David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

Australia and the United Kingdom share a strong bilateral defence relationship, a relationship that has been enduring since even before Australia became a sovereign nation. Our cooperation is based upon a strong degree of like-mindedness, historical connections and shared values, as well as extensive cultural and political links. We also have longstanding intelligence and science and technology links and have together moved to modernise the Five Power Defence Arrangements.

In recent years, our engagement has been chiefly in the operational space, through the ISAF operations in Afghanistan. I made it clear to my UK colleagues that Australia remains committed to the post-2014, NATO-led 'train, advise and assist' mission in Afghanistan, subject to the necessary legal arrangements being agreed and put in place pursuant to the status-of-forces agreement. Without a status-of-forces agreement in place, there is very little likelihood of Australian forces remaining in Afghanistan. We also welcome the UK's interest in the Indo-Pacific region. (Time expired)