Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate records its deep sorrow at the death, on 8 July 2022, of Abe Shinzo, the longest-serving Prime Minister of Japan, places on record its acknowledgement of his role in the development of his nation and tenders its profound sympathy to his family and the people of Japan in their bereavement.

On the night of 9 July, landmarks in my home state of South Australia were lit in red and white, the colours of Japan. Adelaide Oval, the South Australian parliament and the Torrens footbridge, along with the Sydney Opera House, the MCG and the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, and many more around the country, were all lit in solemn tribute to one of our nation's truest friends. It was a sign of the esteem in which former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was held across Australia.

I believe I speak on behalf of all Australians in expressing shock and grief at his terrible loss. I express my deepest sympathies and those of the Australian people to Mrs Abe, Mr Abe's family and the people of Japan. I echo Prime Minister Albanese's reflection of the bleak paradox that someone of such courage and strength of character could be taken away with an act of such cowardice, and I affirm the Prime Minister's vow that this low act of violence must not be allowed to overshadow a life that was lived to such high purpose.

Mr Abe was the longest-serving Prime Minister in Japanese history, but his contribution far surpassed the time he served. He was a political leader of consequence who looked beyond election cycles and made a lasting difference. Transformative leaders are rare, but Mr Abe made Japan bigger in the world. He had a vision of a Japan that exercised a degree of influence in the world commensurate with its economic weight and cultural significance, and he helped Japan assume its proper place in the community of nations. Given our shared values and interests, this vision was also of great benefit to our country.

Through his signature 'Abenomics' agenda, Mr Abe sought to shape an enlightened activist role for government in stimulating economic growth. Tourism boomed, trade was liberalised and women were given greater incentives to enter into and stay in the workforce. Mr Abe also reformed Japan's security posture in ways that enabled Japan to play a greater role in upholding regional stability. While these measures did not pass without some controversy in Japan, they were grounded in his conviction that Japan should be able to exercise the same rights as all other countries, such as the UN Charter's right to collective self-defence. His security and defence reforms enabled greater engagement and cooperation between the ADF and the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Japan is now Australia's closest defence partner in Asia.

When he addressed the Australian parliament in 2014, he spoke of his ambition for the relationship between Australia and Japan and how our two countries could work together to uphold peace and the rule of law in our region and beyond. He understood our partnership had been founded on trade and investment, later complemented by our growing strategic and security cooperation, by growth in tourism and student exchanges, and by cooperation in the arts, culture, sport and research. It is a relationship between our two countries that is above politics, and I acknowledge the roles of both parties of government in fostering that relationship. The deep affinity between our peoples has been a constant, and I believe we all felt that affinity strongly in the presence of Mr Abe. His vision helped elevate our bilateral relationship to a special strategic partnership in 2014. He oversaw the signing of the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement the same year, and he gave impetus to negotiations towards our Reciprocal Access Agreement, signed in January of this year.

Shinzo Abe was also a global leader, and he will be remembered as one of this century's most eminent political figures. It was during his first term that he revealed himself as a regional visionary, sowing the seeds of what would later become the concept of the Indo-Pacific in his speech on the confluence of the two seas at the Indian parliament in 2007. Australia became the first country to formally adopt the Indo-Pacific as a regional frame of reference in the Gillard government's 2013 defence white paper. The concept came to define Japan's foreign policy under Mr Abe's second term, to shape the mission of the Quad and to frame the regional outlooks of the United States, ASEAN, European partners and others. The elevation of the Quad in recent years owes so much to his energy and his statesmanship, as does the conclusion of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Shinzo Abe was a leader in the G7, the G20 and the United Nations, championing a vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific and an international order governed by rules rather than by power alone.

