WA missing in action in Indonesia, loses chance to gain nickel intel, former mission head says

WA has missed out on critical intel on Indonesia’s booming nickel industry because of a lack of a permanent Jakarta-based trade commissioner, a former senior State bureaucrat believes, slamming the Cook Government for opening a new Canberra “embassy”. Ross Taylor, WA’s former Indonesia commissioner, took to social media to criticise Labor’s decision to open a $150,000 hub in Australia’s capital instead of returning a full-time commissioner to Indonesia. Under a “hub and spoke” model, WA’s interests in Indonesia are serviced through Singapore’s head office, with junior staff in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Jakarta. The government is setting up similar spaces in Manila and Kuala Lumpur. The head role is now served by the WA Commissioner for ASEAN, currently held on an interim basis by former ABC journalist and producer Bryce Green. Mr Taylor, who also founded the WA-based Indonesia Institute, said it was ridiculous that one official would be responsible for Indonesia and the remaining ASEAN nations. “Indonesia continues to not have a full-time commissioner based in-country, and it has now been almost four years since WA has had a senior trade official based there; an official who back then should have been sending back intelligence to ‘head-office’ warning of the crisis that was heading WA’s way for our nickel industry,” Mr Taylor said. “The lack of a full-time Commissioner to specialise in Indonesia remains today, despite Premier Roger Cook emphasising the importance of developing partnerships between WA and Indonesia in the critical minerals sector. “Yet Mr Cook can find the funds and resources to establish a defacto trade office in Canberra.” Mr Cook revealed the new WA hub in Canberra would open its doors at the end of the month and serve as a working space for Government ministers and advocacy groups when in Canberra. The new office space is less than a kilometre from Parliament House, and shares a building with the Paraguayan embassy. In addition to a $150,000 bill to set up the space, taxpayers will be on the hook for annual lease costs of $100,000 and the salary of a full-time receptionist responsible for managing the Hub. “This high cost ‘trade and investment office’ has been established based on the belief that government needs to ‘hold-the-hand’ of business people to expand their activities outside of WA. They are wrong,” Mr Taylor said. “Where Government trade officials are needed, however, is in complex and culturally different overseas markets, such as Indonesia.” Mr Cook, who led his first overseas tour as Premier last year to Indonesia, rejected the criticism, saying the Jakarta Invest and Trade Office maintained strong relationships across Indonesia and WA. “The office is staffed by business development managers, who support engagement in priority sectors including mining, energy, international education, primary industries, creative industries and the digital economy,” he said. “Indonesia is currently serviced by an Acting WA Investment and Trade Commissioner for ASEAN, with the substantive ASEAN Commissioner role based in the Jakarta office.” Liberal leader Libby Mettam said there had been a significant backward step under the WA Labor Government when it comes to our presence and in-country trade representation in Indonesia. “There was a role for government to provide an experienced in-country commissioner to provide both the department and industry high-level market intelligence and highlight potential partnerships with industry, particularly within the critical minerals sector,” she said.