This week in Australian foreign affairs: Marape visits Albanese in Canberra, Marles attends AUKUS meeting with counterparts in California, Colonna visits Wong, and more.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, James Marape, to Australia on 7 December for an official visit. In a joint leaders statement, the leaders noted that they had signed a Bilateral Security Agreement, “a legally-binding framework to deepen our security cooperation – in traditional areas of defence, policing, border and maritime security, and also non-traditional areas of cyber security, climate change, gender-based violence and critical infrastructure.” Albanese also announced a $200 million commitment to Papua New Guinea’s “national security priorities”, which will provide “full circle support for Papua New Guinea’s internal security, from police to courts to correctional services.”
On 2 December, United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd J Austin hosted Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles and United Kingdom Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps at the Defense Innovation Unit Headquarters in California “to discuss the AUKUS enhanced defense and security partnership.” The trio “reaffirmed the three nations’ commitment to maximize the strategic and technological advantage of AUKUS by combining national strengths and pooling resources to deliver game-changing capabilities.” They made various announcements relating to the first two pillars of AUKUS, including that they “will undertake a series of integrated trilateral experiments and exercises aimed at enhancing capability development, improving interoperability, and increasing the sophistication and scale of autonomous systems in the maritime domain.” The Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister also announced that “Australian sailors will commence duty in Guam in early 2024 to build their SSN maintenance skills and qualifications in the lead up to SRF-West.” Moreover, the Australian Government entered into an agreement with the United States and United Kingdom to “further advance Australia’s defence space capabilities” through the Deep-space Advanced Radar Capability, which will be installed near Exmouth in Western Australia and will “provide 24-hour continuous global and all weather coverage to track and identify objects in deep space, boosting our ability to detect and deter space based threats.”
Marles travelled to New Caledonia this week to participate in the eighth annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM), hosted by France. He also held bilateral meetings with other SPDMM nations, including the host, Sebastien Lecornu, Minister of the Armed Forces of France, “to discuss Australia and France’s growing defence relationship.” Marles noted that, through the forum, “the militaries of the Pacific advance practical initiatives to enhance cooperation and ensure we are positioned to respond effectively to common regional security challenges together.” At this year’s meeting, members “committed to deepen cooperation to jointly tackle the most acute of these challenges including climate-induced disasters, the increasing demand for rapid Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief responses, maritime security, and non-traditional security challenges, such as IUU fishing and transnational crime, as well as cyber threats.”
On 4 December, Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong issued a joint statement with her French counterpart, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, on Colonna’s official visit to Australia. The Ministers noted that “Australia and France share a commitment to a dynamic bilateral relationship founded on trust, shared values and shared interests, globally and in the Indo-Pacific, in line with the priorities agreed by the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during their meeting on 1 July 2022.” They emphasised that Colonna’s visit as well as the adoption of the France-Australia Bilateral Roadmap “are further milestones in our renewed and ambitious France-Australia partnership.” They also discussed their shared commitment to “uphold multilateralism, international rules and norms, particularly the fundamental principles reflected in international law and the UN Charter, including on human rights, on sovereignty, territorial integrity and the peaceful settlement of disputes without resorting to the threat or use of force or coercion”, and “unequivocally condemn[ed] Hamas’s 7 October terror attacks on Israel.” They agreed to “continue to work together to guarantee an Indo-Pacific region that is open, stable, prosperous and inclusive, with respect for all countries’ sovereignty” and expressed “strong opposition to any coercion or destabilising actions in the South China Sea, including militarisation of disputed features.”
Wong announced on 1 December targeted financial sanctions and travel bans “on a further seven individuals and one entity associated with North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction or missile programs and the satellite launch” on 21 November. The sanctions are issued “in coordination with new designations announced by the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea.”
On 7 December, Wong advised that Australia has “imposed Magnitsky-style targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on three Federal Security Service agents involved in the poisoning of prominent Russian opposition figure and pro-democracy activist, Vladimir Kara-Murza.” Moreover, Australia has also imposed “targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on ten individuals, including a Russian Deputy Minister, who are linked to the politically motivated arrest, trial and sentencing of Mr Kara-Murza.” Wong noted that “Australia calls on Russia to comply with its human rights obligations under international treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment” and also called for the “immediate and unconditional release of Mr Kara-Murza and all other detained political activists.”
Assistant Minister for Defence Matt Thistlethwaite travelled to Ghana on 4 December for the United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting. He delivered Australia’s national statement, which emphasised that “Australia is focussed on supporting regional approaches to peace and security; strengthening peacebuilding and conflict prevention; supporting more effective and inclusive peacekeeping; and innovating for the future.” He noted that Australia supports “the call from African states for predictable and sustainable financing, including through UN assessed contributions, for African Union-led peace operations”, and that Australia “pledges to contribute to strengthening regional peacekeeping capacity, including through the delivery of UN pre-deployment and preparedness training for Pacific Law Enforcement officers.” Thistlethwaite emphasised that “Australia will always be an active supporter of peace operations because they are a critical feature of the international rules-based order and central to the UN charter which we all strongly support.” At the Environmental Management in Peacekeeping Side Event, Thistlethwaite noted that “peace operations need to better integrate a climate security lens, accelerate renewable energy solutions and set mission-specific targets to reduce environmental footprints.” He also deliveredAustralia’s national statement at the Women in Peacekeeping Side Event, emphasising that “Australia is exceeding the 2022 UN Uniformed Gender Parity Target of 20%, with women comprising more than 34% of Australian Staff Officers deployed to UN peace operations” and that “Australia will continue to advocate for gender equality across all peacekeeping and peacebuilding processes, supported by implementation of our second National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security.” He also announced Australia’s pledge to “partner with UN Women to deliver the Women’s Military Peace Operations Course (WMPOC) in South-East Asia, to prepare military officers for UN peacekeeping roles.”
On 7 December, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Tim Watts announced that this week he is travelling to Qatar, Egypt, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories “as part of the Albanese Government’s sustained diplomatic engagement in the region.” In Qatar, Watts will “attend the Doha Forum to engage senior leaders on the conflict in the region, and to promote investment in Australia’s clean energy and advanced manufacturing sectors.” In Egypt, he will focus on “regional security and humanitarian challenges”, as well as discussing “ways to deepen our economic ties and multilateral cooperation.” In Israel, Watts will “reiterate Australia’s unequivocal condemnation of the Hamas terrorist attacks and support for victims and their families” and “meet with officials, and invite visiting Australian parliamentarians to join key meetings.” During his visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Watts will meet with the Palestinian Authority and senior UN representatives and will “discuss the current crisis and the humanitarian response.” He will also “continue Australia’s advocacy for a just and enduring peace through a two-state solution, and discuss the next steps in a political process toward that goal. We want to see continued steps towards a sustained ceasefire, but it cannot be one sided.”
In Paris on 6 December, Watts addressed the International Humanitarian Conference for the Civilian Population in Gaza, where he emphasised that Australia “unequivocally condemns the October 7 attacks on Israel and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages” and noted that “[i]n defending itself Israel must respect international humanitarian law and conduct military operations lawfully.” He noted that “Australia is concerned that the primary border crossing – Keren Shalom – remains closed” and that “this is preventing much needed relief supplies to enter Gaza.” He also stated that “we are providing $25 million Australian dollars in humanitarian assistance through UN agencies and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement” which has “delivered critical water, medicine and essential services to those in need, particularly women and children.” Watts concluded by emphasising that “it is critical that international partners come together to respond to the urgent human suffering” and that “Australia will continue to do its part.”
