On August 8, 2024 in Vancouver, B.C., the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence of Canada, and the Honourable Richard Marles, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence of Australia, released a joint statement following their bilateral meeting.
Statement
Canada and Australia enjoy a partnership based on shared history, values and friendship. Facing an increasingly complicated strategic environment, we commit to strengthen our defence relationship and reinforce our collective ability to respond to global challenges.
- We commit to enhancing the interoperability of our armed forces. We will explore ways to reduce barriers to collaboration, including through arrangements to facilitate value-added defence and industrial activities and to support operational cooperation. We will reinforce collaboration in space, cyber, research and development, advanced capabilities, and science and technology. We remain committed to the Five Eyes partnership.
Increased Military Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific
As Indo-Pacific nations, we support a region that is peaceful, stable, prosperous, which includes respect for sovereignty and adherence to international law. We underscored the need for all countries to manage strategic competition responsibly and work to reduce the risks of conflict. We commit to deepen our operational cooperation, including by exploring opportunities to conduct joint sails, cooperative deployments, and multilateral exercises and training.
Australia welcomes Canada’s increased defence presence throughout the Indo-Pacific region, as outlined in Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy. Since the release of this strategy, Canada has increased its annual naval deployments and defence engagement throughout the region, creating additional opportunities for joint training in all domains. Canada welcomes the focus on the Indo-Pacific in Australia’s National Defence Strategy.
- We continue to enhance our interoperability through participation in multilateral exercises, including in the South China Sea. Australia welcomes the involvement of His Majesty’s Canadian Ship Vancouver in Exercise KAKADU next month, and plans for a follow-on ship re-armament activity, which will demonstrate the ability to provide logistics support to regional operations. Australia welcomes Canada’s participation in Exercise TALISMAN SABRE in 2025 and similar future exercises.
Global Security
As the strategic environments of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific deteriorate we recognize developments in one region directly impact security in the other. We value Australia’s contribution to NATO as an Enhanced Opportunities Partner, which supports an integrated response to global challenges. We welcome the flagship projects NATO launched with its Indo-Pacific partners during the NATO Summit in July 2024, which address shared challenges such as cyber defence, hybrid threats, and resilience.
We reiterate our support for a sovereign and independent Ukraine, and our unequivocal condemnation of Russia’s illegal, unjustified, and full-scale invasion. We remain committed to supporting Ukraine to end the war on its own terms. We remain gravely concerned over the increased military cooperation between Russia and North Korea and call on all those with influence on Russia, particularly China, to exert it now to end the war.
Canada and Australia are concerned by China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea that are inconsistent with international law. We also emphasize the importance of all states’ ability to exercise rights and freedoms, including freedom of navigation and overflight, in a manner that is consistent with international law as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). We reiterate our strong opposition to destabilizing or coercive actions in the South China Sea, including dangerous maneuvers and the militarization of disputed features. We express grave concern over China’s dangerous actions against Philippine vessels near Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea. These actions jeopardize regional peace, stability, and prosperity. We reaffirmed the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award as final and binding on the parties and noted all states have a responsibility to adhere to international law. We are encouraged by the Philippine’s and China’s diplomatic engagement and commitment to de-escalate tensions.
We reaffirm the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and our opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo. We call for the peaceful resolution of differences through dialogue without the threat or use of force or coercion.
We recognize the importance of the United Nations Command in securing lasting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. We condemn North Korea’s destabilizing launches using ballistic missile technology and its pursuit of nuclear weapons in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions. We are concerned by North Korea’s malicious cyber activity. We support international efforts to monitor North Korea’s sanctions evasion activities.
- We reaffirm our call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the protection of civilians, the release of all hostages, and a sustained increase in the flow of assistance to address the catastrophic humanitarian situation. We reiterate our call on all parties to the conflict to agree to a comprehensive ceasefire deal. We are gravely concerned about the recent escalation of rhetoric and attacks across the Israel-Lebanon border as well as the prospect of further escalation which could destabilize the entire region. We support all diplomatic efforts to calm tensions and continue to urge de-escalation and restraint.
Common Platforms and Capability Development
Australia and Canada are making significant investments to bolster our defence capabilities in our national defence strategies. We will explore opportunities for mutual learning and training to increase the interoperability and skillset of military members on shared platforms, such as the F-35 fighter aircraft, the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, and our new warship classes based on the Type 26 frigate design of BAE Systems.
We recognize operational effectiveness is underpinned by the strength of our cooperation in science, technology, and capability development. We are prioritizing overcoming challenges to the research, development, procurement, and fielding of advanced military capabilities to maintain our technological edge and support regional stability and security. We look forward to further collaboration in that regard, and recognize Canada’s interest in collaborating on advanced capability projects under AUKUS Pillar II.
- We will continue addressing challenges collaboratively through the combination of our innovation ecosystems. This will help to maintain our collective technological lead in cyber, autonomous systems, quantum technologies, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, space, defence against hypersonic and advanced cruise missiles, and undersea warfare.
Cyber and Space
We recognize malicious cyber threats and activities have increased in sophistication and scale. We reaffirm efforts to bolster our operational collaboration to address emerging cyber threats through the Five Eyes partnership, and we commit to deepening our cyber cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners.
As members of the Combined Space Operations Initiative and Operation Olympic Defender, we remain committed to a secure and stable space domain. We will continue to improve the coordination of space operations and interoperability of space capabilities, assure access to space, and promote the responsible, lawful, and sustainable use of the space domain.