Australia wants to court Southeast Asia, but its affections seem to be skin-deep

You can't fault Canberra for trying to court Southeast Asia.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong was back in Vietnam last week, after visiting last year. Her boss, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was there in April, as was her colleague, Trade Minister Don Farrell.

Within 15 months of the Albanese government taking office, trips were also made to Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Laos.

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Canberra has also been using the catchphrase "Asean centrality", meaning it recognises the Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc as the "dominant platform" for dealing with the region's challenges. Read: Asean matters.

But why all this language, and why now?

It feels like a paradox that Australia should court Southeast Asia.

Being so close geographically, and given the large influx of migrants to Australia from the region, the two should be as thick as thieves since diplomatic relations were established in the 1970s.

A Southeast Asian migrant in Australia I spoke to said: "It's like dating someone for years and then suddenly being asked to go steady."

Canberra is expected to unveil a new economic strategy for Southeast Asia at the Asean summit in Jakarta next week, that will outline how Australia will engage economically with the region.

This sounds familiar, like a repeat Valentine's Day gift. Weren't there already such blueprints, like the "Australia in the Asian Century" white paper from 2012?

Confused, I sought the views of Southeast Asian-Australians, from academics to businesspeople to friends who, like my family, moved to Australia when it "first" opened up to Asia in the 1980s and 1990s - during the Hawke-Keating Labor governments.

Some themes emerged.

Southeast Asia, it seems, is topic du jour in Australia depending on the government of the day, and if it has strategic importance, such as now when it's fashionable to win friends amid a clash of powers.

A Malaysian-Australian IT consultant who has worked in both countries for the past 40 years, tells me Australia's attitude towards Southeast Asia yo-yos so much he rarely cares what Canberra says.

Another migrant business-person tells me the current Labor government appears to be righting the diplomatic wrong left by previous centre-right Coalition governments that were less interested in Southeast Asia. It is "restating its objectives" as a new government, and as shown by the Hawke-Keating era, Labor does see importance in Southeast Asia and Asia as a whole.

When things start and stop so often, the renewed attention comes across as being skin-deep. Well-known Malaysian-Australian academic James Chin says just as Australia and some other nations do not take Asean seriously, Asean does not take Australia seriously either.

"Since Australia is neither here nor there, [Asean thinks] it's just nice to keep them onside," he said.

So they both tell each other what they want to hear, cut ribbons and smile.

But there may be hope yet, as Canberra does have some desire to be part of the region, hence its renewed pursuit.

But how much? So far, some see that desire as weak, with actions rarely matching policies.

Take visas for example.

A Malaysian property developer based in Australia says his colleagues in Kuala Lumpur see getting an Australian business visa like winning the lottery.

In Southeast Asia, it's common for businesspeople to be in one country in the morning and another later in the day.

"In the region, you just get on the plane tomorrow. For Australia, you sometimes need to wait for months for a visa. For my colleagues, Australia is a foreign faraway country, like going to Europe," my developer contact said, adding that Australian policies about visas can be a "red herring".

"On the one hand, the department of trade wants to promote the region, but on the ground, Australian immigration seems to view Malaysians suspiciously."

Last year, Canberra copped some complaints from Malaysia about long visa wait times.

In theory, it made sense for the two to be close, like children of two close families dating.

But like all dating reality, sometimes common sense does not prevail.

Su-Lin Tan is a Correspondent at the Post's Asia desk.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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