LIVE: US Defense Secretary, Japanese Counterpart, and Australian Deputy PM Hold Press Conference

To Darwin today is the first time that we've had a Japanese Defence Minister come to Darwin and there is a huge significance in that. And befitting the significance of this meeting and the visits of both Secretary Austin and Minister Nakatani to Australia, the outcomes of today's trilateral meeting have been very profound. Today we are announcing that there will be regular deployments of Japan's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade to Australia and that will have a particular focus on cooperating with the Australian Defence Force and the United States Marines when they are here as part of the marine rotation. This is going to build interoperability between our two countries will be collaborating with India and India, all of us, are part of this announcement, obviously, in increased maritime domain awareness in the oceans around our respective countries, which is fundamentally important to the national security of each of our four nations. And that the four of us will now work much more closely together in respect of those activities and security of each of our four nations. And that the four of us will now work much more closely together in respect of those activities and significant list of outcomes which has been provided to you. Finally, the three countries that I want to make amongst a very significant list of outcomes which has been provided to you, is that our three countries are looking at every opportunity that we find to participate in each other's exercises within the region. And there would be more than a dozen exercises where there is opportunities for us to work more closely together and we are taking those opportunities. But just one of them, next year, is Exercise Cookbook, which is a bilateral exercise and it is an example of how our three countries are working together in that instance and it is an example of how our three countries are working together in that instance. That exercise is really important to us in Guinea, hopefully you can still see us, but that example of how that exercise is really important for public health, but it's the way in which our three countries are working together to provide security amongst ourselves, but to provide for the collective security of the region in which we all live, and to provide an assertion of the global Lloyd Austin is the person with whom I have met the most, had the closest of relationships, but I'm really aware, I'd be one of 20, 30 defence ministers around the world who would say the same thing, and that speaks volumes about the effort that Lloyd Austin has put in over the now near four years that he has served as the United States Secretary of Defence. Lloyd has been a champion for the global rules based order, and in that he has been a champion for peace around the world, he has been a close friend of Australia and I know of Japan as well, a person who has been deeply active in our region, I think this is his 12th visit to the region, but I know as we were talking last night that his most recent meeting where both Gann and Lloyd met with each other was in Naples I think, as part of the G7 Defence Ministers meeting, Lloyd's been committed to the Indo-Pacific, he's been committed to Eastern Europe, he has played the role that you would expect of a Secretary of Defence of America as a global power, and Lloyd we really wish you the best of the future, thank you for your friendship, but thank you for the steadfast way in which you have supported the bilateral relationship between Australia and the United States, but also the security of the region in which we all live, but the security of the world, we will be staying in touch but we will miss you deeply. Deputy Prime Minister Morales, Richard, it's great to see you again and thanks for those generous comments, I guess if I were truly a wise man I would stop here, but I really appreciate it, and thanks for welcoming us to Darwin. Minister Dakotani, it's a pleasure to see you again as well, you know this is the fourth time that I've participated in this trilateral format as Secretary of Defence, and over the past four years our three democracies have accomplished a lot together. We've announced trilateral cooperation on F-35s, we're working to integrate Japan into the US-Australia Force Posture Cooperation in Australia, and Japan and Australia have exercised their reciprocal access agreement through deployments to each other's countries. Today more than ever we're taking concrete actions that will deepen our trilateral cooperation, and the three of us are here to see the results firsthand. Darwin is a focal point for our expanding trilateral relationship, and our bond is delivering real security, deterrence and interoperability. Today we discuss the next steps to expand our exercises and training, and Japan's commitment to annual trilateral amphibious training in the Indo-Pacific demonstrates our momentum, including with the Marine Rotational Force Darwin here in Northern Australia. We're also elevating key bilateral exercises into trilateral exercises, and Australia will now participate in ground force exercises Yamasakura and Orient Shield, along with joint exercises such as Keen Edge and Keen Sword. Starting in 2025, we'll increase the complexity of our trilateral exercises, including Southern Jackaroo and Talisman Sabre. Looking further out, Talisman Sabre 2027 will include an air and missile defense live fire event. Taken together, this is major progress, and it will help ensure a more stable and prosperous region. Beyond these exercise milestones, today we welcome Japan's increased participation in US-Australia Force