Foundations Papers: Integrating Australian strategic policy and development

Across successive governments, one fact has  remained clear: development in the Indo-Pacific is firmly in Australia’s national interest.

This paper, and the three additional papers connected to it, set out the evidence for that narrative. They examine where development and strategic policy intersect, and explore the opportunities and limits of how cooperation advances Australia’s national interests in multilateralism, regional growth and lasting peace.

Key messages:

- Australia’s enduring national interests require prosperous economic partners with whom to connect, and capable states with whom to maintain regional stability.

- Development — the long-term process of peoples and countries becoming more prosperous and states more capable — underpins these features.

- Development cooperation — the application of a state’s financial and technical resources to support the development of another state —contributes to development through several pathways and is therefore central to advancing Australia’s national interest.