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Australian Embassy, Lisbon
Press Release - 8 December 2006
Australian Defence Minister's world visit to focus on key global issues
Key global defence issues, including Iraq and Afghanistan, would be the focus of a world trip next week, by the Australian Minister for Defence, Dr Brendan Nelson, when he undertakes a series of strategic meetings in the US, UK, Europe and the Middle East.
In Washington, Dr Nelson would attend the annual Australia-United States Ministerial talks (AUSMIN) along with the Australian Foreign Minister, Mr Alexander Downer.
The AUSMIN talks would involve senior Australian and US defence and foreign policy leaders for a thorough exchange of national objectives and priorities for both countries. The talks would include discussions on Iraq and Afghanistan, combating global terrorism and preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Dr Nelson would also visit London for the inaugural Australia-United Kingdom Ministerial AUKMIN meeting. He said that the London meeting would be a significant opportunity to discuss issues of mutual strategic interest.
“Both Australia and the UK have a military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, “Dr Nelson said.
“Other issues of mutual interest would include the global campaign against terrorism, counter proliferation, and cooperation on intelligence and security,” he added.
On the Continent, Dr Nelson would meet with his ministerial counterparts in France and the Netherlands. In France, Dr Nelson would sign an Australia-France Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) during a meeting with French Minister for Defence, Madame, Michèle Alliot-Marie, which would provide the flexibility for Australia and France to pursue further cooperative activities to meet both countries’ strategic needs.
Dr Nelson’s visit to the Netherlands would focus on developments in Afghanistan - an Australian Army Reconstruction team is deployed to Oruzgan Province as a part of the Netherlands Provincial Reconstruction team and several key infrastructure development projects were currently underway.
In the Middle East, he would also attend the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Gulf Dialogue in Bahrain.
“The Gulf Dialogue will be an important forum to discuss Gulf security issues and conduct a number of strategic bi-lateral meetings,” Dr Nelson said.
Canberra
08 December 2006