Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In your electorates, the University of Newcastle is bucking a trend and beginning a new Indonesian language program next year. In my electorate as well, Charles Darwin University is enhancing its Indonesia focus. But I'm worried about our primary and secondary schools. I met with the Chair of the Australia-Indonesia Institute Board in the last sitting, Emeritus Professor Greg Fealy. Regrettably, Indonesian language studies are declining in our schools and, outside of our fine jurisdictions, in universities too. This is a matter of concern to us and also to the Indonesian government.

It should be of great concern to all of us. If we stop teaching Indonesian in primary and secondary schools, then we will lose our Bahasa teachers and lose our nation's expertise. Unfortunately, it has been confirmed that a second private secondary school in my electorate is going to stop teaching Indonesian for lack of Indonesian teachers.

Why is this important? Mengapa? Why? It is because Indonesia will enter the top 10 economies in the world by the next decade and will be a top-five economy by 2040. And, by the way, they are our closest neighbours, so, as they become an economic powerhouse and as we concentrate on our South-East Asian economic strategy, Indonesia is simply so important. Let's start learning their language again.