John McVeigh (Groom, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Will the minister update the House on the Australia-United States foreign affairs and defence ministers meeting next week?

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Groom for his question and his interest in this very important meeting. Next week the defence minister, Senator Marise Payne, and I will host, in Sydney, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and US Secretary of Defense General Jim Mattis, for the annual Australia-US Ministerial Consultations known as AUSMIN. AUSMIN has been the principal forum for our bilateral consultations for about the past 30 years, and this ministerial meeting will be the first formal ministerial meeting with the new Trump administration. It follows on from the very successful visit to Australia by Vice President Pence and the Prime Minister's meeting with President Trump in New York. Indeed, there have been 13 ministerial visits to the United States since the inauguration—all high-level, all targeted to matters that will benefit the Australian people.

AUSMIN builds on the very strong foundation of this longstanding bilateral relationship, built up over 100 years and formalised in 1951 with the signing of the ANZUS Treaty by my distinguished predecessor foreign minister Percy Spender and US Secretary of State Dean Acheson. Defence Minister Payne and I will discuss with our US counterparts a wide range of matters of mutual interest and concern, particularly security issues involving North Korea; our cooperation in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria; how we work together on countering terrorism and on defeating ISIS; and our intelligence sharing for the benefit of our citizens and our region.

Australia and the United States are like-minded in our commitment to defend the international rules based order. We work together exceedingly well and very closely in regional forums, including APEC, and I am delighted to hear that President Trump will be at the East Asia Summit in Manila in November. Few countries can claim to be as close as Australia and the United States. Few countries are more important to Australia than the United States, our strongest and closes strategic and defence partner and the source of the greatest amount of foreign direct investment. Indeed, the United States is our second-largest trading partner. Together we work closely for the peace, prosperity and stability of our region, and AUSMIN provides a very valuable opportunity for the defence minister, the foreign minister and the United States defence minister to share perspectives, to share insights, not only for the benefit of the Australian people and the citizens of the United States but for our region and globally.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.