Joint Press Conference – Trilateral Defence Ministers’ Meeting

SUBJECTS: 14^th Trilateral Defence Ministers’ Meeting; Trump Administration; AUKUS; Ukraine Conflict; Chinese Activities in the Indo Pacific; Defence Exercises; Australia-US Alliance; Navy Surface Fleet

ACTING PRIME MINISTER, RICHARD MARLES- Well welcome everyone to this press conference for the Trilateral Defence Ministers Meeting between the United States, Australia and Japan. I'd like to welcome Secretary Austin and welcome my good friend Gen Nakatani, the Minister for Defense in Japan. It really is an honor to have both Gen and Lloyd here in Australia for this meeting, and specifically here in Darwin, a place which is a defence town, and it is so significant in terms of Australia's force posture by virtue of the geo strategic significance of Northern Australia and Darwin is very much the capital of Northern Australia. 

This is the most senior visit by an official of the American Government since President Obama came here in 2011 to announce the Marine rotation. Prime Minister Abe was here in 2018 but Minister Nakatani's visit to Darwin today is the first time that we've had a Japanese Defense Minister come to Darwin and there is a huge significance in that. And befitting the significance of this meeting and the visits of both Secretary Austin and Minister Nakatani to Australia, the outcomes of today's Trilateral Meeting have been very profound. Today we are announcing that there will be regular deployments of Japan's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade to Australia, and that will have a particular focus on cooperating with the Australian Defence Force and the United States Marines when they are here as part of the Marine rotation. This is going to build interoperability between our two countries, between our three countries, I should say. But it is a very important statement to the region and to the world about the commitment that our three countries have in working with each other. 

Today, we are also announcing that our three countries will commit to consulting with each other in respect of regional security issues and contingencies. The significance of that is that it provides a substance and a structure to the Trilateral Meeting of our three countries, which has not been there before, and it represents the ambition that all of us have about taking this architecture of our three countries even further. Today we are also announcing that our three countries will be cooperating with India and part of this announcement, obviously, is increased maritime domain awareness activities. All of us are maritime nations, including India, and maritime domain awareness in the oceans around our respective countries is fundamentally important to the national security of each of our four nations, and that the four of us will now work much more closely together in respect of those activities, again, is deeply significant. 

Finally, the last point that I want to make, amongst a very significant list of outcomes which has been provided to you is that our three countries are looking at every opportunity that we can find to participate in each other's exercises within the region and there would be more than a dozen exercises where there is opportunities for us to work more closely together and we are taking those opportunities. But just one of them is Exercise Puk Puk, which is a bilateral exercise between Australia and Papua New Guinea. Next year in Exercise Puk Puk 25 both Japan and America will participate and it is an example of how our three countries are working together in that instance in an exercise which is profoundly important for Papua New Guinea. That's an example of how that exercise is really important for Papua New Guinea, but it's but it is the way in which our three countries are working together to build interoperability amongst ourselves but to provide for the collective security of the region in which we all live and to provide an assertion of the global rules based order which all of our countries are so deeply committed to. 

Lloyd again it really has been an honor to have you here today. Finally, I just want to say something in relation to Lloyd. I've worked very closely with Lloyd Austin over the last two and a half years. I've said this on many occasions, of all my counterparts around the world, Lloyd Austin is the person with whom I have met the most and have the closest of relationships. I'm really aware I'd be one of 20, 30 defence ministers around the world who would say the same thing, and that speaks volumes about the effort that Lloyd Austin has put in over the now near four years that he has served as the United States Secretary of Defense. Lloyd has been a champion for the global rules based order and in that he has been a champion for peace around the world. He has been a close friend of Australia and I know of Japan as well, a person who has been deeply active in our region. This is his 12th visit to the region, but I know, as we were talking last night, that his most recent meeting where both Gen and Lloyd met with each other, was in Naples, I think, as part of the G7 Defence Ministers Meeting, Lloyd's been committed to the Indo Pacific, he's been committed to Eastern Europe, he has played the role that you would expect of a Secretary of Defense of America as a global power and Lloyd, we really wish you the best of the future. Thank you for your friendship, but thank you for the steadfast way in which you have supported the bilateral relationship between Australia and the United States, but also the security of the region in which we all live, but the security of the world. We will be staying in touch, but we will miss you deeply.

UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, THE HON LLOYD J.AUSTIN III- Prime Minister Marles, Richard. It's great to see you again, and thanks for those generous comments. If I had the power of truly a wise man, I would stop here. I really appreciate it. And thanks for welcoming, welcoming us to Darwin, Minister Nakatani, it's a pleasure to see you again as well. You know, this is the fourth time that I participated in this bilateral format as Secretary of Defense and over the past four years, our three democracies have accomplished a lot together. We've announced a bilateral cooperation on F-35s we're working to integrate Japan into the US- Australia force posture cooperation in Australia, and Japan and Australia have exercised their reciprocal access agreement through deployments to each other's countries. 

Today, more than ever, we're taking concrete actions that will deepen our trilateral cooperation and the three of us are here to see the results firsthand. Darwin is a focal point for our expanding trilateral relationship and our bond is delivering real security, deterrence and interoperability. Today we discuss the next steps to expand our exercises and training, and Japan's commitment to annual trilateral amphibious training in the Indo Pacific demonstrates our momentum, including with the Marine Rotational Force Darwin here in Northern Australia. We're also elevating key bilateral exercises into trilateral exercises, Australia will now participate in ground force exercises Yama Sakura and Orient Shield along with joint exercises such as Keen Edge and Keen Sword. And starting in 2025 we’ll increase the complexity of our trilateral exercises, including Southern Jackaroo and Talisman Sabre. Looking further out Talisman Sabre 2027 will include an air and missile defense live fire event. And taken together this is major progress, and it will help ensure a more stable and prosperous region. Beyond these exercise milestones today we welcome Japan's increased participation in US-Australia force posture activities. Through this work, we're eager to deepen Japan's cooperation with the Marine Rotational Force Darwin and we’ll continue to grow our trilateral intelligence sharing and to increase our surveillance and reconnaissance activities. 

Today I'm also pleased to support Australia's increased participation in the US-Japan Bilateral Information Analysis Cell. The intelligence capabilities and professionalism of Australia's forces will be a force multiplier and that will advance our goals for a secure and peaceful Indo Pacific. And finally, we're excited to build advanced capabilities with Japan and Australia. We're moving forward with our Trilateral Research Development Test and Evaluation Projects Arrangement, focusing on composite aerospace materials and autonomous systems. In the same vein, we're deepening our discussions on cooperative combat aircraft and autonomy, and we're also discussing opportunities to boost cooperation with Japan on AUKUS Pillar II projects. We're committed to working together in these areas, Deputy Prime Minister Marles and Minister Nakatani thanks for your leadership and your commitment to security in the Indo Pacific. I am absolutely proud of all that we've accomplished together and together, we're continuing to build on the progress our three countries have achieved over the past four years and I look forward to continuing to grow our partnership and to endure well into the future and thanks very much and Minister Nakatani, over to you.

JAPANESE MINISTER OF DEFENSE H.E. NAKATANI GEN- Translation unavailable

MARLES: So I've got a list of questioners here. We are short on time. We're not going to get through them all three, but we will do our best. So we're starting with Matthew Knott of the Nine papers. 

JOURNALIST: Secretary and Mr Marles, given the very well documented problems with the US submarine production lines, how worried should Australians be that they won't be able to receive Virginia class submarines from the United States? And should Australia, as we're looking ahead to a new Administration, have to be prepared to pay more than what we've already committed to those production lines there. It's also embedded that it will survive a change of Administration.

AUSTIN: I'll go first, Richard. I'm confident that we're going to be able to provide the capabilities that we set out to provide. Now, we recognize that there are challenges in the industrial base and we're doing things to address those challenges. We're investing more so that, you know, we can speed up the production to meet our objectives going forward. And you know I've met with the leadership of the companies that are producing submarines and I'm encouraged by what they're doing and their focus to get this done and they will get it done. So from a production standpoint we're going to continue to do the right things, to do the things that are necessary to ensure that we can make meet our objectives. And I would point out that we've met every benchmark that we've set out for ourselves with AUKUS to this point and we have a very well structured management system that, and we converse with each other frequently on how we're doing and what the challenges are and again, I see commitment from all three countries to get this done. And I would also say that I've seen in the United States bipartisan support in our Congress for August, we recognise that this is a generational capability that will make a significant difference in promoting security and stability in the Indo Pacific region.

