Joint Remarks, Tokyo

SUBJECTS: Australia-Japan Defence Relationship.

KOIZUMI SHINJIRO, JAPANESE MINISTER OF DEFENSE: (inaudible) Japan-Australia Defence Ministers’ Meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Marles today. The very fact that Deputy Prime Minister Marles and I have frequent ministerial meetings in such a short period of time, and stay in close communication, precisely (inaudible) the strong relationship between Australia and Australia. During today’s meeting we discussed regional affairs, such as the current situation in the Middle East, and in the Pacific to update our regional understanding. One example of the severe regional environment is North Korea launching a ballistic missile today (inaudible) and currently Japan, US and ROK are working together on the analysis. Since both Japan and Australia have been in the process of revising respective strategic documents, we discussed how we are coming with considerations on the region for both sides, and conclude to continue closely working together to maintain strategic alignment of our countries. Also, following the selection of the upgraded Mogami class frigate as the next general purpose frigate of the Royal Australian Navy, we reaffirmed that Japan and Australia will continue to closely work together to make steady progress on this project. On top of that, we concluded to continue our dialogue on reinforcing the Japan-Australia defence cooperation through the Framework for Strategic Defence Coordination, or FSDC, with the aim to bring our special strategic partnership to greater heights. Today’s Defence Ministers’ Meeting was held under the FSDC. Although the Middle East has been (inaudible) we must not allow a vacuum to be created in security in the areas around Japan and the Indo-Pacific. In this sense, the visit of Deputy Prime Minister Marles has made the very timely meeting, sending important message to turn the eyes of allies and likeminded countries to this region. Although the visit of DPM Marles came at a very short time, this meeting was very successful thanks to the cooperation at the working level between Japan and Australia. I’d like to pay my heartfelt respect and gratitude to the team on both sides. And particularly, my special thanks to the Ambassador who is sitting with us today and who has been working very hard for the development of Japan-Australia cooperation on a daily basis. I very much look forward to seeing you again very soon. Thank you.

RICHARD MARLES, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: It’s an enormous pleasure to be here, to meet again with my very good friend, Minister Shin Koizumi at today’s Defence Ministers’ Meeting. And can I too add my thanks to all the officials who have helped put today’s meeting together, and particularly acknowledge Andrew Shearer, our new Ambassador to Japan, who has got a long history in the Australian‑Japanese relationship and it's fantastic for us to see Andrew in the role that he's now occupied for a couple of months. This is the second time Minister Koizumi and I have met this year. It is also the second time that we are meeting under the banner of the Framework of Strategic Defence Coordination. Our meeting takes place against the backdrop of the events in the Middle East over the course of the last month, and we spoke about them today, and about the good news in respect of the ceasefire, which has been announced today. The missile launch today of North Korea is a reminder of the challenges that we face in the Indo‑Pacific, and how important it is that countries of the Indo‑Pacific maintain a focus on the challenges that we have here. Today, the tempo of exercises and operations between our two defence forces has never been more extensive and has never been greater. Next month in Exercise Southern Jackaroo, around 300 Japanese infantry will be coming to Australia, to Queensland, to train with their Australian counterparts. In July, Japanese F‑35s will be coming to the Northern Territory in Australia, again to train with Australian F-35s as part of Exercise Southern Cross. In August, through Exercise Yamasakura, about 100 Australian personnel, those who work in headquarters and planners, will be coming to Japan to participate in that exercise. And we've just completed Exercise Kakadu, which is the largest maritime exercise that the Royal Australian Navy does every two years and present was JS Kumano, a Mogami class Japanese frigate, and we were so honored to have her as part of the exercise and part of the Fleet Review in Sydney Harbour. And this is just a sample of the exercises that we are doing. We are doing more exercises with greater complexity, which demonstrates the cooperation between our two defence forces. With the selection of the Mogami class vessel produced by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for Australia's next general purpose frigate, the defence industry cooperation between our two countries is at a transformational level. We look forward to finalising the contractual arrangements around the Mogami class vessels very shortly. As Minister Koizumi mentioned, we also discussed today the preparation of our key strategic documents. Very shortly, we will be making public the National Defence Strategy 2026 which highlights the importance of building capability, but also highlights the importance of working with close partners in the region, and top of that list is Japan. And as Japan looks to developing– or updating its own strategic documents later in the year, we look forward to contributing to that process. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the NARA Treaty, and it is fair to say that over the course of the last half century, our countries have never been closer than they are today. Shin, I'm very grateful for your friendship, for the way in which we work together, and I very much look forward to working with you as we take the relationship between our two countries to the next level. 

ENDS