UK and Australian Foreign and Defence Ministers met in Adelaide
to discuss shared security issues.
New Defence and Security Cooperation Agreement signed, laying for
foundations for even closer collaboration and making Australia
one of the UK’s closest partners.
Meeting comes as Australia appoint UK firm BAE Systems as a
partner to build AUKUS submarines.
UK and Australia ties are stronger than ever following a
successful defence and foreign policy summit in Canberra,
attended by the Defence Secretary and Foreign Secretary.
Over two days of meetings and engagements with their counterparts
which take place annually – dubbed AUKMIN - and discussed shared priorities,
challenges and cooperation on issues including Ukraine, the
Middle East and the Indo-Pacific.
Meeting in Canberra on Thursday, Defence Secretary and Australia Deputy Prime
Minister & Defence Minister Richard Marles setting out closer
collaboration including science and technology, information
exchange and working together to maintain an open and stable
Indo-Pacific.
The agreement will also make it easier for our forces to operate
in each other’s nations, facilitating current activity like
Operation Interflex and future deployments including the Navy’s
Carrier Strike Group in 2025, and the RAF’s Exercise Pitch Black
this summer.
Foreign Secretary said:
We are facing a daunting set of challenges in a dangerous and
uncertain world. That is why cementing our relationship with
friends such as Australia is so important.
Our strong ties give us a platform to come even closer together
in defence of our values. Our work in Australia has reaffirmed to
me that close cooperation between our nations is the best way to
face up to global threats.
Defence Secretary said:
Our international partnerships and friendships with likeminded
nations such as Australia are more important than ever in an
increasingly dangerous and contested world.
Through our joint support to Ukraine, AUKUS partnership and Armed
Forces exercises, our is a relationship that is proving the value
of cooperation in delivering security and prosperity.
During a day of meetings on shared priorities and challenges, the
UK and Australia’s continued commitment to Ukraine was on the
agenda, with UK and Australian troops working together to train
over 35,000 Ukrainian recruits in the UK to date. welcomed Australia’s £25
million contribution to the UK-administered International Fund
for Ukraine which seeks to provide Ukraine with the capabilities
they need, procuring direct from industry, and announced a new
package of multipurpose drones and air defence capability that
will be delivered to Ukraine in the coming months through the
fund.
The £60 million package will be rapidly procured in the coming
months in a further boost for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. £40
million will be spent on more than 150 surveillance drones, and a
further £20 million will be spent on additional air defence
systems, including radars to detect incoming missiles and drones
targeted at Ukraine’s cities and military positions, as well as
mobile workshops to help quickly repair equipment near the
frontline.
The package will be procured from industry using supply chains
already providing capability for Ukraine, including from leading
manufacturers such as British company Malloy Aeronautics and
Tekever, and demonstrates the continued commitment from nations
around the world – including the UK and Australia - to support
Ukraine.
Ahead of the meetings, the Foreign Secretary and Foreign Minister
Wong signed a Memorandum of Understanding to tackle Gender Based
Violence in the Pacific, a region in which rates of this crime
are among the highest in the world.
Discussions went beyond ensuring regional and global security to
advancing prosperity. The Foreign Secretary continued to drive
forward plans to ratify the Comprehensive and Progressive
Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The Indo-Pacific
is set to account for half of global growth by 2050 and the UK is
actively pushing to enhance our economic engagement and promote
prosperity in the region.
The Foreign Secretary also met with Australian business leaders
to highlight the importance of Australian capital to the UK
economy and encouraged investors to diversify and support energy
transition and HMG’s key priorities. This engagement with both
the Australian and Indo-Pacific economies brings benefits to
Britons and Australians alike, creating jobs and growth in both
countries. Meanwhile, the Defence Secretary met with Defence
industry leaders to discus cooperation.
All four Ministers visited Osborne shipyard on Friday morning,
where BAE Systems are constructing Hunter ships, based on the
UK’s Type 26 design. in another win for UK defence industry.
Australia is also investing in Rolls-Royce, Derby, where the
nuclear propulsion plants will be manufactured. The AUKUS
programme, first announced in 2021, will support over 21,000 jobs
in the UK at its peak – concentrated in Barrow-in-Furness and
Derby.
