AUSTRALIA TO HOST AUSMIN 2019

We look forward to hosting United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper in Sydney on 4 August for the 2019 Australia–United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN).

 

For 34 years, AUSMIN has served as the annual, principal forum for Australia–US cooperation on strategic, foreign and defence policy.

 

This year’s Ministerial Consultations are an opportunity to strengthen our alliance by deepening diplomatic, security, and economic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.

 

Both Australia and the US are committed to an inclusive region where state sovereignty is respected, and where trade, capital and ideas flow freely.

 

We will discuss building our economic cooperation to strengthen development, innovation, and wealth creation in the Indo-Pacific, and how we can work together with Pacific partners to meet their infrastructure and security needs.

 

Australia–US collaboration in South East Asia and the South West Pacific will be a key focus. We will discuss Australia’s Pacific Step-Up, closer military-to-military cooperation, the continuing effort to combat terrorism and violent extremism online, and address key issues of regional security.

 

We look forward to reinforcing our strong and mutually beneficial economic ties. Our trade and investment relationship is thriving, underpinned by our bilateral free trade agreement. Two-way investment reached AUD$1.7 trillion in 2018 and the US is by far the largest source of foreign investment into Australia.

 

Our relationship with the United States is built on an historic alliance - established by the ANZUS Treaty in 1951 - and deepened by our shared vision for a safer and more prosperous Indo-Pacific.