Canada and Australia’s defence ministers meet on co-operation

VANCOUVER — Canada and Australia’s defence ministers say their countries are dealing with similar challenges in an era of global volatility not seen since the Second World War, and strengthening co-operation is essential to avoiding conflict.

Defence Minister Bill Blair and his Australian counterpart Richard Marles announced an agreement Thursday to bolster their countries’ relationships, along with their collective ability to respond to everything from global challenges to malicious cyber threats.

“Canada and Australia are both Pacific nations, and the security of the Indo-Pacific is crucial for the security of both our nations and today, that security is being challenged in a number of significant and difficult ways,” Blair told a news conference Thursday. “China is pursuing the most ambitious military buildup of any nation since the Second World War, and it’s looking to reshape the international system to advance its own interest.”

Marles, who’s also Australia’s deputy prime minister, was in Vancouver for the bilateral meeting with Blair.

In a joint statement after the meeting, the countries condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s actions in the South China Sea, North Korea’s ballistic missile testing, and reaffirmed a call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The ministers committed their armed forces to work together as hostile actions from China and Russia continue to test the global order.

“Our sovereignty in the Canadian arctic is being challenged by a number of potential adversaries, Russia and China in particular, but not exclusively,” Blair said. “It’s very similar to what we’re seeing in the Indo-Pacific.”

Blair said the closely allied nations are “preparing to avoid war,” showing unity in the face of adversaries whose actions go against “global interests of maintaining a peaceful environment.”

Marles said Canada and Australia’s co-operation is seeking to deter hostile actors, and avoiding conflict is “front and centre” as both nations seek to understand and respond to threats in the Indo-Pacific and elsewhere.

He said the “global rules based order is more under pressure now than any point since the end of the Second World War.”

Marles said Russia’s alliance with China on the eve of the invasion of Ukraine was a wake-up call about the interconnectedness of global theatres of conflict.

“Suddenly, a conflict in eastern Europe became deeply relevant to us in the Indo-Pacific,” he said. “We live in a world where there is fragility and where the Indo-Pacific is highly relevant.”

Marles said both Canada and Australia have worked to “understand the strategic challenges that we face, and therefore what kind of a defence force we need to build in order to meet those challenges.”

“Both of us have come to the conclusion that the Indo-Pacific matters.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2024.

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press