Despite regretting how much he had left to accomplish, by the time he retired due to ill health in September 2020, Mr Abe had left a profound imprint on Japan and on the world. When he last visited the Australian embassy in Tokyo in April this year, Mr Abe was as energetic and determined as ever to strengthen cooperation between Australia and Japan in the region, to see the free world combat Russia's aggression in Ukraine and to foster global peace and prosperity. These common values help explain why Australians have united in solidarity with Japan to express our grief at Mr Abe's passing. Many have described him as one of Australia's closest friends on the world stage. He visited our country five times as Prime Minister.

Shinzo Abe was a statesman, a stabilising force in Japan, a giant on the world stage and a true friend to Australia. On behalf of the Australian government and the Australian people, I again convey our sincere condolences to Mr Abe's family and to all of the people of Japan for this most terrible loss. Australia has lost a true friend, and we mourn with you.

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the motion of Senator Wong and to associate the Liberal and National parties with the words and sentiments she expressed. Like all Australians, I was shocked and deeply saddened to hear of the shooting in Japan which took the life of Shinzo Abe. During the hours that followed that initial news that Shinzo Abe had been injured in a shooting, my hopes and prayers—and those of many Australians—were, sadly, not to be answered on this occasion. It was within just a few short hours that we heard the confirmation of our worst fears for this great leader and for our friends in Japan.

Shinzo Abe was truly a giant of democratic leadership in our time. He championed values that underpin peace, progress and opportunity. He demonstrated the value of economic liberalism. Shinzo Abe was the most transformational and consequential politician of Japan's postwar era. That he has had such an impact not only on his own country but also in his own region and globally is a testament to the man and his legacy—a legacy that will endure. For his life to end in a brutal act in a country that, in the modern era, is renowned for its peaceful democracy is an affront against so much that so many of us in Japan and in Australia hold dear. It was an affront especially to the values that Shinzo Abe espoused in thought and indeed throughout his life.

It is a sad reality that Shinzo Abe's death is yet another stark reminder, if indeed one was ever needed, that nothing can be taken for granted and that the fight to defend democratic values is one that never ends. That Shinzo Abe's life should end at the hands of a coward who fired what would be fatal shots at his back whilst he was participating in the democratic process he so strongly espoused, respected and loved makes the reality of this brutal act even harder to comprehend.

As Mr Dutton, the Leader of the Opposition, said in marking the tragic end of his life, Shinzo Abe was well known to Australians as a sincere, staunch and trustworthy friend. It was my pleasure to have personally met him on several occasions, engaged with and—to some degree as part of our government-to-government relations—worked with Shinzo Abe. I particularly recall having the honour of meeting him at the Darwin airport, on one of the five visits to Australia that Senator Wong referenced that he made during his time as the Japanese Prime Minister. Visiting Darwin, the scene of World War II bombings in Australia, was one of those integral steps that Shinzo Abe took as part of his efforts to reconcile Japan's difficult past. Shinzo Abe knew that, by reconciling with its past Japan would be better able to more strongly embrace its future. He was clear-eyed that the deeds of one generation should not consign future generations or Japan as a whole to being second-class or lesser global citizens.

Australia should be grateful that Shinzo Abe's work, including his redefining of Japan's constitutional restrictions, has enabled Japan to step up in a bilateral sense, in a regional sense and across the world. Whether it was in that engagement on the tarmac at Darwin airport or in bilateral meetings I was privileged to be part of in Australia, Japan or third nations, I always found Shinzo Abe to be a warm, engaging, thoughtful but purposeful interlocutor. He made all those in the room feel like he had time for them, and he built personal connections that strengthened his status as a statesman of influence right around the globe.

Even while speaking through an interpreter, Shinzo Abe was able to promote, influence and charm in the nicest and calmest of ways. I recall the first bilateral meeting between Shinzo Abe and then Prime Minister Morrison that occurred at a G20, where, again speaking through an interpreter, we realised part way through that in referencing the Prime Minister of the day he continually referenced 'ScoMo-san', picking up on the Australian approach for a little bit of personal engagement and informality.