MARLES: Let me start off by saying what he said. But I think what Lloyd has articulated does go to the question that you asked Matt here in respect of where America's production is up to and so we do have a sense of confidence about the fulfilment of the timelines that we articulated when we announced the optimal pathway back in March of last year. But perhaps go to the last point of your question is August deeply embedded? I think the answer to that is yes. And again, Lloyd alluded to it, but we have seen in the United States across the political spectrum, this time last year legislation passed the US Congress with the support of Democrats, Republicans, Trump Republicans, which saw, for example, the legislative underpinning of the sale of Virginia class submarines to Australia. It had the creation of a seamless defence industrial base between our two countries. But the important point was, it was supported across the board. Lloyd and I were having this conversation last night. This Lloyd just alluded to now, this is a multi-decade program, just as the Alliance has been a multi- decade relationship between our two countries that can happen. The basis of the Alliance is shared values but it's a shared strategic objective and shared strategic advantage. And AUKUS is in the strategic interest of both the United States and Australia, and that's the fundamental here, as it is for Britain. And so we are seeing AUKUS survive change of governments in Australia, in the United Kingdom, and it will happen in America as well. This is really deeply embedded across the political spectrum in all our three countries, because it is in the strategic interests of all our three countries. 

JOURNALIST: Secretary Austin, Zelensky said yesterday that he believes the Trump Administration will end the war in Ukraine faster. Do you believe that this Administration has not be fast enough in its efforts to end the war and what is your response to that? And for Minister Nakatani and Minister Marles, have either of you spoken with President-Elect Trump or his team? What are your expectations, I guess, to follow up on that last question, of this relationship, moving forward with that Administration. 

AUSTIN: Thanks for the question, Haley. It goes without saying that based upon our support and the support of some 50 other countries, we have put Ukraine in a place where it was able to defend itself, defend its sovereignty against the largest military in Europe for two and a half years. And so if you look at the broader picture here, which you've heard me say before, Putin has not achieved one strategic objective in two and a half years, over two and a half years, and he's lost a lot of people in his misguided endeavour. So this war could end today. It could have ended two years ago, or two and a half years ago, if Putin would have decided to make the right decision and pull his forces out of Ukraine. This is an unjustified and unprovoked invasion, and so all of us would want to see this resolved soon, sooner versus later. But again, we want to make sure that Ukraine is in the best position to protect its interest, however it's resolved in the future, and I believe that you've heard me say before, at the end of the day it will be resolved through negotiation. So again, Putin could end this today, and he should end it today, because it is an unprovoked and unjustified invasion.

NAKATANI: Translation unavailable 

MARLES: Haley, the Prime Minister Albanese spoke with President Trump after in the few days subsequent to the election. In answer to your question about what we expect from the incoming Trump Administration, you know, Australia's interest, but it's not just Australia is so bound up in American global leadership. American global leadership since the end of the Second World War is really what has underpinned the establishment of a global rules based order by which differences between countries can be resolved, not in accordance with power and might, but in accordance with the rule of law. Why that is in the interests of a country like Australia is because it gives us agency most countries in the world, obviously not of the size of the United States, having a system which enables disputes to be worked out in accordance with international law actually is what builds the sovereignty of a nation like Australia. So what we look to always in respect of the United States, is that global leadership. Now we are confident that we will see that from the incoming Trump Administration, when you look at what those who have been associated with President Trump's campaign have said that and in respect of America's place in the world, it speaks to American leadership. When you look at the appointments that President Trump has made for his incoming administration, these are people who have spoken to American leadership. And it's not just by word, although it is by words and by action I referenced earlier. When you look at what happened going through the United States Congress last year in terms of Australia's key equity and our Alliance with the United States, which is the AUKUS arrangement that was supported across the board by people who would identify themselves with President Trump. So we are confident that a future Administration will stand by America's place in the world and American leadership and that is fundamentally what Australia and for that matter, I think the world needs to see. But we are really confident that we will see it from President Trump and his Administration. 

JOURNALIST: I would like to ask the Minister Nakatani, upon the election in the US and China advancing, they are very active activities in the regions and in Australia also, what sort of approach are you thinking together towards Trump Administration and approach in Asia regions? 

NAKATANI: Translation unavailable 

JOURNALIST: You've been to the region 12 times as Secretary I believe, do you believe Peter Hegseth is qualified to lead the Pentagon, and can we have faith in him to maintain US commitments in this part of the world? And to Mr. Marles, Mr. Hastie, says he relishes the prospect of working with Mr. Hegseth who is a very different kind of person to Secretary Austin. What about you? Inaudible

AUSTIN: Thanks for your question. I would just highlight that it's the prerogative of the President-Elect to nominate whoever he deems appropriate to serve on his cabinet. As far as DoD is concerned, we remain focused on a smooth and effective transition to the next administration. Beyond that, I would say I'm really proud of the things that this administration has accomplished over the last four years, in terms of, you know, what we've done in this region, to strengthen alliances and to work with countries that share the vision of a free and open Indo Pacific, and again, our focus will remain on effecting a smooth and orderly transition. I'll just say that this is a large enterprise, the DOD, and it often involves making life and death decisions on a on a near daily basis, and accounting for and taking care of some 2.7 million soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, guardians, and really remaining focused on protecting the country and protecting our interest around the world.

