Foreign Minister Pushes for More Students to Study Asian Languages

‘If we want the world to understand who we are and what we stand for, we have to project overall who we are and what we stand for,’ Wong said.

A woman walks past signage for Australian universities in Melbourne, Australia, on June 10, 2020. William West/AFP via Getty Images

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has announced three reforms to boost the New Colombo Plan (NCP) beginning in 2025.

Founded in 2014, NCP is an initiative that aims to “lift knowledge of the Indo-Pacific in Australia by supporting Australian undergraduates to undertake study, language training, and internships in the Indo-Pacific.”

“If we want the world to understand who we are and what we stand for, we have to project overall who we are and what we stand for,” Wong said in her inaugural lecture for the Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership at the Australian National University on Aug. 19.

“A decade on from the establishment of the [NCP] program, it’s time to reflect on how we can ensure the program continues to build on the good work [former Foreign Minister] Julie Bishop did to establish the program.

“We want NCP participants to bring back not just lasting memories, but new skills and capabilities that will broaden our national understanding of our region.

“We want more students to spend more time in the region; we want more students to learn languages; and we want to ensure that short-term programs deliver real benefits for students.”

Three Reforms to Come

Wong, an Asian Australian herself, announced three specific reforms to the Plan to “invest in growing capability in Asian languages.”

“First, we will remove the cap and aim to double the number of long-term scholarships available to universities and introduce a stronger focus on language learning,” she said.

“Second, we will create a new language stream to provide an avenue for students to deepen their language skills through intensive short courses and longer-term immersive programs.

“Third, we will retain short-term mobility grants for students but ensure these better utilise institutional links between universities and deliver tangible benefits for students—and we will increase the minimum duration of short-term mobility courses from two to four weeks.”

Wong has asked Assistant Foreign Minister Tim Watts, who she described as “one of our best thinkers in this space,” to chair an External Advisory Group to consult the sector and other experts on ensuring “the next phase of the New Colombo Plan is fit for purpose and builds the capability of our people.”

Strengthening Teachings of Asian Languages

Wong quoted data to state Southeast Asia’s significance and noted the lack of Australians who know Asian languages.

“In 2022, Southeast Asia’s combined nominal GDP was around A$5.2 trillion—larger than the economies of the United Kingdom, France, or Canada. Indonesia alone is projected to be the world’s fifth-largest economy by 2040,” she said.

“But the reality is that Australia’s trade and investment with the region has not kept pace with the growth of Southeast Asian economies. While Southeast Asia has grown rapidly, when we came to government, Australian direct investment in Southeast Asia was lower than it was in 2014.”

Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong delivers her keynote speech during the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in Melbourne, Australia on March 4, 2024. Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

Further, the number of Mandarin-speaking Australians who do not have Chinese origins would be in the low hundreds.

The number of university students studying an Asian language also fell 30 percent in Australia in the decade to 2022, and the decline in Indonesian language study is particularly concerning.

“There are now fewer people studying Indonesian in Australia than there were under [former Prime Minister] Whitlam 50 years ago—despite our population today having doubled. In Australian high schools, twice as many students study German in Year 12 as Indonesian, and five times as many students study French,” Wong said.

In an effort to “turn this around,” the Labor minister detailed the Albanese government’s other measures and urged the strengthening of Asian languages teaching.

“We need to increase training of teachers in Asian languages, as Education Minister Jason Clare is doing,” said Wong.

“We need to increase our collaboration with the university sector and industry to make Asian languages a more attractive offering for students.

“And we need business to join with us, to better harness the capability of our graduates and workforce.”