There have been many tributes paid to Shinzo Abe in the days and weeks since that terrible moment on 8 July which will be etched in the collective memory of Japan forever. His achievements have, rightly, been well documented. As Prime Minister he travelled to more countries than any of his predecessors, expanding the reach of his diplomacy far beyond Japan's traditional partners. He secured the US-Japan alliance even in the face of intense pressure, playing a critical role as, dare I say it, a 'Trump whisperer' in some difficult times. He forged trade deals across the world, as part of his signature ongoing economic reform agenda of Abenomics, to lift Japan's economy out of two decades of stagnation and in doing so also strengthen international cooperation with so many partners.

Australia was in fact the first major developed economy with which Japan secured a free trade agreement through that era via the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement, signed between Prime Minister Abe and then Prime Minister Abbott in 2014. Alongside this, he drove, as Senator Wong acknowledged, the elevation of Australia's relationship with Japan to a 'special strategic relationship'—a phrase that, I understand, he reportedly coined himself. Later that year, he addressed the Australian parliament and said that, through the agreement, we had deepened our economic ties and would nurture our region and the world order to safeguard peace.

In addition to the special purpose agreement and free trade agreement, Shinzo Abe advanced the Australia-Japan relations via commencement of the reciprocal access agreement now in force, through strengthened defence and intelligence relationships, including trilateral cooperation between Australia and the United States. Crucially, Shinzo Abe, alongside former Prime Minister Turnbull, was instrumental in saving and securing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, not once but twice—first, following the withdrawal of the United States and then again following the near withdrawal of Canada—ultimately seeing the conclusion and entry into force of the comprehensive and progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership that has provided one of the two great regional trade blocs now in operation through the Indo-Pacific.

Shinzo Abe knew that both our nations had the strongest possible interest in a strong and robust rules-based international order. He was a crucial architect of the Quad, a long-held ambition—and one which required great persistence—to bring Japan, United States, India and Australia together in a strategic security dialogue from which Australia has benefited greatly. I would like to think that, in those final months of his life—as they turned out to be—he would have taken great pride in seeing the first face-to-face leaders meeting take place of the Quad.

Even after standing down as Prime Minister in 2020 as a consequence of the return of a health condition, Shinzo Abe remained in service to the people of Japan in the Diet and active in the democratic process, his reputation and standing growing both in Japan and globally following his retirement as Prime Minister. That his life came to an abrupt end as he was actively participating in the democratic process makes his passing so much harder to bear for the Japanese people; for Australia, which has lost a true friend; and for the world, which has lost one of the great leaders of recent decades.

On behalf of the coalition parties in the Senate, I send our condolences to Shinzo Abe's family—particularly his wife, Akie—and to the people of Japan. We share your shock, your dismay and your grief. We also share your pride in the life and achievements of one of Japan's greatest leaders and give thanks for his special connection to Australia. We reaffirm our ongoing commitment to the democratic processes to which Shinzo Abe's life and death were dedicated, and to the relations between our nations and our great connection and cooperative work across our region in the world, which we can build upon as part of his legacy. I thank the Senate.

Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Australian Greens, I offer my condolences to Shinzo Abe's family and friends, and the people of Japan, following his unexpected and tragic death. Mr Abe served his country over many years, including two stints as Prime Minister, weathering ill health as he did so. Like the rest of the world, we felt the shock of his assassination. Mr Abe's death while campaigning was an assault on Japanese democracy, perhaps more tragic because death by gun violence is so rare in Japan.

Those in this chamber would know that the Greens were quite regularly at odds with Mr Abe and the Japanese government over whaling. Senator Whish-Wilson even managed to personally hand him a letter from Sea Shepherd during his visit to Australia in 2014. Senator Whish-Wilson describes breaking diplomatic protocols in approaching Mr Abe, which he nonetheless graciously and respectfully received. Of course there were other issues, too, where we didn't see eye to eye, but none of this diminishes the shock and the pain upon hearing of his assassination. Democracy relies on elected representatives and those campaigning being available to the people. Events like this don't just hurt those close to the victim; they threaten democracy itself.

