SENATOR THE HON PENNY WONG
LEADER OF THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SENATE
MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Subjects: Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.

Minister Kamikawa, thank you for hosting us today.

Greetings to our friends from India and the United States.

It’s a great pleasure to be back in Japan, for the second time in a fortnight.

It is just over two years since I accompanied Prime Minister Albanese to Tokyo for the 2022 Quad Leaders’ Summit.

On the day I was sworn in as Australia’s Foreign Minister I came to Tokyo for the Quad, which demonstrates the importance we place on this forum.

Since then, Australia’s belief in the strategic necessity of the Quad has only strengthened.

Colleagues, we all know our region and our world are being reshaped.

We all understand we face the most confronting circumstances in our region in decades.

Our work through the Quad reflects our collective determination to work more closely than ever with each other and with key partners to shape this period of change together.

To shape the sort of region we want to live in.

We have listened, and we heard what our region wants.

A region that is peaceful and that is predictable, that is governed by accepted rules and norms, where all of us can cooperate, trade and thrive.

A region where sovereignty is respected and competition is managed responsibly.

Where size or power do not determine a country’s fate.

Where no country dominates, and no country is dominated.

Where we all share in our aspirations.

And have choices available to realise those aspirations.

Over the last two years I have seen the Quad’s commitment to this vision of the Indo-Pacific.

And I have seen it deliver for our region.

I was in Papua New Guinea last month, where our coordinated efforts are helping the people of Enga as they recovered from a catastrophic landslide.

We worked together in the maritime domain, sharing crucial maritime data with regional partners to combat illegal fishing and respond to climate-related and humanitarian events.

We welcome those efforts being extended to the Indian Ocean region.

Colleagues, peaceful countries work together.

Australia, India, Japan and the United States, we are a more effective partner for the region.

As I said at the East Asia Summit just a few days ago, we all cherish the region’s peace, stability, prosperity.

And we all know that it is not a given.

We all know we can’t take it for granted, and that we have a responsibility to work together to preserve and strengthen it.

I look forward to our discussions today.

ENDS

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Authorised by Senator the Hon Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australia.