Australia's 'diplomatic deficit' harms our global presence

There’s an overused cliché that Australia “punches above its weight” on the world stage. At least by one measure, that’s far from the reality.Australia - the world’s 14th largest economy - placed just 26th on the Lowy Institute’s 2024 Global Diplomacy Index, a ranking of the most significant diplomatic networks in the world, released recently. China tops the Index by the narrowest of margins with a heavier diplomatic presence than the United States in geopolitically contested Asia, Africa and the Pacific.But Australia lags much of the developed world, despite opening several posts over the past decade.Among G20 grouping of major economies, Australia places second to last. Only South Africa, which closed nine posts in the past two years citing fiscal pressures, has a smaller global diplomatic presence. Turkey, Argentina, Hungary and Greece are among the countries that have smaller economies but larger diplomatic footprints than Australia.Australia’s overseas underrepresentation is not new. The Lowy Institute first uncovered this “diplomatic deficit” in a landmark report in 2009, which also laid bare the underfunding and understaffing of Australia’s diplomatic service.Then, the authors grasped Australia was a highly globalised trading nation, with our prosperity and security intimately tied to the world around us. They argued while robust defence capabilities were necessary, “for Australian taxpayers, diplomacy is by far the most cost-effective way to shape the behaviour of other international actors in ways which support our international policy goals”.The challenges confronting Australia have only grown more wicked in the past 15 years. Consider the complexity and sensitivity of the balancing act we ask of our diplomats in China, who handle our trade, consular, human rights and security interests.Think of the hard-headed skills, networks and cultural literacy our overseas representatives must deploy to build Australia’s influence in a contested South-East Asia. Or of the critical role our Washington embassy will play, should Donald Trump return to the White House, to ensure our key security ally continues to attend to our interests.Yet, despite the professionalism and effectiveness of Australian diplomats, we continue to do diplomacy on the cheap. The Albanese government increased the number of its diplomats posted overseas by 40 people between 2022 and 2023 which, while certainly welcome, amounts to a modest 1.6 per cent increase in the 2469 DFAT personnel serving overseas.