Opening Remarks, Australian-UK Ministerial Consultations (AUKMIN)

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, RICHARD MARLES: John, David, welcome. It's fantastic to have you here in Australia, to have you here at Admiralty House, to look at the beautiful harbour behind us. It is, of course, like this every day in terms of the weather in Sydney- we crack that joke in lots of places, but actually here in Sydney the weather is genuinely nice a lot of the time. This is our second meeting in seven months, but probably significantly, it's now the second meeting that the four of us have done together and we really appreciate- to say off the top- the personal relationship that we have with both of you. It enables us to have conversations that are trusted and enables us, I think, to progress issues between our two countries much quicker. And we really, really do just want to say how grateful we are for both of you and for the relationships that we have with you. We have said this on many occasions that this is our oldest relationship, but with AUKUS and with a range of other matters with the Free Trade Agreement, we have a contemporary strategic dimension to the relationship which really hasn't been there for a long time. And it really now means that our bilateral relationship is right up there as among the most important, if not the most important, that we have in the world. But I think, the other point to make is that we are living at a time where in the Indo Pacific or in the North Atlantic, the world is volatile, there is great power contest, we've got ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and in the Middle East, and this is a time where we're really grateful for the closeness of the personal relationships but the significance that we have in the bilateral relationship. We're really looking forward to today and in fact the next few days, the signing of the treaty, of course, which we'll be talking more about this afternoon. We're very much looking forward to Sunday, where we will be visiting Her Majesty's Ship Prince of Wales, the UK aircraft carrier, which right now is participating in Exercise Talisman Sabre 25. But just welcome and we're very grateful for your presence and very much looking forward to the proceedings today.

MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS, PENNY WONG: David, John, welcome. It's really wonderful to have you here and it's wonderful to have the opportunity for our second AUKMIN in in a very short space of time, which reflects, I think, where we are in the relationship. We've said before, we share history, we share values and we share interests. And we so deeply value the work we do together to shape our strategic circumstances and to shape our future, to contribute to our collective stability and security, whether it's in the Indo Pacific, standing together in Ukraine, or critically in relation to AUKUS. So, thank you for being with us. Really looking forward to the open, very trusted conversations that I know the four of us have.

UK FOREIGN SECRETARY, DAVID LAMMY: Richard, Penny – it’s fantastic to be here in Australia again. Since we last met, my football team, Tottenham Hotspur, has lifted a trophy thanks to the leadership of an Aussie. It’s the first time in 17 years. Sadly, he didn’t keep his job, but that’s fine, we have kept ours. This partnership is so important to us. We are meeting at a challenging time globally. We’ve got war in Europe, crises in so many ways in the Middle East, of course, and challenges in the Indo-Pacific. And we value, because of a shared history, a shared understanding, we are aligned on so many issues. We rely on each other in so many ways and, obviously, combined we are part of a system that gives us tremendous intelligence capability and military capability. So, we meet again and there’s a lot to discuss, but we value this and it’s wonderful to be here in Australia – in this beautiful setting. It’s so attractive looking out over the Opera House. Thank you so much.

UK DEFENCE SECRETARY, JOHN HEALEY: Thank you. This is the first formal occasion we’ve had to congratulate you on the historic Labor win in May and the biggest majority of any Australian government since 1943. Two months into the new government, you’re still even further ahead in the polls than you were at the election. Congratulations to the two of you as well on being reappointed to lead your country through these really uncertain times. I know Australians will be able to rely on your determination and your hard-headed optimism during this period. Australians can rely on us in the UK as well. For over a century, our two militaries have worked more closely together than almost any other. We plan together, we train together, we fight together. On occasions, we die together. In this new era of increasing uncertainty and increasing threats, this demands a new era for defence. An era in which the indivisibility of security in the Indo-Pacific is alongside the security of the Euro-Atlantic. In which the deep relationships like ours with you must be deepened further. And our UK commitment to Australia is absolute. We see that in the 3,000 British troops that are part of your Talisman Sabre exercise at the moment alongside 17 other nations. We see this in the commitment to our AUKUS partnership and we see this in the developing and deepening relationship between our two ministries. So, thank you for your friendship, thank you for your partnership and thank you for your leadership. And I look forward to the discussions today as well. 

ENDS