One of Australia's most senior diplomats has criticised foreign aid cuts in South-East Asia, saying the federal government needs to ramp up development spending to help build its influence and buttress regional stability.

Gary Quinlan – who served as Australia's representative to the United Nations and as ambassador to Indonesia until his retirement earlier this year – also said Australia and other countries were a "bit too slow" to help Indonesia deal with the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Australia has been intensifying its diplomatic engagement in South-East Asia throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and has made several commitments to help the region, including a $550 million development and security package, and a promise to deliver 5 million COVID-19 vaccines.

But foreign aid in South-East Asia – excluding the COVID-19 measures – has been cut by 30 per cent in recent years, falling from almost $1.3 billion in 2014/15 to just over $900 million in 2019/20.

Mr Quinlan told the Australia in the World podcast that while Australia and Indonesia's strategic relationship had grown considerably stronger, the government needed to move with urgency.

"I'd like to see [South-East Asia and Indonesia] given far more prominence particularly through the development cooperation program which is such a fundamental arm of our foreign policy," he said.

China wins credit as Australian response lags

Mr Quinlan said the federal government had "the rhetoric right" by recognising that South-East Asia was of crucial importance, but said it needed to do more to "operationalise" that rhetoric, particularly as Australia's strategic outlook was becoming more uncertain.

"We share the same strategic ecosystem with South-East Asia … so it's vital that we have a stable, successful region. It gives us strategic depth just in terms of our own national interests," he said.

Analysts also say South-East Asia is shaping as one of the most important theatres for strategic competition between China and other powers, including the United States and Japan.

China's economic footprint in the region has been growing rapidly, and Beijing has also embarked on a massive drive to distribute COVID-19 vaccines throughout the region.

Mr Quinlan said China's government won credit when it raced personal protective equipment to Indonesia to help it deal with the initial stages of the pandemic.

"In the early days, China had the first responder advantage for a long time and the rest of us were a bit too slow to react I have to say," he said.

Indonesia has ordered 125 million doses of China's Sinovac vaccine and has relied heavily on it so far in its national vaccination program.

But Indonesia is still grappling with a devastating outbreak of the Delta strain of COVID-19, and many medical professionals in the country have died even after receiving the Sinovac vaccine.

There is also a growing body of evidence suggesting that the protection provided by Sinovac vaccine diminishes more quickly when compared to other vaccines, including Pfizer.

Vaccines, military spending boosted

Mr Quinlan said it would be "very interesting" to see whether the uncertainties over Sinovac would "impact on China's brand for dependability" in Indonesia.

"It is clearly not proving – with Indonesia now the epicentre of COVID, huge community transmission – it's not proving as effective as you need it to be," he told the podcast.

"And others are coming in. [Australia] – we have big vaccine assistance programs, we need to do more in my assessment, but I'm sure that will continue.

"The US is giving more help, and others, the Japanese of course. So it's levelling out who can be relied on."

Australia rushed ventilators, oxygen concentrators and other medical equipment to Indonesia in July this year as COVID-19 cases soared across the archipelago, placing huge pressure on hospitals.

And it's promised to send 2.5 million AstraZeneca vaccines to Indonesia this year, although none of the doses have yet been flown over.

Mr Quinlan also told the podcast defence cooperation between Australia and Indonesia was improving rapidly, because Jakarta wanted Australia to help maintain a balance of power in the region.

He said Indonesia's comparatively warm response to the federal government's 2020 Defence Strategic Update – which reinforced commitments to ramp up military spending – was telling.

"Now that's a change, that's a big change," he said.

"The door is open there."

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Duration: 4 minutes 46 seconds4m 46s

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