Posture activities. Through this work, we're eager to deepen Japan's cooperation with the Marine Rotational Force Darwin, and we'll continue to grow our trilateral intelligence sharing and to increase our surveillance and reconnaissance activities. Today I'm also pleased to support Australia's increased participation in the US-Japan Bilateral Information Analysis Cell. The intelligence capabilities and professionalism of Australia's forces will be a force multiplier, and that will advance our goals for a secure and peaceful Indo-Pacific. And finally, we're excited to build advanced capabilities with Japan and Australia. We're moving forward with our trilateral research, development, test, and evaluation projects arrangement, focusing on composite aerospace materials and autonomous systems. In the same vein, we're deepening our discussions on cooperative combat aircraft and autonomy, and we're also discussing opportunities to boost cooperation with Japan on AUKUS Killer 2 projects. We're committed to working together in these areas. Deputy Prime Minister Morales and Minister Nakatani, thanks for your leadership and your commitment to security in the Indo-Pacific. I am absolutely proud of all that we've accomplished together, and together we're continuing to build on the progress our three countries have achieved over the past four years. And I look forward to continuing to grow our partnership and to endure well into the future. And thanks very much, and Minister Nakatani, over to you. Japan and the United States have a strong sense of cooperation, and it is important to strengthen the co-operative capabilities of the Self-Defense Forces, the US, and the Australian Army, and to ensure that we can work together effectively in all situations, from health to emergency situations. From this point of view, I am confident that Japan and the United States will continue to work closely together. But we will do our best. So we're starting with Matthew Knott of The Nine Papers. To Secretary Austin and Minister Miles, given the very well-documented problems with the US submarine production lines, how worried should Australians be that they won't be able to receive Virginia-class submarines from the United States? And should Australia, as we're looking ahead to a new administration, have to be prepared to pay more than what we've already committed to, to boost the production lines there? You know, is AUKUS so embedded that it will survive a change of administration? I'll go first, Richard. I'm confident that we're going to be able to provide the capabilities that we set out to provide. Now, we recognize that there are challenges in the industrial base, and we're doing things to address those challenges. We're investing more so that we can speed up the production to meet our objectives going forward. And I've met with the leadership of the companies that are producing submarines, and I'm encouraged by what they're doing and their focus to get this done. And they will get it done. So from a production standpoint, we're going to continue to do the right things, to do the things that are necessary to ensure that we can meet our objectives. And I would point out that we've met every benchmark that we've set out for ourselves with AUKUS to this point. And we have a very well-structured management system that we converse with each other frequently on how we're doing and what the challenges are. And again, I see commitment from all three countries to get this done. And I would also say that I've seen in the United States bipartisan support in our Congress for AUKUS. We recognize that this is a generational capability that will make a significant difference in promoting security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Well, so let me start off by saying what he said. And I think what Lloyd has articulated does go to the question that you asked, Matthew, in respect of where America's production is up to. And so we do have a sense of confidence about the fulfilment of the timelines that we articulated when we announced the optimal pathway back in March of last year. But perhaps go to the last point of your question, is AUKUS deeply embedded? I think the answer to that is yes. And again, Lloyd alluded to it. But we have seen in the United States across the political spectrum, this time last year, legislation passed the US Congress with the support of Democrats, Republicans, Trump Republicans, which saw, for example, the legislative underpinning of the sale of Virginia-class submarines to Australia. It had the creation of a seamless defence industrial base between our two countries. But the important point was it was supported across the board. Lloyd and I were having this conversation last night. And as Lloyd just alluded to now, this is a multi-decadal program. Just as the alliance has been a multi-decadal relationship between our two countries, that can happen. The basis of the alliance is shared values, but it's a shared strategic objective and shared strategic advantage. And AUKUS is in the strategic interest of both the United States and Australia. And that's the fundamental here, as it is for Britain. And so we are seeing AUKUS survive change of governments in Australia, in the United Kingdom, and it will happen in America as well. This is really deeply embedded across the political spectrum in all our three countries, because it is in the strategic interest of all our three countries. Thank you so much. Secretary Austin, for President Warren, he said yesterday that he believes the Trump administration will end the war in Ukraine faster. Do you believe that this administration did not move fast enough in its efforts to end the war? And what is your response to