Warren Entsch (Leichhardt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence Personnel. Will the minister update the House on how Australia's Defence Force personnel are helping to build deeper ties with United States?

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Cyber Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to thank the member for his question and I note his long and continuing interest in the strong and binding ties between Australia and the US. As a former member of the RAAF he knows the value of our strong relationship with that country. Indeed, the defence relationship between Australia and the US is the strongest in the world, spanning across conflicts and crises to work towards shared common values and interests. This commitment is reinforced by the fact that there are still 190 American MIAs in our country. It is reinforced by the fact that there is a World War II RAAF pilot officer, Francis Milne, buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He is one of only a few foreigners buried amongst the 400,000 American men and women in the United States' national memorial.

Today, in terms of our defence people to people links, there is no relationship more important to our Defence Force personnel. Our exchange program is central to this. The number of Australian defence personnel who are exchanged, embedded or posted for training in the US represents the largest number of postings outside of Australia. These postings help to build and maintain strong working relationships and improve interoperability with the United States Army, the Marine Corps, the Navy and the Air Force. There are approximately 450 Australians in liaison and exchange positions in the US, including in geographic combatant commands. There are approximately 200 US personnel in Australia in addition to the over 1,000 US Marines rotating through the Northern Territory. At Pacific Command, the Honolulu base US military operation with responsibility for the strategically important Asia and Pacific areas, embedded Australian personnel are also making a meaningful contribution to our security. I have recently had the privilege to see first-hand the excellent work they are doing and the positive influence it has on our relationship with the US. Our ties to the United States, through our strong military and defence cooperation, span across conflicts and governments. It is an incredibly important part of our defence engagement with our region, but it is equally important to the Australians and Americans who benefit from this international exchange. This government is committed to that relationship—our strongest defence relationship—as are our defence personnel.