I can only imagine the sadness that his death has caused his loved ones and many in his country, and I hope that the condolences of the Australian parliament, supported by the Greens, offer some small comfort in these sad times.

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator McKenzie.

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Madam President, and congratulations.

On behalf of the Nationals, I would like to contribute to this condolence motion and associate our party particularly with the comments by the Leader of the Government in the Senate and the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. Shinzo Abe was a man who fought for a safer, more secure region in the world—a great champion of democracy, of freedom and of growing friendship between Australia and Japan. It was a great honour for all of us to be invited to the Japanese embassy over recent weeks, since his shocking assassination, to sign a condolence book, which I hope many of us took advantage of, given the deep and abiding friendship between our two countries.

The chronology of his life has been delivered already, but, for the Nationals, there is a deep and abiding relationship with the people of Japan that stretches more than six decades. The assassination of former Prime Minister Abe in Nara earlier this month was therefore a terrible shock, but, afterwards, a cause for some reflection on this man's remarkable achievements as a statesman and a friend to Australia. I would like to recount the events surrounding the biggest political risk to the former Country Party leader John McEwen's career in establishing a trade deal between Australia and its former enemy Japan in 1957. The co-signatory to that deal was Prime Minister Kishi, grandfather of the late Prime Minister Abe.

With the wartime memories of the prisoner-of-war camps in Changi and the Burma railway still raw and real in the minds of many Australians, McEwen's diplomacy helped seal a deal that contributed to postwar prosperity for our two countries that has largely continued, albeit with some notable disruptions, to the present day. But it could have been disastrous, and the Australian Prime Minister of the day was very clear with the National Party leader at that time, that any downside to the deal was going to land at McEwen's feet. The wonderful historic symmetry of that deal was completed 57 years later when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe himself signed an economic partnership agreement with another Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott.

When Shinzo Abe's time arrived—his father was also Japan's foreign minister—he was prepared to embark on his own far-reaching ambitions, domestically but also for the entire Indo-Pacific region as well. Some of his domestic efforts were successful, others not so much: 'Abeconomic' strategy to beat deflation and revive economic growth, along with introducing structural reform to cope with a fast-ageing, shrinking population. Abe tried to boost the country's dwindling birth rate by making workplaces more family friendly.

But, on the international stage, the former Japanese Prime Minister agreed to another audacious act of international diplomacy, which was to commit his country to a submarine partnership with Australia—this, from a former enemy country which had sent submarines into the heart of Sydney Harbour during World War II. As we now know, Abbott and Abe's submarine partnership did not eventuate, and yet another far more important legacy was secured by the late Japanese Prime Minister. Shinzo Abe was both the architect and the father of the Quad. Australia, together with India and the US, are allies in the Quad alliance, alongside Japan, a grouping that will help balance power-sharing in our region over coming decades.

Much has been said, and much will be said, about the achievements of Shinzo Abe. His lifetime of service showed each of us that our times as politicians are not merely for the present, or the day-to-day conflicts, but that we can all be audacious and aim to leave a legacy for our nation's future. Our sympathies to his family and the people of Japan. We hope we all learn from his leadership for a safer, more peaceful and prosperous world. Sometimes that means doing very brave things.

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Payne.

Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Madam President, and congratulations on your elevation to the role of President.

It is important, and a strong mark of respect, that this parliament records our sincere and shared grief at the shocking death by assassination of a faithful friend of Australia—a great leader, the former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe. I also offer my sympathies to his family, to his dear wife and to all of the people of Japan.