that? And for Ministers McTinney and Marles, have either of you spoken with President-elect Trump or his team? And sort of what are your expectations, I guess, to follow up on that last question of this relationship moving forward with the new administration? Thanks for the question, Haley. It goes without saying that, based upon our support and the support of some 50 other countries, we have put Ukraine in a place where it was able to defend itself, defend its sovereignty against the largest military in Europe for two and a half years. And so, if you look at the broader picture here, you've heard me say before, Putin has not achieved one strategic objective in two and a half years, over two and a half years. And he's lost a lot of people in his misguided endeavor. So, this war could end today. It could have ended two years ago, or two and a half years ago, if Putin would have decided to make the right decision and pull his forces out of Ukraine. This is an unjustified and unprovoked invasion. And so, all of us would want to see this resolved soon, sooner versus later. But again, we want to make sure that Ukraine is in the best position to protect its interests, however it's resolved in the future. And I believe that, as you've heard me say before, at the end of the day, it will be resolved through negotiations. So, again, Putin could end this today, and he should end it today, because it is an unprovoked and unjustified invasion. FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROVSKY Prime Minister Albanese spoke with President Trump in the few days subsequent to the election. In answer to your question about what we expect from the incoming Trump administration, Australia's interest, but it's not just Australia, is so bound up in American global leadership. American global leadership since the end of the Second World War is really what has underpinned the establishment of a global rules-based order by which differences between countries can be resolved, not in accordance with power and might, but in accordance with the rule of law. Why that is in the interest of a country like Australia is because it gives us agency. Most countries in the world are obviously not of the size of the United States. Having a system which enables disputes to be worked out in accordance with international law actually is what builds the sovereignty of a nation like Australia. So what we look to always in respect of the United States is that global leadership. We are confident that we will see that from the incoming Trump administration. When you look at what those who have been associated with President Trump's campaign have said in respect of America's place in the world, it speaks to American leadership. When you look at the appointments that President Trump has made for his incoming administration, these are people who have spoken to American leadership. And it's not just by word, although it is by word, it's by action. I referenced earlier, when you look at what happened going through the United States Congress last year in terms of Australia's key equity in our alliance with the United States, which is the AUKUS arrangement, that was supported across the board by people who would identify themselves with President Trump. So we are confident that a future Trump administration will stand by America's place in the world and American leadership. And that is fundamentally what Australia, and for that matter, I think the world, needs to see. But we are really confident that we will see it from President Trump and his administration. I hope I'm saying this right. Inada Kiyoshi from NHK. Yes, I'm Kiyoshi from NHK. I'm asking in Japanese. Yes, in terms of our country, the United States is the only ally. Japan and the United States are working closely together. Also, Australia is a country that is building a close cooperation relationship with the United States. Therefore, Japan, the United States, and Australia are working together to build a strong trust and cooperation relationship between Japan, the United States, and the TDC, which is a new mechanism that has been established recently, and we would like to strengthen our bilateral cooperation with the You're a decorated four-star general. You've been to the region 12 times as Secretary, I believe. Do you believe Peter Hegseth is qualified to lead the Pentagon? And can we have faith in him to maintain U.S. commitments in this part of the world? And to Mr. Miles, Andrew Hastings says he relishes the prospect of working with Mr. Hegseth. Hegseth is a very different kind of person than Secretary Austin. What about you? Do you think you can work with him? Thanks for the question. I would just highlight that it's the prerogative of the president-elect to nominate whoever he deems appropriate to serve on his cabinet. As far as DOD is concerned, we remain focused on a smooth and effective transition to the next administration. Beyond that, I would say I'm really proud of the things that this administration has accomplished over the last four years in terms of what we've done in this region to strengthen alliances and to work with countries that share the vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. And again, our focus will remain on effecting a smooth and orderly transition. I would just say that this is a large enterprise, DOD, and it often involves making life and death decisions on a near daily basis and accounting for and taking care of some 2.7 million soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, guardians, and really remaining focused on protecting the country and protecting our interests around the globe. Well, Ben, in answer to your question, I too look forward to building a relationship with