Architects of Asia Success: The Advent of the Asialink Leaders Program

When Jenny McGregor was asked in the late 1980s to “do something about Australia–Asia relations,” she initially refused. “I said no. I wasn’t the right person, many had more relevant skills,” she laughs. A political advisor and public servant with limited experience in the region, McGregor was an unlikely candidate to lead a rethink on Australia’s future in Asia. 

Yet it was precisely her fresh-eyed approach that proved vital. Free from inherited assumptions, McGregor sought advice widely, built alliances and advisory relationships, and saw clearly: if Australia was to prosper, we must first understand Asia on its own terms. 

Over the next three decades, McGregor’s dedicated team would build Asialink into a formidable institution and launch the Asialink Leaders Program—arguably Australia’s most enduring and successful effort to develop ‘Asia capability’: the cultural fluency, communication skills and confidence essential to thrive in the region. 

In 1995, the Asialink Leaders Program was conceived high in ambition but low in resources, with the program’s first cohort taking place in the following year. Participants, then mostly in their twenties, bunked at the Australian National University and ate barbecue provided by the program manager. The program aimed to leapfrog the old guard by identifying and nurturing a new generation of young, globally minded Australians poised to rise to influence in their careers.  

The ambition was to build trust and foster connections between Australia and the region by cultivating a generation of Australians who understood not only the economic potential of Asia but also the cultural complexity of such a diverse region. 

The program was initially named the Weary Dunlop Leaders Program, after Second World War hero and prisoner-of-war Sir Edward “Weary” Dunlop, who championed post-war bridge-building with Japan. The team leveraged Dunlop’s heroic legacy to raise funds and political support to invest in a new generation with the mindset and capability to engage with Asia. An advisory board chaired by former Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen lent further gravitas. Yet it was the program’s core philosophy—bringing together young leaders across government, business, academia and the arts—that proved its most potent innovation. 

Australian National University Professor Tony Milner’s pioneering Perceptions Project, which illuminated the divergence in how Australians and Asians view core concepts such as democracy, human rights, media, education and security, formed the program’s intellectual core. 

McGregor points to one example of this divergence: Australia’s historic fear of invasion born of its vast, sparsely populated landmass, contrasted with Indonesia’s anxiety about internal fragmentation across its many thousands of islands. For McGregor, understanding those different perceptions was crucial: “We wanted the participants to understand something about the countries in Asia and about how they work together, or not, as a region.” 

Milner would become an enduring academic advisor, believing, as he once put it, that “if the only thing Asialink did was run the Leaders Program, it would still have a profound impact.” 

In its early days, the program was a modest operation. Yet what it lacked in resources, it made up for in ambition. A week-long session in Canberra became the beating heart of the program, exposing participants to senior diplomats, academics and politicians, including successive foreign ministers. 

Enduring Foundation, a Maturing Purpose 

For McGregor to start the Leaders Program was one thing; yet sustaining it was another. Julia Fraser joined the team in 2002 and led the program for the next nearly two decades. 

“The Asialink Leaders Program began with an ambitious and wide-ranging mission: to attract exceptional individuals from every corner of Australian professional life—people willing to think boldly and drive change,” Fraser shares. 
“We created a program that empowered participants to lead greater Asia engagement in their own spheres of influence, ultimately making a real impact on Australia’s future prosperity and social fabric.” 

As Australian society changed, so too did the Leaders Program. Greater effort was put into recruiting a more representative group of professionals to draw on talent across all backgrounds, including Asian-Australian participants, Indigenous leaders, and professionals from a wider range of sectors. 

The program content shifted with geopolitical tides such as the crisis in East Timor, China’s rise and the Asian financial crisis. Yet some constants endured: the Canberra immersion, the interdisciplinary cohorts and the conviction that deep understanding of Asia was a national imperative. 

The evolution of the program has mirrored Australia’s own journey. Previously, Asia engagement was driven largely by trade and security concerns. Now there is a deeper appreciation for cultural, people-to-people and strategic relationships. Asia capability, McGregor states, is less about technical proficiency and more about humility: “Listening, being curious, and asking questions respectfully,” she says. 

Towards the next 30 years 

Looking ahead, she is optimistic. She points to initiatives such as Nicholas Moore’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy as a sign that Australia’s leadership grasps the region’s centrality to our prosperity and security. Indonesia, forecast to be the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2050, looms particularly large in McGregor’s thinking. “If we get our relationship with Indonesia right, and we’ve got a good basis for that,” she says, “that’s one of the most important things we can do.” 

McGregor notes other opportunities too: deepening ties with ASEAN as a bloc, maintaining mature relationships with Japan and Korea, and managing the complexities of the China relationship with care and nuance. 

“The lesson we didn’t know as well in the 90s was that you cannot rely on the US alliance to get us through,” reflects McGregor. “It’s in Australia’s interests to have the best relationships that it can with the countries around us… We have to make relationships in our region respectful and trusting so we’re not outsiders… It’s still a really big battle.” 

McGregor’s personal involvement in Asia engagement has shifted, and she now chairs a philanthropic fund supporting leadership and education projects. Yet her commitment to the mission remains undiminished. Her hope is that the Asialink Leaders Program will remain true to its original spirit: not only preparing individuals for success in Asia but instilling in Australia a confidence that it belongs to the region—not merely adjacent to it.