Australia-Japan Bilat Opening Remarks, Singapore

SUBJECTS: Australia-Japan Relationship

JAPANESE MINISTER OF DEFENSE NAKATANI GEN: Once again, congratulations on your win Deputy Prime Minister. We had a very productive meeting yesterday for Japan-US-Australia and Japan-US-Australia-Philippines. I believe our strong strategic message was sent through the meetings, which is robust network cooperation and cooperation among allies and like-minded countries, unwavering. Deepening Japan-Australia cooperation has been at the core of cooperation and coordination among like-minded countries, and we have had many cooperation in such areas of strategic coordination, operational cooperation and defence-to-defence technology cooperation. I believe our strong Japan-Australia cooperation has been supporting and extending and expanding to the region as a whole. And DPM Marles, you have been also repeatedly said that the whole of such kind of cooperation is Japan-Australia, cooperation at the core of such kind of cooperation, and I can't agree with you more on that. As an indispensable partner Japan and Australia, as well as DPM Marles and myself with further promote our cooperation, with aim to expand practical cooperation in all kinds of areas and enhance our common capabilities and strategies. Thank you very much again, my indispensable partner.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, RICHARD MARLES: Gen, it's great to have you here today. There is a very strong friendship between Gen and myself, and it is a representation of the friendship between our two countries. In fact, in Australia today the people-to-people links between Australia and Japan are very strong. My own children go to a school that was established by a Japanese family, Japanese philanthropist, the Katsumata, family, and there is a deep sense of affection between our two countries. But I think what we are building today is a strategic dimension to that relationship, that deep relationship of trust. And as we look at the world today, there is no country with whom we have a greater strategic alignment than with Japan. The is a relationship of the greatest importance for Australia and the uncertainty in the world, the volatility in the world, the challenges that we're facing in the world only makes our relationship even more important. I agree with you that it was working together- the meeting that we had yesterday in our trilateral with the United States, and then in our multilateral, United States and the Philippines, was really important, and sends a strong message of cooperation between like-minded countries within our region. But our bilateral relationship is going from strength-to-strength, and you can see that in the exercises that we will do as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre and Exercise Bushido Guardian. And we are very excited about working together to take our relationship to the next level.  

ENDS