Inaugural Annual Sports Diplomacy Roundtable

I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Ngunnawal people.

I pay my respects to their Elders, past and present.

From Evonne Goolagong Cawley to Ash Barty, from Cathy Freeman to Patty Mills, the excellence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders on the world's sporting stages has profoundly shaped the world's perceptions of Australia for the better for generations.

We honour their contribution to our nation on our sporting fields and in the minds of sports fans around the world.

It's a great pleasure to be joining you here today for the first meeting of the newly established Annual Sports Diplomacy Roundtable.

Now it's no secret that Australian politicians aren't known for their sporting prowess…

… as an Australian politician, any time I pick up a bat or ball in front of a crowd or a camera, I feel the pressure of countless occasions in which Australian politicians have embarrassed themselves on the sporting pitch.

But despite this, when Richie Benaud was preparing for his first tour of India as Australian captain, he contacted Australia's Minister for External Affairs, Richard Casey for advice.

A diplomatic cable sent to Australia's High Commission in India reported that Mr Benaud sought guidance from DFAT's predecessor department on a range of issues from the local political environment to how 'not to make any remarks in speeches which would be regarded as out of place.'

Richie, like all of you here today, understood the power of sport.

It is a powerful door opener, a powerful conversation starter and a powerful connector – within and across communities, borders and cultures.

But even in the 1950s, Richie also understood that doing sports diplomacy well required more than just sporting excellence, it required the mix of expertise, planning and coordination that we now know as sports diplomacy.

Global interest in Australian sporting excellence is an important source of national power – if we go about it the right way.

Australia's approach to sports diplomacy has come a long way since the Richie's meeting with DFAT's predecessor before the 1959-60 Australian test tour of the subcontinent.

Indeed, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials were nearly as busy as the touring team during this year's Border-Gavaskar Trophy, rolling out a fully coordinated engagement strategy for Indian Government and business figures visiting our shores for one of the world's great sporting contests.

The Sports Diplomacy Strategy 2032+ that I am launching today gives Australian sporting organisations and our diplomats a game plan to excel in the complex and consequential international environment we now confront.

From the Australian Government's perspective, we understand that Australian sport is an important source of national power around the world.

It is a platform to bring people together.

A platform for building relationships with international partners.

A platform to shape international perceptions of our nation.

A platform to show the world who we really are as a modern nation, as a people.

And a platform to advance Australia's national interests and values.

Australia has long been seen as a world leader in sport.

Our athletes, coaches, administrators and sports authorities are admired around the world.

We are leaders in high performance, sports administration, sports integrity, sports business, sports technology, events management and beyond.

This excellence has attracted significant interest from around the world.

And this international interest will only grow as we progress through the 'green and gold decade' of major sporting events to be hosted on Australian soil in the lead up to the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.

This isn't just an opportunity for Australian sports.

It's an opportunity for our nation.

It's why my friend and colleague, the Minister for Sport, Anika Wells, launched the latest National Sport Strategy – Sport Horizon – last year.

And it's why in June last year, the Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, and Minister Wells announced that we would update the Sports Diplomacy 2030 strategy, to ensure Australia capitalises on the opportunities during this special period.

This opportunity could not have come at a more important time.

Today, Australia is facing our most challenging and consequential strategic environment since the Second World War.

The rules and norms that have underpinned the security and prosperity of Australia, and our region, for decades, are under increasing pressure.

This competition is operating on several levels – economic, diplomatic, strategic, military – all interwoven and framed by an intense contest of narratives.

Our government isn't content to be a mere spectator to the dynamics of change reshaping our region.

We want to influence those dynamics, in our favour.

The increasingly complex and consequential international environment isn't just an issue for the Australian Government, it is increasingly a challenge for Australian sports too.

The more challenging international operating environment Australia confronts is already affecting our sports athletes, officials, organisations and businesses.

As everyone in this room knows, Australian sports teams on international tours now have far more things to worry about than simply saying the wrong thing in a speech.

The modern international environment poses new safety and security challenges for Australian sporting teams, as well as new complexities associated with geostrategic dynamics that sporting organisations are being forced to navigate.

International conflicts and security risks, human rights concerns, widening sanctions and increasing public pressure on sports to take positions on international issues, is making your international operating environment more complex than ever before. 

These are the dynamics we are now grappling with in our approach to sports diplomacy.

The Sports Diplomacy Strategy 2032+ elevates sport to its rightful place as a tool to expand national power, and advance Australia's foreign policy interests.

It positions Australia to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the increased international interest in Australian sporting excellence during and beyond our 'green and gold decade'.

It gives us a framework to manage the challenges of our international engagement through close cooperation between the government and our sporting organisations and sports sector more broadly.

We will expand Australia's national power by harnessing the ability of sport to bring people together and project Australia's modern identity, and strengthening the capability of our sport sector on the international stage.

We will do this by identifying opportunities to build international relationships through sport.

We will do this by strengthening our collaboration with you, the sport sector, around major sporting events.

We will assist you, the sport sector, in navigating the changing global operating environment.

We will leverage Australia's sporting events to tell the full story of Australia.

We will focus on the Indo-Pacific region – the part of the world that matters the most to us, and has many of our important partners.

We will use this opportunity to demonstrate our values, including our commitment to human rights, gender equality and disability equity.

We will maximise the trade, tourism and investment opportunities this unique period will present.

And we will lead efforts to build global capability to address sport integrity threats.

But, and I said this to the participants of the inaugural Sports Diplomacy Consultative Group too, this has to be a team effort.

Australian sports diplomacy works best when government and the sports sector, including sporting organisations, peak bodies, businesses and academics, all work together.

Your work is central to advancing Australia's interests through sport.

That is why we're all here today – and why the formation of this new Annual Sports Diplomacy Roundtable is so important.

We want to be clear with you on what the government is trying to do in sports diplomacy.

But we also want to hear from you.

To understand what you are doing in this space.

To give you access to the international expertise and insights necessary for you to succeed on the international stage.

The connections and habits of greater partnership that this Roundtable can create – beyond today – will help us all to understand each other and our international priorities more completely.

They will help us see where our goals intersect.

So that we can better face international challenges and seize international opportunities.

So that we can understand how we should work together.

How we might help each other.

What does this mean in a practical sense?

Through this Roundtable and ongoing discussions, we want to explain to you the government's priorities and goals in sports diplomacy.

We want to know what you are thinking about and what international engagement you are pursuing.

And we want to know what you've got coming up, what you're planning, in Australia and overseas.

We know that the challenge we face is so much greater today, than when Richie Benaud sought speech writing advice from the Ministry of External Affairs in the 1950s.

But we also know that the opportunities are so much greater too – especially in the 'green and gold decade'.

The Australian Government isn't content to be a mere spectator to these challenges or these opportunities.

We're getting in the game.

We know that sports diplomacy is a team effort – so as ministers and administrators, ambassadors and athletes, consular officials and coaches, diplomats and academics – let's get to work.