INTRODUCTION
Its a pleasure to launch Damien Kingsburys new book, Politics in Contemporary Southeast Asia: Authority, democracy and political change.
Damien is to be congratulated, not just for the new book, but for his contributions over the years as a journalist, academic, scholar, commentator and adviser.
He is a professor in international politics at Deakin University and an expert in Asian affairs including:

• Political processes, systems and institutions.
• Economic and national development.
• Colonial and post-colonial history.
• And the roles of the militaries and security issues in the region.

Now he has written a book which demonstrates the breadth and depth of his expertise.
TIMELY, TOPICAL AND FASCINATING
This book provides a richly-detailed survey of politics in Australias closest neighbours the 11 countries of Southeast Asia.
It is a timely, topical and fascinating book.
Its timely because it comes as Australia needs to strengthen its relationships with the countries of Southeast Asia.
Australians sometimes look over the countries to our immediate north when we think about Asia.
We tended to focus on Japan during the 1980s and now on China.
Yet the countries of Southeast Asia collectively have a population of more than 600 million and a combined GDP of around US$2.5 trillion.
Australias trade with Southeast Asia was worth A$96 billion in 2015, more than our trade with the United States, Japan or the European Union.
So a book which helps us to better understand the countries of Southeast Asia is important.
Damiens book is also highly topical, because it deals with the political development of these countries.
Again, when thinking about the countries of our region we tend to focus on economic development, which has lifted so many out of poverty.
We pay less attention to the political development of these countries, which matters a great deal for regional and international affairs.
Around Southeast Asia today many significant political events are unfolding:

• The election of President Duterte in the Philippines.
• President Jokowis reform program in Indonesia.
• Controversy over the 1MDB affair in Malaysia.
• The passing of Thailands revered monarch, King Bhumibol.
• Territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
• And debates within ASEAN about its role and place in the wider Asian region.

This book analyses the political processes, systems and institutions in each of the 11 Southeast Asian countries.
It gives us a framework for understanding current political events.
In addition to being timely and topical, this book is fascinating because it reflects the tremendous diversity of Southeast Asia.
For me, reading Damien's work was both an intellectual and personal endeavour.
From my first years in my home town of Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia, to the school holidays spent in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and peninsular Malaysia, aspects of Damien's observations were familiar.
What was fresh was his ability to bring the various strands of history, culture, religion, geography, economics and politics into an overarching analytical framework.
Damien writes of:

• The great linguistic diversity across these countries there are more than 90 language groups across the region, each dividing into many local languages and dialects.
• How wet rice cultivation laid the foundation for major historical civilisations such as the Angkorian Khmer empire and the dynasties of Central and East Java.
• The role of the Hindu-inspired cult of the deva-raja, or god king, in the political, social and economic organisation of many of these countries in pre-colonial times.
• The continuing echoes of that tradition in the role of charismatic leaders from Aung San Suu Kyi and Xanana Gusmao to Ho Chi Minh and Lee Kwan Yew.
• The spread of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity and how their adoption and adaptation has given rise to unique syncretic cultures in several countries the illustration Damien provides is something I had observed as a teenager visiting Indonesia a majority Muslim country in which traditional Javanese stories draw on Hindu traditions, and the Sanskrit eagle, Garuda, is depicted on the countrys coat of arms and lends its name to the national airline.

Damien also teases out the complex impacts of colonialism:

• Its impacts on nationalism, national identity, independence struggles and todays nation states.
• How colonialism united some groups while dividing others, with continuing ramifications for these countries internal and external relations.
• And its impact on relationships between majority and minority groups in several of these countries.

