Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I take the point Senator Macdonald made at the conclusion of his question. But, unfortunately, it is often through the most challenging circumstances—and, in this case, indeed, through tragic accident—that the strength of the alliance with the United States and our ability to work collaboratively is reinforced. Australia and the US are focused on working to ensure that our militaries are interoperable and able to work together seamlessly in circumstances such as these. Indeed, ironically, this was demonstrated most recently through Exercise Talisman Sabre, which concluded in late July. More than 33,000 United States and Australian personnel and number of our neighbouring nations took part in the largest joint exercise to test and evaluate our amphibious capabilities. So, whether it is in training or in peacetime operations or in operations in conflicts such as those we see currently in Afghanistan and in the campaign to defeat Daesh, Australia and the United States do have a proud history of confronting adversity together.