MARLES: Well, Ben, in answer to your question, I too, look forward to building a relationship with Pete Hegseth. The role of Secretary of Defense in the United States is a huge global role. It's an enormous honour for Pete Hegseth to be being put forward by President Trump to fulfill that role. I think we've seen around the world today, people are coming from a range of different places and perspectives to occupy posts in government. And you know that breadth of experience is- it can be really important. I mean, obviously I don't carry any military experience personally into the role that I undertake as Australia's Minister for Defence, so in no sense to am I going to say that that represents a prerequisite. And I think Pete Hegseth is somebody who will have an enormous challenge ahead of him, because that is what it is to be the Secretary of Defense. Everything that I've heard about Pete Hegseth since his name became public is in terms of in the context of becoming the Secretary of Defense which has been positive, and I approach the prospect of getting tonight Pete Hegseth and working with him with enormous optimism. Noah from Defense News.

JOURNALIST: Thank you. First off to Secretary Austin, can you give us an assessment of how effective you think North Korean troops that have deployed the fighting have been fighting alongside the Russian military. Also your sense of whether it will be possible to draw down the remaining replenishment aid for Ukraine before this administration ends in January. And to the non-General Minister, Minister Nakatani, could you please explain whether Japan, like the Philippines, is interested in purchasing or rotating in a mid-range capability like the US has put through the Balikatan exercise in the Philippines this year, and the Army Secretary suggested this could be helpful for the US and Japan if they went forward. Do you have any comment on that? 

AUSTIN: Thanks for your questions. First of all, regarding the effectiveness of the DPRK troops, we've not seen much fighting from them at this point, but my belief is that we'll see that soon. I think that a force like this will undergo the challenges that we would expect in that there's a language issue that they have to overcome, and in working with their Russian counterparts, there's not, there's not been the same kind of training and development that we've seen amongst our allies here, and we were just out visiting our troops today and talking about interoperability. Interoperability has something to do with, you know, having the same type of equipment, but it's a lot to do with understanding common policies and procedures and understanding and trusting the people that you're working alongside. Now, these forces have not worked together before. Based upon the language barrier, based upon a lack of common procedures, lack of common equipment, you would expect that there will be some friction in terms of how effective they'll be, is left to be seen. In terms of whether or not we'll be able to deliver all of the equipment or security assistance that we're authorized to deliver before the end of the year, we're going to keep doing what we've done from the very beginning, and that is rushing very much in needed security assistance to Ukraine as fast as we can. We're going to focus on those things that continue to focus on those things that they need the most. And we'll make a big a difference as possible with the time that we have remaining, and hopefully we'll see continued support, bipartisan support for Ukraine from our Congress going forward. 

NAKATANI: Translation unavailable

MARLES: Andrew Tillet, AFR.

JOURNALIST: Thank you Minister. To Secretary Austin, we're seeing the intensification of US military presence within Australia, whether it be marine deployment, bomber rotations and the submarine deployment from 2027. This is on top of our long standing arrangements with communication facilities such as Pine Gap- how central is Australia to the US region? And for the three of you, this commitment to consult, how will it operate, for example, in an emergency over Taiwan?

AUSTIN: Well, it's key that Australia has been an essential partner to us for many, many years. You may have heard me say before that, I served 41 years in uniform, almost six years of that was in the combat zone and everywhere I went that was a tough place to be, there was an Aussie there, and so that relationship is invaluable. We, we share the same values. We treasure each other's professionalism, and we've worked together on and off over decades, and we expect that that work will continue going into the future. We share a common vision of a free and open Indo Pacific, and that's really important to us, but it's also important to all of our partners and allies in the region, and we're going to continue to work together to promote that common interest. So Australia is a valuable partner today, it will be a valuable partner or ally going forward, and it has been, over the years, over the decades, a really reliable and effective ally that has just been remarkable, in my view

MARLES: Thanks Lloyd. The commitment to consult in respect of regional defence issues is just that, and this is across the spectrum of those issues. It could be a HADR event, a cyclone, an earthquake, a tsunami, where defence forces need to coordinate in terms of providing assistance. It could be in relation to the kind of work that we've done in terms of ensuring that we're bringing stability to countries in our region, such as what occurred with Solomon Islands back in the early 2000s or the regional mission that we led in Timor Leste. What this is, is that no matter what that circumstance is, that the three of us will consult each other. And the significance of the announcement that we are making today is it puts substance and structure into this relationship. It really is a step forward in terms of the way in which the three of us will operate in a collective and coordinated way. And the way to read this is to be thinking about it in terms of the ambition that the three of us are bringing to the table for this grouping. We do see as countries with shared values, with capability and with a commitment to the rules based order within our region that there is enormous benefit to each of us in terms of our national interests, that there's an enormous strategic benefit in us working more closely together. And that's what the commitment to consult needs. Brandy from Defense Scoop.