None in Japan have so profoundly deepened the Australia-Japan relationship than Mr Abe. Ours is a relationship informed by a complex shared history, but Mr Abe did not allow those historic enmities to undermine progress between our nations. Indeed, as the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Senator Birmingham, said, Mr Abe was the first Japanese leader to visit Darwin. Instead, he understood perfectly that our unique past was, in fact, the strongest of foundations from which to forge closer ties.

Like other colleagues in this place have already mentioned, I vividly recall Mr Abe's address to a joint sitting of our parliament in July 2014. On the cusp of signing the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement with then Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Mr Abe spoke of the example set down by his grandfather some 57 years prior, recalling Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi and Prime Minister Robert Menzies signing the commerce agreement, amongst the first of its kind in the postwar decades. Mr Abe didn't waste a moment. He used that same speech welcoming the JAEPA to outline a raft of additional economic agreements he wanted to pursue: the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and pursue it he did; the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and he did; and the free trade agreement, which he also did. These agreements would be the fruit, in the words of Mr Abe, of a relationship 'with no limits'. This encapsulated the essential character of Shinzo Abe—a boundless energy for tackling challenges and opportunities alike; a clear vision for Japan, our region and the world; and a commanding understanding of history and how it shapes our lives. The people of Australia remain the thankful beneficiaries of Mr Abe's efforts towards trade liberalisation.

In my own time as minister, I borne close witness to the careful work of Mr Abe, including in fostering vital, closer bilateral defence cooperation with Australia. In our governments, he found a strong and willing partner. The Australia-Japan Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement, the ACSA, signed in Sydney in early 2017 by Mr Abe and then Prime Minister Turnbull, clearly demonstrated the importance that Mr Abe placed on our special strategic partnership. Later that year, when I visited Tokyo for our annual two-plus-two talks, meeting with Prime Minister Abe to discuss these initiatives in the defence cooperation environment, I was struck then, and I said then, that I was left in no doubt as to Mr Abe's strong personal support for our shared mission of creating a safer, more secure environment for our nations. And, as Senator Birmingham has recorded, it was always a great pleasure and honour to meet Prime Minister Abe.

Most recently, due in very large part to the leadership and work of Shinzo Abe, in January, now Japanese Prime Minister Kishida and then Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison signed the vital Reciprocal Access Agreement, which, most importantly, enables the ADF and the JSDF to work more closely, more cooperatively, more collaboratively on the great security challenges of our region and the globe.

Underpinning our deepening security and defence relationship over the years and continuing now is Japan's Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy, to which Senator Wong alluded, which was strongly, proudly championed by Mr Abe. This doctrine is the central organising principle for Japan's engagement in our region, and it's provided many nations with the vocabulary, if you like, required to navigate this time of strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific. It is one of the most significant contributions made by Mr Abe not just to the safety of our region but to the world.

Mr Abe matched words with deeds. The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, which Mr Abe played such a substantive role in helping to form, is a key forum through which the four like-minded democracies of Australia, the United States, Japan and India are advancing our shared vision for a free, open, inclusive Indo-Pacific region. When the first in-person meeting of the Quad foreign ministers took place in New York in September 2019, this was a significant event. I took my seat with then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; Indian Minister for External Affairs, Dr Jaishankar; and my friend Toshi Motegi, Japanese foreign minister.

This was indeed an historic moment on many levels. In very considerable part, the commitment of Shinzo Abe and his government, including of foreign minister Motegi, made this possible. For the Quad to have grown to leaders meetings, virtual and in person, is an enormous contribution in strategic and security terms to our region and to the globe, including through the Quad's COVID-19 support and in addressing the actions of authoritarian states that threaten that security and stability. In my view, thanks also to Shinzo Abe and subsequently his successors, Prime Minister Suga and now Prime Minister Kishida, Japan continues to make that strong and growing contribution in global security and strategic terms.

