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Japanese soldiers to train with ADF after historic new security agreement
By Hamish Hastie
Japanese soldiers will train with Australian troops in the country’s north after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida signed a beefed-up security declaration in Perth on Saturday.
The new deal replaces a security agreement struck in 2007 by former Prime Ministers John Howard and Shinzo Abe against the backdrop of growing concerns about growing Chinese military power in the Indo-Pacific region.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Japan Prime Minister Kishida Fumio pose with Koalas during their visit to Kings Park.Credit: Getty Images AsiaPac
It includes commitments from each country to deepen links between the Australian Defence Force and the Japan Self-Defense Forces through more sophisticated joint exercises and operations as well as mutual use of defence facilities for maintenance and asset protection.
Albanese said the historic agreement would allow for Japanese troops to train with Australians in northern Australia at a time of growing uncertainty in the region.
“This shared vision for an Indo-Pacific region that is peaceful, prosperous, resilient and free is why today we have signed a renewed Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation,” he said.
“It shows the responsibility we share for security in our region and towards one another.”
Talks involved implementing the Reciprocal Access Agreement signed earlier this year, which will allow Japan’s and Australia’s respective militaries the ability to train and operate on each other’s soil.
That agreement, the first of its kind agreed to by Japan since the Second World War, was held up because of concerns that Australians serving on Japanese territory and were convicted of crimes could be sentenced to death under Japan’s laws.
The United States has a heavy presence of troops in northern Australia including the Marine Rotational Force-Darwin contingent of US Marines that train with ADF and conduct exercises in the region over the dry season.
Under the new agreement, Japanese troops could train at bases in Darwin, Townsville or at bases in WA’s North West region.
The new agreement encourages the countries to bolster joint security and defence cooperation in areas such as intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Japanese PM Kishida Fumio wander at Kings Park. Credit: Sharon Smith.
The two nations have also committed to boosting cooperation in cybersecurity and combatting disinformation from authoritarian countries such as China and Russia.
“We affirm our unwavering commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, which is underpinned, in particular, by … countries that are resilient to aggression, coercion, disinformation, malicious cyber activity and other forms of interference, as well as to global challenges such as pandemics, natural disasters and climate change,” it said.
Kishida said Australia and Japan would serve the core group of like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific region that shared the same values around human rights protection and a rules-based order.
“Japan and Australia sharing fundamental values and strategic interest have come under the increasingly harsh strategic environment,” he said.
“We have developed a framework of cooperation, logistical support and operation, and have expanded our security and defence cooperation.
“This renewed declaration ... will change the direction of our security and defence cooperation in the next 10 years.”
In pointed comments about the security of the Indo-Pacific region Kishida also reaffirmed Japan’s intent to boost its defence capability in the next five years.
“I expressed my determination that all necessary options for the defence of our country, including the so-called counterstrike capability would become contemplated and Japan’s defence capability will be fundamentally reinforced in the next five years, which is supported by Anthony,” he said.
Kishida confirmed Australia would host the next meeting of the Quad in 2023.
The leaders discussed climate change as well as energy and critical minerals’ security during the visit and signed an Australia-Japan critical minerals partnership
Those minerals include rare earths and other commodities vital for advanced manufacturing and renewable energy technologies where China has control over much of the supply chains.
Albanese also confirmed Australia had agreed to allow a Japanese space agency probe to land in Woomera in 2029 at the end of its mission to one of Mars’ moons to collect ground samples.
Kishida’s visit is the fourth time both prime ministers have met since Albanese came to office in May.
He arrived in Perth on Friday evening and the pair met publicly at King’s Park near the Perth CBD on Saturday morning where they both attended a ceremonial welcome complete with an Australian Defence Force half guard of honour and 19-gun salute.
Kishida and Albanese then spent time with two koalas Eric and Harry and a baby Woylie from Perth’s Caversham Wildlife Park.
Albanese and Kishida attended a business lunch hosted at the Westin hotel alongside WA Premier Mark McGowan and are visiting BHP’s nickel sulphate plant south of Perth later this afternoon.