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Australian Polity, Volume 10 Number 1 & 2

March 2022 issue of Australian Polity

March 2022 issue of Australian Polity

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The defence partnership of Australia and Japan

will again level up following the signing of the

Reciprocal Access Agreement by Scott Morrison

and Fumio Kishida. It is a profound moment, one that

Australians and Japanese of a previous generation could

never have imagined. One that our citizens today will see

as another example of the growing strength and special

nature of our bilateral relationship.

The signing of the RAA builds on our partnership and

friendship with Japan – one that is based on shared values

and interests, and on trust and respect. Significantly, it

elevates our bilateral defence relationship with Japan to

a new level. Japan is already one of our closest defence

partners, and with this agreement we are paving the way

for a new chapter of enhanced co-operation.

The purpose of the RAA is straightforward. It’s a treaty

allowing our military forces to operate in each other’s

countries. While Australia and Japan already have

arrangements that facilitate specific joint defence

activities, the RAA vastly broadens the scope of our

defence co-operation. It’s a natural and confident step

forward in defence engagement between the two

countries.

The treaty will enable more frequent and sophisticated

training exercises and operations between the Australian

Defence Force and the Japan Self-Defence Forces,

enhancing interoperability in the process.

signed with another nation.

The ninth 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial

Consultations, held virtually in June last year, reinforced

our nations’ common defence interests and mutual

objectives. Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi and I committed

to increasing the practical defence initiatives of Australia

and Japan, building on the more than 80 already agreed

since 2014. We also pledged to step up bilateral cooperation

in cyber and space capabilities, while nurturing

stronger ties between our defence industrial bases. The

signing of the RAA will support these aims.

Last July, the Japan Self-Defence Forces participated

in the Australia-US Exercise Talisman Sabre. The closing

activity was an amphibious landing in which, for the first

time in history, forces from Australia, Japan, Britain and

the US worked together from the same ship. Japan

and Australia also trained with other partners during

exercises La Perouse, Pacific Vanguard and Malabar

last year. The RAA will help us undertake new joint force

training initiatives.

Growing defence co-operation between Australia and

Japan under our Special Strategic Partnership should

neither come as a surprise nor be viewed in isolation.

This agreement is another step in realising the 2020

Defence Strategic Update and Australia continues to

strengthen defence engagement with international

partners in support of shared regional security interests.

In streamlining administrative processes, the RAA also

speeds up physical force deployment into each other’s

territory. And it will complement new mechanisms for

the Japan Self-Defence Forces to protect the ADF’s

weapons, equipment and assets in situations short of

armed conflict. Although uncomplicated in its intent, the

RAA is nonetheless a complex pact, years in the making.

Provisions have been meticulously drafted to support

the treaty’s practical implementation, reconciling each

country’s laws, administrative systems and international

obligations.

Japan entered a similar status of forces agreement with

the US in 1960 that allows US forces to be stationed in,

and operate from, Japan. Significantly, the RAA with

Australia will be the first reciprocal treaty Japan has

Like-minded nations are taking steps to buttress their

own security, bolster defence co-operation bilaterally

and multilaterally, and build partnerships. They’re raising

defence spending as a percentage of gross domestic

product; coming together for joint exercises to improve

interoperability; undertaking multinational deployments to

uphold freedom of navigation and overflight in the region;

deepening industrial base co-operation; strengthening

collaboration in defence science, technology and

research; and reinforcing commitments to established

and emerging partnerships such as the Association

of Southeast Asian Nations, Five Eyes, the Five Power

Defence Arrangements and the Quadrilateral Security

Dialogue.

Like-minded nations are responding in these ways

Australian Polity 7

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