Shinzo Abe reimagined the modern-day JSDF and, although he did not achieve all of his goals in that respect, the enormous difference that he made will be writ large in the pages of history. Most recently, it's notable that NATO's invitation to countries of our region—Australia, New Zealand, the ROK and Japan—to first join the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels in April, which I attended, to add our voice and support to the opposition to Russia's illegal, unlawful invasion of Ukraine was the first such invitation and, indeed, the first time the Japanese foreign minister and leaders subsequently had sat around the NATO table since its formation in April of 1949. I was pleased to sit around that table with foreign minister Yoshi Hayashi.

Shinzo Abe's projection of Japan in the regional and global security conversation in the military space was profound and meaningful. Given the issues that face us now as a world and as a region, it was also essential. Under his leadership, Japan was a faithful actor in many international fora, as both Senator Wong and Senator Birmingham have noted. Committed to collective engagement and action, he was a decisive and consequential figure in the G7, in the G20, with ASEAN and in the United Nations, and was a leading voice for adherence to international rules and norms, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. I want to acknowledge today my many Japanese colleagues with whom I worked as minister and mark the appalling loss they have experienced in the last few weeks. I particularly acknowledge my good friends Taro Kono, Toshimitsu Motegi and Yoshimasa Hayashi, all foreign ministers of Japan—and some also defence ministers of Japan—with whom I served. To Ambassador Yamagami and his team here in Canberra: my sincere condolences.

The assassination of Shinzo Abe while giving a campaign speech in pursuit of the democratic process in the city of Nara was nothing less than a wanton assault on democracy. I think most of us will never forget where we were when we heard that Shinzo Abe had been shot. The free exchange of ideas in the democratic process was tarnished badly that day, not just in Japan but for liberal democracies everywhere. That cowardly, callous, criminal act is a brutal reminder of the absolute necessity to ceaselessly safeguard democracy, safeguard freedom, safeguard the rule of law and human rights—values which Shinzo Abe championed relentlessly and which in Mr Abe's memory we must work even harder to nurture and protect.

Rest in peace, Shinzo Abe, a great friend, a great leader.

Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam President, on my first contribution in this, the 47th Parliament of Australia, I acknowledge your significant role as the President and wish you every wish in the international relations that you will be undertaking for our great nation. I want to congratulate the Deputy President and all those who have assumed leadership roles in the course of their service of the Australian people through the 47th Parliament. I also acknowledge the incredible privilege we have as parliamentarians in this fine democracy to have been elected to the Senate to do the kind of work that Shinzo Abe gave his life to. It is no small thing for us to be here, and his service and his final demise are an instruction in not only how fragile life is but also how democracy can be severely attacked and assaulted.

I speak today on the condolence motion for the esteemed former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe. Abe was a towering leader in Japan, a political titan who was called 'the shadow shogun' by commentators both during his record tenure as Prime Minister and afterwards. His legacy is the shape of modern Japan and its direction for the next few decades. He was both a powerful and dedicated servant of democracy and an amazing leader of a country.

Unlike those who have contributed to the debate so far, who had much more personal experience of interaction with this fine man, I saw him only through his address here to the parliament, and the three words that came to mind when I thought of his contribution that day were that he was a man of incredible warmth, intelligence and humour. To that Senator Birmingham today added the word 'purposeful', and it was one that resonated with me when you made that contribution, Senator Birmingham. Prime Minister Albanese described the courage and strength of character to which Senator Wong referred in her contribution, and her description of him as a regional visionary is something that we should definitely dwell on—a leader in the Indo-Pacific and responsible for the elevation of the Quad. Senator Payne I think aptly described the loss as appalling.

The baffling and unprecedented nature of this assassination has led to a deep confusion and anguish amongst the Japanese and among global admirers. As US President Joe Biden remarked on this murder, it will have a profound impact on the psyche of the Japanese people, I believe, for a generation. This killing comes at a worrying time. We are seeing democracy under threat across the world from the growing authoritarianism of leaders like Viktor Orban, the further descent of Russia under the leadership of Vladimir Putin along totalitarian paths and the shattering of the United States' democratic consensus by Donald Trump that became manifest in the events of 6 January in the physical assault on the Capitol.

