Statements

Operationalising the Australia-New Zealand Alliance: Anzac 2035 - Closer Defence Relations Statement

At approximately 4:30am on the 25th of April 1915, the first ANZAC landing at Gallipoli forged a bond unlike any other; changing the Australian and New Zealand relationship forever. Since then, Australians and New Zealanders have served and fought side-by-side with selflessness, courage,…

Australia–New Zealand Foreign and Defence Ministerial Consultations 2+2

Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence the Hon Richard Marles MP and Minister for Foreign Affairs Senator the Hon Penny Wong hosted New Zealand Minister of Defence Hon Judith Collins KC MP and Minister of Foreign Affairs Rt Hon Winston Peters MP on 17 March in Canberra for the…

Australia-UK Defence Industry Dialogue – Joint Statement

On 23 February 2026, the UK Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, Luke Pollard MP hosted the Minister for Defence Industry of Australia, the Hon. Pat Conroy MP, for the Australia–UK Defence Industry Dialogue (AUKDID). This meeting marked the revival of the Dialogue following the 2025…

AUKUS Defence Ministers’ Meeting – Joint Statement

Today the Honorable Pete Hegseth, U.S. Secretary of War, hosted the Honourable Richard Marles MP, Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, and the Right Honourable John Healey MP, United Kingdom Secretary of State for Defence, at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. to reaffirm the…

Joint Fact Sheet on Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) 2025

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth hosted Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles on December 8 in Washington, D.C., marking 40 years of AUSMIN consultations. Building on the historic October 2025…

Joint Fact Sheet on Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) 2025

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth hosted Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles on December 8 in Washington, D.C., marking 40 years of AUSMIN consultations. Building on the historic October 2025…

Japan-Australia Defence Ministers’ Joint Statement – Establishment of the Framework for Strategic Defence Coordination

On 7 December 2025, Minister of Defense of Japan Koizumi Shinjiro and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence of Australia the Hon Richard Marles MP met in Tokyo to hold important discussions regarding Japan-Australia defence relations and the security environment impacting our shared…

Joint Statement, Australia-PNG-Indonesia Trilateral Defence Ministers' Meeting

The Hon Dr Billy Joseph, MP Papua New Guinea Minister for Defence The Hon Richard Marles MP, Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence General (Ret.) Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, Indonesian Minister of Defence Papua New Guinea’s Minister for Defence, the Hon.  Dr Billy Joseph MP,…

Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead

Director-General of the Australian Submarine Agency (ASA) Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead has advised the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence that he will step down from his role in mid-2026.  Vice Admiral Mead has made an enormous contribution to the development of the AUKUS optimal…

Joint Readout of the Meeting of Defense Ministers From Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and the United States

Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, Japanese Minister of Defense Koizumi Shinjiro, Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro, Jr., and United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth met together on November 1, 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. …

Joint Communique - South Pacific Defence Ministers' Meeting

Defence Ministers or their representatives from Australia, Chile, Fiji, France, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga gathered in Viña del Mar for the 10th South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM) from 22 to 24 October 2025. They were joined by observers from Japan, the United…

Defence Ministers' Joint Statement - PNG-Australia Mutual Defence Treaty Implementation

Australia’s Acting Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, the Hon Richard Marles MP, and Papua New Guinea’s Minister for Defence, the Hon Dr Billy Joseph MP met today in Canberra to begin our pathway from defence partners to allies under the PNG-Australia Mutual Defence Treaty – the Pukpuk Treaty…