Wyatt Roy (Longman, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties I present the committee's report entitled Report 145, treaties tabled on 26 August and 2 September 2014.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—Today I present the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties report 145. The report contains the committee's views on three proposed treaties: the force posture agreement between Australia and the United States, the agreement between Australia and Japan for the transfer of defence equipment and technology and the agreement between Australia and the US for the sharing of visa and immigration information.

The force posture initiatives were announced in 2011 to support our efforts to deepen our long-standing alliance with the United States. The initiatives involve the annual rotation of the US Marines Corps and United States Air Force personnel in northern Australia. This year's rotation involved approximately 1,500 personnel and that number will grow to over 2,500 personnel in the coming years. The regular influx of United States personnel is expected to provide a considerable economic benefits of the Northern Territory and Australia, particularly with regard to the retail, transport, recreation and other service sectors.

The force posture agreement provides the legal, policy and financial framework required for the full implementation of the two force posture initiatives. For example, the agreement requires respect for Australian sovereignty and laws. It imposes obligations for consultation. It also states that initiatives will occur at Australian facilities, consistent with Australia's long-standing policy that there are no foreign military bases on Australian soil. It provides certainty around the conditions for US access to Australian-owned facilities, as well as types of activities the US forces will be able to conduct. The force posture initiatives represent an important new element in our defence cooperation with the United States and reaffirms our commitment to that alliance.

The agreement with Japan for the transfer of defence equipment and technology will facilitate Australian access to Japan's world-renowned capability in this area. The agreement will allow Australia's Defence Science and Technology Organisation and Japan's Technical Research and Development Institute to work together more closely on areas of common interest and mutual benefit. The treaty is part of the broader move to deepen Australia-Japan defence cooperation in a range of areas, including in training and exercises, personnel exchanges, maritime security and peacekeeping.

The agreement with the US to share visa and immigration information is required to allow the automation of the existing immigration information sharing process. The process involves the exchange of fingerprints for checking against each country's respective biometric data holdings. The automation of the process is expected to increase the speed, efficiency and volume of that exchange. Currently, the US and Australia exchange up to 20,000 fingerprints a year. If there is a fingerprint match, then agreed biographic information, immigration history and travel information is exchanged. Such matches have uncovered identity and immigration fraud. When fully implemented, this automation system is expected to allow us to exchange in excess of one million fingerprints with the US per year for checking.

The committee supports the ratification of all of these treaties discussed in this report. On behalf the committee, I commend the report to the House.

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