Shinzo Abe positioned Japan as a lynchpin of the democratic global world order and was steadfast in his support for other democracies in the face of that growing tide of opposition. He became over his tenure a key advocate and thought leader of a democratic internationalism adapted for the 21st century, and his murder is an untimely blow against it. His administration was a bulwark against North Korean aggression and gave assistance to those fighting the rise of ISIS. Japan under his stewardship became increasingly an active multilateral partner in the Indo-Pacific, knitting together nearly a dozen nations with what eventually became known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

His influence was still powerful even following his departure from the premiership in 2020. Experts credit his still massive influence in the government, evident in the decision by Japan to declare it would phase out Russian coal and oil imports in the face of its illegal aggression in the Ukraine.

Mr Abe's vision was to shape Japan into a nation that could address the future. His first speech as president boldly stated his ambitions for his country:

… my mission is none other than to draw a new vision of a nation which can withstand the raging waves for the next 50 to 100 years …

All politicians might strive to declare and deliver on such a vision.

Mr Abe's legacy is a revitalised democratic universal order featuring a more proactive and outward-looking Japan at its centre, a nation better able to withstand the raging waves of a tumultuous century. I am sure all of Australia and this house stand with me in thanking Mr Abe for his myriad contributions upon the world and domestic stage. I pass my deepest condolences to the family of Mr Abe and my best wishes to the government and the people of Japan as they navigate the aftermath of this tragic and senseless act.

David Van (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to pay tribute to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose time amongst us was tragically cut short by such a heinous crime. Shinzo Abe was not only Japan's longest serving postwar prime minister; he was also the most consequential leader Japan had had in decades, whose statecraft and wisdom transcended the islands of Japan to become a global leader.

Abe-san grew from simply being Japan's leader to being a global leader—a statesman of such standing that one does not come by very often. He saw the threats to Japan and the free world as they are, not what people wish they would be. With his citizens' security and welfare in mind, he acted boldly and with confidence.

During his tenure as Japan's longest serving prime minister, Abe-san revolutionised his nation's foreign policy by centralising the national defence system, reinterpreting the constitution to make collective defence possible and adopting an activist role in world affairs. Moreover, he devised a grand strategy for managing China's rising economic and military power more deliberately and successfully than any other world leader.

One of his crowning achievements, as has been mentioned, is how he breathed life back into the Quad and drove it to be one of the strongest forces for stability in the Indo-Pacific. He did champion the term 'a free and open Indo-Pacific', something important to all Australians and peace-loving people in the region. The strength of the Quad, of integrated deterrence, of having friends is one of the key strengths Australia has on the world stage. This was amplified by our joining the Quad that Abe-san so ably helped build.

The legacy left by such a giant of global politics cannot be summarised in the few words I have here. However, we are forever grateful for his contributions to developing the Quad, a stronger Japan and a more stable Pacific. We are indebted to him for his sacrifice, his service and his devotion to promoting democratic values across the globe. At a time of increased geopolitical upheaval, the world needs more leaders with the courage and conviction that Shinzo Abe possessed, not less.

Abe-san's passing will be deeply mourned around the world. While Japan has lost a great leader and Australia has lost a true friend, his wisdom and global leadership will be sorely missed. I pass on my condolences to the government and people of Japan and especially to His Excellency the Ambassador of Japan to Australia, Shingo Yamagami.

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As Senator Wong said in her contribution on this condolence motion, Mr Abe's untimely death created deep shock right around Australia. It was one of those events I think that all Australians' attention was grabbed by. That was of course partly due to the shocking nature of Mr Abe's death—something that should never happen in any society. It was partly due to Mr Abe's genuine stature as a real national leader, and I think it was also partly due to the deep, long-term, sustained relationship between our two countries. That's what I want to focus my brief remarks on in this condolence motion, especially in relation to the portfolio I have the great privilege now of representing—the portfolio of agriculture.

