In his first trip to Australia as Secretary of State for
Defence, Mr Williamson met his counterpart, Minister for
Defence, Marise Payne, in Sydney. They examined how both
allies can continue to adapt in the face of cyber-attacks
and nuclear threats from North Korea and how best to
counter global terrorism.
Defence Secretary said:
Britain and Australia both face intensifying, complex and
evolving threats to our way of life. That is why it is so
important our two countries stand side-by-side to stay
ahead of those who want to harm us.
Two Royal Navy warships, HMS Sutherland and HMS Argyll,
are heading to the region to continue the pressure
campaign on North Korea, demonstrating Britain’s role on
the international stage.
We have a long and historic relationship with Australia
but today we are modern, equal, and global powers with
shared values and a commitment to make the world a safer
place.
As part of this modern partnership the UK and Australia:
-
Have more than one hundred people from all three
services on exchange programmes between our nations,
working together and learning from each other;
-
Are part of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing
organisation and work together on tackling shared
threats;
-
Hold annual meetings of foreign and defence ministers
(AUKMIN) to coordinate responses to shared threats,
such as Daesh;
-
Work together on the mission to establish stability in
Syria and Afghanistan, to which Australia is the
largest non-NATO contributor;
-
Combine on humanitarian missions, such as: the two
Malaysian airline incidents, Ebola in Sierra Leone and
disaster relief in Vanuatu;
-
Police the seas as part of the Combined Maritime
Forces, to provide security and stability on the seas,
including tackling drug and weapon smugglers;
-
Work together on science and technology, and defence
equipment;
-
Additionally, Royal Navy ship HMS Sutherland will visit
Australia in February and March, allowing further
opportunities for the two naval forces to collaborate.
The UK Defence Secretary also met Minister for Defence
Industry, Christopher Pyne, in Canberra today (Monday 12
Feb) to discuss exciting new defence export opportunities
as Britain prepares to leave the European Union.
The Type 26 Global Combat Ship is a key example of this and
has been shortlisted for Australia’s Future Frigate
Programme. The cutting-edge warship would not only boost
the partnership between the two countries, but would
bolster Australia ballistic missile defences and give them
an unrivalled anti-submarine warfare capability to face
growing underwater threats.
Mr Williamson went on to meet Minister for Veterans’
Affairs and Defence Personnel, Michael McCormack, to talk
about issues impacting and sharing research on Veterans and
the successes of the British Armed Forces Covenant.
Australian forces recently solved a 103-year-old mystery
when they discovered His Majesty’s Australian Submarine
AE1, the first Allied submarine lost in World War One, off
the coast of Papua New Guinea.
