TRANSCRIPT
Foreign and defence ministers from Australian and New Zealand met in Melbourne - the first time the four have convened since New Zealand's change of government.
The goal of the inaugural Australia-New Zealand Foreign and Defence Ministers Consultations, known as ANZMIN, is to bolster the trans-Tasman relationship.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles says it's a particularly important friendship.
“There is no country in the world with whom we are closer than New Zealand. And it makes this meeting, and what we have spoken about today, particularly important. We have committed to working much more closely together in terms of defence operations to give effect to deterrence. We are committed to constructing two defence forces which are seamless in the way in which we are operating. We bring much greater effect when we work together than we do when we work on our own."
Australia and New Zealand's longstanding relationship became strained in 2021 after Australia entered the AUKUS security agreement with Britain and the United States.
That tension seems to be over - New Zealand Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, told Sky News he is open to participating in the alliance.
"So we're here to find out much more as to how we can understand it, and potentially be seriously a part of it."
Richard Marles says Australia is committed to making that possible.
"We have agreed to send a team to New Zealand very shortly to brief New Zealand on developments in relations to AUKUS, and particularly AUKUS pillar two."
Pillar 1 of the AUKUS agreement relates to the purchase of nuclear-powered submarines.
Pillar 2 relates to the development and delivery of other kinds of military capabilities, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Pacific topped the agenda, with growing concerns over foreign influence in the area.
Last week, Papua New Guinea's Foreign Minister, Justin Tkatchenko, revealed that China's government had offered to assist with their policing and security.
Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong says Australia and New Zealand must work together to ensure regional security.
"Our region is being reshaped. We often speak about having come to the government at a time of the most difficult or challenging strategic circumstances since the Second World War. We particularly have a role, as we have discussed, in the Pacific. And as I have said to Deputy Prime Minister Peters, I believe New Zealand has a lot of wisdom, a lot of history, and cultural expertise to bring to the discussion of the Pacific. Which is one of the areas, as we know, of greater contest now."
Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape is due to visit Canberra next week.