Australia's agriculture relationship with Japan is one of our strongest and most highly developed in the Indo-Pacific region. Our trade with Japan in agriculture is extremely strong. In fact, Japan is our biggest market for beef and cheese, and our farmers are strongly committed to supplying to Japan and want to maintain and increase market share. We have deep and longstanding ties in agriculture. Japan is one of Australia's largest and most valued trading partners, as it has been for more than five decades. This relationship has underpinned the broader relationship between our two countries, as is evident in trade more generally, in national security and in people-to-people links. The reason that I mention that in this condolence motion is Prime Minister Abe's integral role in forging and strengthening those links.

Prime Minister Abe, as has been noted by a number of speakers, was a true friend to Australia. Under his prime ministership, our bilateral relationship was upgraded to a special strategic partnership in 2014. By 2015, we had signed the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement, or JAEPA, which underpins our economic relationship and supports our broader cooperation on economic security and the prosperity of the Indo-Pacific.

Prime Minister Abe was a reformer, and he had a vision for the Japanese economy. As has been noted, he was known for his signature 'Abenomics' policy, which included agricultural reforms in which his government made small but important reforms to the Japanese agriculture sector, focusing on competitiveness and exports.

We share similar goals to Japan in growing our agriculture industries. Japan is looking to grow agriculture exports in the same way that our agriculture industry wants to expand its farm-gate returns. Again, Mr Abe can take credit for the fact that, bilaterally, we continue to increase our cooperation on food value chains and to collaborate with Japan on activities that strengthen global agriculture supply chains. Multilaterally, Japan has been a like-minded partner in many forums, including the G20, APEC and the UN, as well as a leading proponent of trade agreements, including the CPTPP. Again, Mr Abe can take personal credit for much of that.

The other reason I wanted to speak in this motion is that, apart from my role as the new agriculture minister for our country, I wanted to speak on a personal level as someone who's had a long-term interest in and friendship with Japan. I studied Japanese at school a very long time ago, or, should I say [Japanese language not transcribed]. There's not much more to my Japanese knowledge that I've recalled from my school days. But I was reflecting on this in preparing these notes, and I remembered that the reason that, more than any, I studied Japanese, of all the languages that were on offer at my school, was that, at that point in time, the mid-1980s, when I was starting high school, Australia was really coming to understand exactly how important Japan was to our future, and there was a really big push for students in high schools to study Japanese. It was something that I really enjoyed. I might say, it was one of my better subjects at school, because I did really enjoy it. It really gave me a deep interest in Japan, its history, its culture and its relationship to our own country.

I also had the privilege of visiting Japan as part of a delegation of federal and state aspiring politicians, shortly before I started in this place. I was accompanied on that delegation by Senators Dean Smith and Bridget McKenzie, which is probably the reason that, despite our political differences and our tendency to trade blows, we're actually pretty good mates. I put it down to that delegation that we undertook to Japan along with a number of other MPs. That visit confirmed to me, through the meetings that we had with government industry and other officials in Japan, the enduring strength of our two countries' relationship.

Mr Abe's untimely death is an extremely sad blow to the Japanese people. We grieve with them, and I sincerely pass on my condolences to Mr Abe's family, his friends and the Japanese people at large. In closing, I might just say, kono tabi wa okuyami moshi agemasu.

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to associate my comments with those of Senator Watt and indicate my sadness in former Prime Minister Abe's very untimely death. But I would like to acknowledge and welcome the presence in the chamber of the Ambassador and Mrs Yamagami, and, on behalf of the Australian Senate, I extend our sincerest condolences to you, as the representative to Australia of the government and the people of Japan.

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask senators to join in a moment of silence to signify assent to the motion.

Honourable senators having stood in their places—

Thank you. The motion is carried.