Reading this book, I was struck by the depth of Damiens knowledge and research.
Yet also by his ability to survey issues concisely and clearly.
All within a strong analytic and conceptual framework.
Its an approach which allows Damien to identify common themes across the region without sacrificing detail or texture.
For each country we learn about the main political parties and leaders and significant controversies, policies and issues.
Damien also considers other players in the political process, including the media, legal systems, religious groups, civil society and military forces.
Across these diverse countries a number of themes emerge.
One of the most interesting is the books discussion of the concept of nation and the distinct nature of Southeast Asian nation states and national identities.
The book also helps us to understand the continuing influence of the post-colonial formations of these countries, including independence movements, separatist tendencies, ethnic differences and the role of military and defence institutions.
TIMOR-LESTE AND AUSTRALIA
I want to talk in more detail about the chapter on Timor-Leste and current issues between Australia and Timor-Leste.
Damien knows these issues well, because he has had a deep involvement with Timor.
This chapter reminds us of the remarkable achievements of the people of Timor-Leste.
Given the legacy of colonial rule, Indonesian incorporation and independence struggle, the emergence of a democratic Timor-Leste under a new, post-1975 generation of political leaders is a remarkable success story.
Yet despite these achievements, the outlook for Timor-Lestes economic future is sobering.
As Damien puts it, the country is characterised by an underlying material fragility.
Timor-Leste has benefited from the development of oil and gas in the Timor Sea.
It has used income from those resources to establish a Petroleum Fund.
The Fund currently has assets of around $US16 billion and meets around 90 per cent of government revenues in Timor-Leste.
But with lower oil prices, and production from existing oil and gas reserves expected to be completed by around 2020, Timor-Lestes fiscal position is coming under pressure.
Analysis by NGOs suggests that fiscal constraints have led to drawdowns from the Petroleum Fund at rates that may not be sustainable under certain scenarios.
One set of projections shows that, on current trends, the Petroleum Fund could be exhausted by 2025.
Existing treaty arrangements between Australia and Timor-Leste provide for joint exploitation of oil and gas reserves in the area of the Timor Sea where final maritime boundaries have not been delimited.
This area includes the Greater Sunrise gas field.
Timor-Leste now wants a final settlement of the maritime boundaries.
My predecessor as shadow Foreign Minister, Tanya Plibersek, developed a progressive Labor policy on the boundary dispute.
The policy Labor took to the last election was to enter good faith negotiations with Timor-Leste to achieve a final, binding settlement on the maritime boundary.
If the matter was not able to be resolved by negotiation, Labor was prepared to submit it to international adjudication or arbitration to achieve a final outcome.
The Turnbull Government initially rejected Timor-Lestes calls to negotiate.
That resulted in the dispute being taken to the Permanent Court of Arbitrations Conciliation Commission under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
In September this year, the Conciliation Commission rejected the Turnbull Governments legal arguments that it had no jurisdiction an outcome demonstrating that Labors policy of seeking to resolve the issues through negotiation is the right approach.
It is important to remember that the process now under way involves conciliation, not arbitration.
That is because Australia, in 2002, exercised its right to exclude sea boundary delimitation disputes from the Conventions compulsory arbitration procedures.
So the Conciliation Commissions role is to help the parties to reach a settlement.
Labor urges the Turnbull Government to take this opportunity to work with Timor-Leste and to use the conciliation process to negotiate a resolution to this dispute.
This process provides a positive opportunity to resolve an issue which has caused tensions in the bilateral relationship.
That will not only improve the relationship, it will also provide greater certainty for potential oil and gas developments in the Timor Sea.
These are large, long-term and risky investments.
Uncertainty over the maritime boundary makes it less likely that such developments will proceed.
That is not in the interests of Australia or Timor-Leste.
Nor is it in Australias interests for Timor-Leste to be an economically vulnerable state on our doorstep.
Labor sees a final settlement of the boundary dispute as being in both countries interests.
However, this alone will not resolve Timor-Lestes economic challenges.
Resolving the boundary dispute is a necessary but not sufficient condition for realising the investment needed to develop new oil and gas projects.
These are projects with the potential to boost Timors revenues and underpin its future economic development.
But the risk is that the reserves currently in production, in the Bayu-Undan field, will dry up before the investments needed to bring Greater Sunrise into production are realised.
Australia needs to play a more positive role here.
Not only in resolving the boundary dispute, but in assisting Timor-Leste with policies to facilitate investment, development and sustainable government finances.
That is also in both countries interests.
It will advance the prosperity of the Timorese people.
And it is in Australias interests for Timor-Leste to be on a viable path of economic development to underpin its stability and consolidate its democratic transition.
***
In closing, I want to refer to Damien's final chapter on South East Asian regionalism.
Given the state of flux which is increasingly apparent in our near region, his insights are significant.
Damien writes:
"Perhaps what defines Southeast Asia, as a region, is its ability to increasingly cohere around common interests and the value of its bond in relation to external pressures. There are some commonalities between the states and there are many differences. But, like nations themselves, sometimes what acts as the bonding agent is less what they have, pre-existing, in common than what, in common, they fear or oppose. That they share proximity and some measure of comfort in unity in the face of a challenging world continues to provide sufficient rationale for them to remain coherent, if only up to a certain point. In this respect, and perhaps not uncommonly, the states of Southeast Asia are, together and separately, the sum of what they are as well as the sum of what they are not.
This is a thoughtful articulation of the nature of Southeast Asian regionalism.
The continuing development of Southeast Asian regionalism through institutions like ASEAN is important.
ASEAN has made a critical contribution to stability in Southeast Asia since its formation.
At this time of change, ASEAN remains critical for the region and Australia needs to engage deeply with both the individual countries and their regional institutions.
 
CONCLUSION
Australian foreign policy is well served by our lively community of academics, scholars and experts.
Damien is one of the leading members of that community.
He has made a significant academic contribution there are more than 70 books, book chapters and journal articles on his CV!
He has also made significant practical contributions leading observer missions to Timor-Leste and contributing to conflict resolution in Aceh and Mindanao.
This book is his latest contribution.
Its a book which will be of benefit to a wide range of people students, scholars, diplomats, and people in business indeed, anyone seeking to better understand our nearest Asian neighbours.