Australia-Malaysia Dialogue
An initiative of the Centre, the first Australia-Malaysia Dialogue, jointly sponsored with CENPRIS, Universiti Sains Malaysia, was held in Penang in 2009.
The second dialogue, held at La Trobe University in December 2011, was jointly coordinated with the Institute of ASEAN Studies and Global Affairs (INSPAG), FSPPP, Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia.
The broader objectives of the Australia-Malaysia Dialogue are to:
- consider policy issues of interest to the two countries, with a particular focus on the Asia-Pacific region and global security;
- consider ways of improving dialogue and cooperation between the two countries, including intellectual exchanges, with a policy focus;
- make recommendations, where appropriate, to governments, regional organisations, academic institutions and other relevant stakeholders in line with the two above objectives;
- publish, in different formats, the papers and discussions emanating from the dialogues.
The Melbourne dialogue brought together leading academics, experts, serving and retired diplomats, policy-makers, senior journalists and community leaders from both countries to discuss the main theme of ‘Malaysia and Australia addressing regional and global challenges’ with a subsequent sub-theme being ‘The challenge of managing plural societies’.
The Malaysian team was led by Dato’ Dr Mohd Yusof Ahmad, and Prof Dr K. S. Nathan.
Presenters focussed on issues of regional and global security of interest to the two countries, while others addressed the challenges posed for Australia and Malaysia by ethnic and religious diversity.
This dialogue was made possible by the generous support of the Australia-Malaysia Institute of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