JOURNALIST: Hi, thank you for doing this. Are you all exploring new commitments for basing US hypersonic weapons in Australia or Japan down the line? Are your governments looking to that? And broadly, can you speak to any new or concrete examples of how this agreement will enable your nations to deter China in ways you haven't been able to before?

MARLES: I wouldn't go into specifics, in respect of capabilities beyond what we've announced. This is about the three of us working together. It's not about other countries or any other particular country. It is about the three of us as countries which are democracies, which are committed to the rules based or working closely together to assert that and in answer to the last question, what you can read out of today's meeting is an ambition that the three of us share to build the way in which we work together, and we've had deep relationships up until now. I mean, we said earlier that our- the country with whom we probably share the most strategic alignment in terms of the landscape that we face would be Japan. Part of that landscape is the both of us, allies of America, and for both of us, our most important partner is America. That means that there actually has been a real history and record of us working closely together. But what we are announcing today gives expression to the fact that as three countries, we now seek to do this in a more and increasing coordinated way. And that will be a benefit to our capability. We believe we benefit to the collective security of the Indo Pacific, and we believe it will make a significant contribution to the global rules based order. 

AUSTIN: And I certainly agree with what the Deputy Prime Minister has said. We don't have any announcements on hypersonics to offer today. I would point to the things that we are working on, both as a part of AUKUS and also as on a bilateral basis. You know that we're doing a number of things to develop capability with Australia and also with Japan bilaterally. We are in August pillar II. What that is all about is working together to leverage technology to provide real capability to the war fighter as quickly as we possibly can. And we're making progress in that area. And we expect that Japan will join AUKUS pillar II at some point in the not too distant future, to work on specific projects that have yet to be made. But again, there are just so many things that that we can work together on and are working to be together on, whether it's you know, quantum capability, whether it's, you know CCA, or what you would describe as man- unmanned teaming aircraft, and just a number of other things that include Long Range Strike and so many other things that I believe we're going to- that our work is going to pay significant dividends to the war fighter here going forward. 

NAKATANI: As I mentioned earlier, DPRK, missile attacks and threats, their capability has enhanced quite a bit, and it's a real threat to us now. And this problem in itself, it can't be Japan's effort alone, of course, we need to cooperate and coordinate together with our likeminded partners and allied countries. Therefore, between Japan, US and Australia, we would like to coordinate our strategies and to enhance our capabilities and to put that into action. And so, for missile defence architecture and the network associated with it, that is one of the efforts we are making to include information sharing to enhance these capabilities. In terms of exercises and training, in 2026 there was training in Australia which was titled Pitch Black, and in this exercise we are considering deploying out F-35 units to Australia to participate Inaudible.

MARLES: And finally, Mr Tamura Naohiro of Yomiuru Shimbun. 

JOURNALIST: Inaudible

MARLES: At the beginning of this year, in response to the Surface Fleet Review, we announced the future structure of our Navy surface fleet, and that as part of that there would be a general purpose frigate. And we wanted to bring a new general purpose frigate into operation as soon as possible, within this decade, which is a very fast acquisition. So, the first point in answer to your question is that what we are seeking in terms of acquiring a general purpose frigate is to have a very speedy acquisition. Because of that, what we did was name at that point a number of companies with a number of designs of ships that were currently in service, with the prospect of them being initially built overseas, and then that build being transferred to Australia as a means by which we would be able to acquire an existing capability in the world quickly. As you say, we have down selected now to two companies who are providing three designs amongst those two, but one of those is Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mogami class frigate which is operated, which is in service now. It's a very capable platform, and we will now work very closely with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in terms of their bid. Our intention is to make a final decision in respect of this through the course of next year. So this has a little time to run, but not a lot of time because at the heart of what we are seeking to do is to have a new- the first of those- general purpose frigates actually in service in the 2020s. But we're obviously very impressed with the Mogami class frigate and what Mitsubishi has presented so far. We were pleased to announce that they were part of our down selection, and we will be working closely with them going forward. I think that brings to an end the press conference again. If I could again thank Lloyd and Gen for being here today. Thank you all for attending, we very much appreciate it.

ENDS