MINISTER FOR DEFENCE MEETS WITH JAPAN’S MINISTER OF DEFENSE

The Minister for Defence, the Hon. Joel Fitzgibbon MP, today met with Minister of Defense, Mr Yasukazu Hamada in bilateral meetings as part of the Shangri-La Dialogue, Singapore. 

Mr Fitzgibbon welcomed the opportunity to meet again with Mr Hamada following December’s successful 2 + 2 meeting, emphasising the importance of Defence and security cooperation in the bilateral relationship between Australia and Japan. 

“Australia looks forward to the combined P-3C and ship maritime security exercise planned for September and warmly welcomes the progress made on developing a Mutual Logistics Support Agreement between Australia and Japan,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.

“Building on the foundation provided by the 2008 Memorandum on Defence Cooperation, which we signed together in December, I look forward to continuing to work with Minister Hamada to develop greater practical defence cooperation in areas such as disaster relief, maritime security, counter terrorism, and peacekeeping.”

Mr Fitzgibbon and Mr Hamada are in Singapore attending the 8th International Institute for Strategic Studies Shangri‑La Dialogue 2009. 

Media Contacts:

Clare Enyi (Joel Fitzgibbon):           02 6277 7800 or 0404 893 565

Defence Media Liaison:                   02 6265 3343 or 0408 498 664