Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator McMahon for that question, and, yes, I can. I also thank you for your boundless passion for defence in the Northern Territory, and for their support. Northern Australia is of profound and increasing strategic importance to our nation. The Territory is the gateway to the Indo-Pacific, looking out to some of our closest neighbours and friends across the Arafura and Timor seas. As the Indo-Pacific becomes more contested, our region faces the most consequential strategic realignment in our generation.

This government reaffirms its commitment to bolstering defence capability in the Top End through both the 2020 Defence strategic update and the 2020 Force structure plan. The Territory has played a key role in supporting more recent initiatives, including the US Force Posture Initiatives, and next year marks the 10th anniversary of the Marine Rotational Force and these initiatives. The US FPI provides the ADF with improved training opportunities and closer interoperability with US forces and also supports US engagement in the Indo-Pacific.

I witnessed this cooperation firsthand when I visited Mount Bundey last month with Senator McMahon and US Ambassador Culvahouse to observe Exercise Koolendong. Observing this high-end, live-fire exercise demonstrated once again the great interoperability between our forces and the clear benefit to both our nations. The fact that the rotation went ahead at all despite COVID-19 is a great testament to the ADF's ability to be agile and also to our ability to work with the United States forces. At AUSMIN, we signed a statement of principles to guide the next decade of cooperation on forced posture to ensure peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.