularly like to thank the Indonesian Embassy in Australia for the proactive work they have done for this cause.

The Indonesian embassy made a detailed and persuasive submission to our inquiry.

But it’s also been taking the lead on initiatives like its creative support for a pilot program to retain Indonesian studies at the University of Tasmania.

It is innovative solutions like this, but at a systems level, that are required to maintain and build the teaching and learning of Bahasa Indonesia in Australia.

So, at today’s Congress I hope you will develop innovative ideas for how we can grow Indonesian language learning in Australia through cooperation between our two countries.

Ideas that will encourage young Australians to be curious about, or better yet, passionate about Indonesia.

Ideas for how we can develop and retain the future generation of top-quality teachers and lecturers like many of you joining this Congress.

And importantly, ideas to convince leadership across the education systems, and also in Government – both in Australia and Indonesia - to make this a priority.

Terima kasih Bapak Ibu sekalian, selamat berdiskusi dan semangat!