Pete Hexer. The role of Secretary of Defence of the United States is a huge global role, and it's an enormous honour for Pete Hexer to be put forward by President Trump to fulfil that role. I think we've seen around the world today people coming from a range of different places and perspectives to occupy posts in government, and that breadth of experience is – it can be really important. I mean, obviously, I don't carry any military experience personally into the role that I undertake as Australia's Minister for Defence, so in no sense am I going to say that that represents a prerequisite. And I think Pete Hexer is somebody who will have an enormous challenge ahead of him, because that is what it is to be the Secretary of Defence. Everything that I've heard about Pete Hexer since his name became public in terms of – in the context of becoming the Secretary of Defence has been positive, and I approach the prospect of getting to know Pete Hexer and working with him with enormous optimism. Noah from Defence News. Thank you. First off, to Secretary Austin, can you give us an assessment of how effective do you think North Korean troops that have deployed in fighting groups have been fighting alongside the Russians? Also, before this administration ends in January, and to the non-general, Minister Nagatani, could you please explain whether Japan, like the Philippines, is interested in purchasing or rotating in a mid-range capability like the U.S. has put through the ballistic bomb exercise in the Philippines this year? And the Army Secretary suggested this could be helpful for the U.S. and Japan as they went forward. Do you have any comment on that? Thanks for your questions. First of all, regarding the effectiveness of the DPRK troops, we've not seen much fighting from them at this point, but my belief is that we'll see that soon. Now, I think that a force like this will undergo the challenges that we would expect in that there's a language issue that they have to overcome in working with their Russian counterparts. There's not been the same kind of training and development that we've seen amongst our allies here. We were just out visiting our troops today, talking about interoperability. Interoperability has something to do with having the same type of equipment, but it's a lot to do with understanding common policies and procedures and understanding and trusting the people that you're working alongside. Now, these forces have not worked together before based upon a language barrier, based upon a lack of common procedures, lack of common equipment. You would expect that there will be some friction in terms of how effective they'll be is left to be seen. In terms of whether or not we'll be able to deliver all of the equipment or security assistance that we're authorized to deliver before the end of the year, we're going to keep doing what we've done from the very beginning, and that is rushing very much needed security assistance to Ukraine as fast as we can. We're going to continue to focus on those things that they need the most. We'll make as big a difference as possible with the time that we have remaining, and hopefully we'll see continued support, bipartisan support for Ukraine from our Congress going forward. Yes, in terms of North Korea, in recent years, missile-related technologies, such as extremely high-frequency weapons, as well as anti-aircraft missiles, which can hit a lot of targets at the same time, have dramatically improved their practical missile operations, and have significantly increased their missile capabilities. In this way, missile launches have been repeated, and missile attacks on our country are becoming a threat to reality. Given this situation, our country is based on a national missile defense capability and counterattack capability, and we are going to combine these to develop a system that can prevent missile attacks. In addition, as we face the most severe and complex security and security environment after the war, not only our own defense efforts, but also cooperation with our allies and allies is How would it operate, for example, in an emergency over Taiwan? Well, it's key that Australia has been an essential partner to us for many, many years. You may have heard me say before that I served 41 years in uniform. Almost six years of that was in a combat zone, and everywhere I went that was a tough place to be. There was an Aussie there, and so that relationship is invaluable. We share the same values. We treasure each other's professionalism, and we've worked together on and off over decades, and we expect that that work will continue going into the future. We share a common vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, and that's really important to us, but it's also important to all of our partners and allies in the region, and we're going to continue to work together to promote that common interest. So Australia is a valuable partner today. It will be a valuable partner or ally going forward, and it has been over the years, over the decades, a really reliable and effective ally that's just been remarkable in my view. Thanks, Lloyd. The commitment to consult in respect of regional defence issues is just that, and this is across the spectrum of those issues. It could be an HADR event, a cyclone, an earthquake, a tsunami, where defence forces need to coordinate in terms of providing assistance. It could be in relation to the kind of work that we've done in terms of ensuring that we're bringing stability to countries within our region, such as what occurred with Solomon Islands back in the early 2000s, or the regional mission that we led in Timor-Leste. What this is, is that no matter what that circumstance is, that