Australian Maritime Issues 2007 - Royal Australian Navy

50 AUSTRALIAN MARITIME ISSUES 2007: SPC-A ANNUAL
the tactical level, this includes ship visits, passage exercises, individual training and
training exchanges.
Navy-to-navy talks
The RAN conducts navy-to-navy talks with the US, the United Kingdom (UK), NZ, Japan,
Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Thailand and India. It conducts counterpoint
talks with Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Philippines. The RAN also attends the
International Seapower Symposium and is a key member of the Western Pacific Naval
Symposium (WPNS).
Navy-to-navy talks are held at the Deputy Chief of Navy or Director-General level to
discuss issues common to each navy or areas of interest where the RAN’s knowledge
is limited. Future initiatives are aired and tested for their feasibility. Discussions tend
to focus on broader strategic, organisational, managerial, personnel, training and
operational issues/problems common and of mutual interest or benefit to each navy.
Counterpart talks are similar to navy-to-navy talks but at a lower level; set topics
usually include a regional appreciation, capability developments, RAN management
and personnel issues and forthcoming exercises/involvement.
The International Seapower Symposium is a biennial forum hosted by the United States
Navy (USN) in November of odd years and is attended by most navy chiefs. Discussions
focus on common maritime issues such as the law of the sea, freedom of navigation,
changing maritime relationships and protecting the maritime environment.
The WPNS is a biennial forum in October/November of even years hosted by alternate
member countries, attended by member navy chiefs. The aim of the WPNS is to promote
maritime understanding and naval cooperation in the Western Pacific region. WPNS
members are Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Fiji, France, Indonesia, Japan, Korea,
Malaysia, NZ, the Philippines, PNG, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, the US and
Vietnam. Observer countries are Bangladesh, Canada, Chile and India.
The key to naval cooperation is trust and understanding between navies. At a strategic
level, visits provide the opportunity for navy chiefs to meet and discuss issues. This
occurs formally through presentations, where they gain an understanding of issues
facing each navy as well as each country’s respective views. More important perhaps
is the personal contact, where chiefs can engage their counterparts and talk privately
about specific issues. This allows each chief to brief his own government on regional
concerns and how countries might react to particular events. Moreover, with the trust
gained, chiefs are able to contact each other to forestall problems or quickly solve them
on a one-to-one basis.