Thank you and can I say what a pleasure it is to speak to you this afternoon ahead of the Local Government Association’s National General Assembly over the next few days.
I would like to add my acknowledgements of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples as the traditional custodians of the Canberra region.
Today I’d like to discuss the vital role that local governments have in safeguarding Australia.
I will focus on international collaboration, the Foreign Arrangements Scheme, and how it impacts the work of local government.
When I addressed a forum on this topic a few months ago, I spoke of the old school stories of espionage: the Petrov Affair, the Cold War, midnight dead drops in ice-cold European parks, all the key tropes of any good Le Carre thriller or Netflix spy series.
I took that colourful approach because I think it’s fair to say that for most Australians, all that “spy stuff” is normally thought of as something that happens far way away from our quiet shores.
But the unfortunate truth is espionage and foreign interference in our society, is no longer something that happens somewhere else.
It can and does happen here too.
And that includes spying, sabotage, and malicious state-sponsored attacks.
That speech in April came just a few weeks after the United States and Israel had launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran.
Unfortunately, as we know, the Middle East and the global economy remains highly impacted by that conflict and although we are glad to see a ceasefire agreement reached, what is happening in the Middle East is a clear sign of the dramatic increase in geostrategic competition that we are living with today compared to the more benign world that we once knew.
We live in a highly contested world.
The contest of great powers is playing out everywhere not just as armed conflict, but in all sorts of domains, from cyber to misinformation, and to foreign interference.
Australia is a proud democracy, across all levels of government.
And our democracy relies on our open society.
But in this context, an open society is and can be a target.
Foreign actors are looking for opportunities to exploit.
And the groundwork for future espionage and interference can be laid a long time in advance.
Our security and resilience is not just the domain of Canberra’s federal politicians, ASIO, or our bureaucrats.
All state, territory and local governments, as well as universities and industry, are players in the global landscape, and potential targets for foreign interference.
As I said in April, local government’s international engagement benefits us all.
Driving innovation, creating knowledge, growing trade and investment and strengthening personal ties these are all good things, which deliver numerous tangible and intangible benefits to Australia.
But engagement carries risk.
A sister city agreement can offer a meaningful pathway for international exchange.
But it can also be an avenue for influencing local decision-making, or a means for monitoring sensitive infrastructure.
A state delegation can build trade and investment.
But it could see a foreign agent stealing sensitive information or accessing personal devices.
None of this is meant to scare, to overplay the significance of threats, or to colour our engagement.
It’s to ensure we engage with awareness and confidence.
Risk is in every part of life and if we choose the no-risk option every time, we will lose out.
Simple steps like checking unusual requests, protecting devices while travelling can make a big difference.
The Foreign Arrangements Scheme, and collaboration with the Department Foreign Affairs and Trade, is designed to support you in your efforts to safely engage internationally.
The Foreign Arrangements Scheme was introduced in 2020 amid concerns that foreign engagements at the national and sub-national level weren’t working together in Australia’s interests.
Its goal is to ensure that all governments act consistently with Australia’s national interests.
Simply put, the scheme helps us bring about cooperation on foreign policy and foreign relations across different levels of government.
Between Federal, state, territory and local governments.
Under the scheme, the Foreign Minister has to be notified of local government arrangements with foreign governments.
Where necessary, that allows the Foreign Minister to prevent, vary or cancel foreign arrangements that are inconsistent with Australia’s foreign policy or foreign relations.
Now, you might say: good on you, Matt, but that’s not very likely to happen to me, is it?
Well, it has happened.
Like the councillor who travelled to Russia, endorsed Vladimir Putin and congratulated him on his election win.
Or the mayor and council who were complying with a request from a foreign official to tour critical infrastructure assets.
Or the regional councillors who were suspicious when, during a pre-arranged visit, foreign officials made a last-minute request to access a defence site.
So, it can happen, and it does.
I don’t want you to be alarmed far from it.
But this is part of the picture and of the regulatory regime that local government needs to be aware of, as you go about your daily business.
So, I’m grateful to you for allowing me the time to set this context for you, ahead of the next few days.
We want you to be aware of the global context.
And we are working to reform the Foreign Arrangements Scheme.
Last year conscious that the global environment is changing all the time, and of the need to keep regulatory regimes up to speed we initiated a process of review and reform.
We’re working to implement all 23 recommendations on improving the scheme from Rosemary Huxtable.
The goal of that reform is to sharpen our focus on foreign arrangements which pose higher risks and to reduce the regulatory and compliance regime for lower risk engagements.
As was highlighted in the Review, we’ll continue to engage with local governments to provide insights on foreign policy settings, current and emerging risks and intelligence insights, including in relation to sister city arrangements.
The Foreign Arrangements team at DFAT is here to help they reach out to local governments in every state and territory every year, and I encourage you to reach out to them as well.
So, thank you for the work you do on behalf of your local communities, and collectively on behalf of Australia.
You are a cornerstone of our democracy, and the Federal Government is grateful for your efforts.
Thank you.