the three of us will consult each other. And the significance of the announcement that we are making today is it puts substance and structure into this relationship. It really is a step forward in terms of the way in which the three of us will operate in a collective and coordinated way. And the way to read this is to be thinking about it in terms of the ambition that the three of us are bringing to the table for this grouping. We do see, as countries with shared values, with capability and with a commitment to the rules-based order within our region, that there is enormous benefit to each of us in terms of our national interests, that there's an enormous strategic benefit in us working more closely together. And that's what the commitment to consult means. Brandy from Defence Scoot. Hi, thank you for doing this. Are you all exploring new commitments for basing US hypersonic weapons in Australia or Japan down the line? Are your governments open to that? And broadly, can you speak to any new or concrete examples of how this agreement will enable your to deter China in ways you haven't been able to before? Sure. Well, in terms of – I wouldn't go into specifics in respect of capabilities beyond what we've announced. This is about the three of us working together. It's not about other countries or any other particular country. It is about the three of us as countries which are democracies, which are committed to the rules-based order, working closely together to assert that. And just as I said in answer to the last question, what you can read out of today's meeting is an ambition that the three of us share to build the way in which we work together. And we've had deep relationships up until now. I mean, we said earlier that the country with whom we probably share the most strategic alignment in terms of the landscape that we face would be Japan. Part of that landscape is that both of us are allies of America, and for both of us, our most important partner is America. That means that there actually has been a real history and record of us working closely together. But what we are announcing today gives expression to the fact that as three countries, we now seek to do this in a more and increasingly coordinated way. That will be a benefit to our capability. We believe it will be a benefit to the collective security of the Indo-Pacific, and we believe it will make a significant contribution to the global rules-based order. SECRETARY TILLERSON I certainly agree with what the Deputy Prime Minister has said. We don't have any announcements on hypersonics to offer today. I would point to the things that we are working on, both as a part of AUKUS and also on a bilateral basis. You know that we're doing a number of things to develop capability with Australia and also with Japan bilaterally. We are in AUKUS Pillar Two. What that is all about is working together to leverage technology to provide real capability to the warfighter as quickly as we possibly can. We're making progress in that area, and we expect that Japan will join AUKUS Pillar Two at some point in the not too distant future to work on specific projects that have yet to be named. But again, there are just so many things that we can work together on and are working together on, whether it's quantum capability, whether it's CCA, or what you would describe as unmanned teaming aircraft, and just a number of other things that include long-range strike and so many other things that I believe our work is going to pay significant dividends to the warfighter here going forward. Yes, as I mentioned earlier, North Korea's missile attack has greatly increased its capability, and it is becoming a threat to reality. In response to these issues, we need not only the efforts of our own country, but also cooperation with the United States and Russia. And finally, Tomura, now a hero of Yomiuru Shimbun. I have a question for Mr. Prime Minister. At the beginning of this year, in response to a surface fleet review, we announced the future structure of our Navy's surface fleet, and that as part of that, there would be a general purpose frigate. And we wanted to bring a new general purpose frigate into operation as soon as possible within this decade, which is a very fast acquisition. So the first point, in answer to your question, is that what we are seeking in terms of acquiring a general purpose frigate is to have a very speedy acquisition. Because of that, what we did was name at that point a number of companies with a number of designs of ships that were currently in service, with the prospect of them being initially built overseas and then that build being transferred to Australia as a means by which we would be able to acquire an existing capability in the world quickly. As you say, we have down-selected now to two companies who are providing three designs amongst those two, but one of those is Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' Megami-class frigate, which is in service now. It's a very capable platform. And we will now work very closely with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in terms of their bid. Our intention is to make a final decision in respect of this through the course of next year. So this has a little time to have the first of those general purpose frigates actually in service in the 2020s. But we're obviously very impressed with the Megami-class frigate and what Mitsubishi has presented so far. We were pleased to announce that they were part of the down-selection and we will be working closely with them going forward. I think that brings to an end the press conference. Can I thank Lloyd again for being here today. Thank you all for attending. We very much appreciate it.