A significant takeout from the meeting of Australian and UK defence and foreign affairs ministers on Friday 21st January was the intent to conduct a series of exercises to develop and co-ordinate options in response to emerging issues and growing tension in the Indo-Pacific region.
The meeting was held in Sydney with Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton and Foreign Minister Marise Payne hosting UK Foreign secretary Liz Truss and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.
While Australia-UK Ministerial talks (AUKMIN) have always been regarded as a useful annual forum for both nations to stay in touch on security and other issues, the main game has always been the ANZUS alliance and the annual talks with the US, known as AUSMIN. But this time AUKMIN has added significance.
AUKMIN was first held in 2006 when the world was a more benign place and the UK was intently focused on Europe and the Middle East, and Australia on the Indo-Pacific. Since then, much has changed with China and Russia increasingly bellicose powers, and Australia is now buying UK warships.
Last September Australia, the US and UK launched the new AUKUS security agreement, of which the headline item was the plan for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines. Australia could opt for the UK Astute-class or US Virginia-class. Or, as UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss noted at the post AUKMIN media conference, all three nations could agree to a collaborative development program.
The AUKMIN communique features a range of statements of shared values and concerns in which the Ministers “underlined the importance of countries being able to exercise their maritime rights and freedoms in the South China Sea consistent with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), including freedom of navigation and overflight.”
As Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) director Peter Jennings noted in an article in The Australian at the weekend, to really work, alliances needed practical outcomes, military engagement “things that really happen.”
“On this test, the AUKMIN communique delivers a set of interesting outcomes,” he said. None were as startling as the AUKUS nuclear propulsion announcement, though to be fair, he said, such deliverables were rare.
So here are the main outcomes from AUKMIN.
The Ministers noted the strength of the defence relationship was underpinned by a formal Military Cooperation Framework and after reviewing that Framework, they agreed to improve cooperation in the area of cyber and cyber training. This includes further exchanges of specialist cyber personnel and increasing participation in each other’s cyber exercises.
There will be a fourth Australia-UK Defence Industry Dialogue to further strengthen cooperation on science, technology, strategic capabilities and defence industrial base collaboration.
“Noting the increasing risk of tension within the Indo-Pacific region, the Ministers also agreed to undertake a series of tabletop exercises testing and improving each government’s capacity to respond to critical issues in the Indo-Pacific,” the Ministers said.
“They agreed to deepen information-sharing to enhance situational awareness and coordination in the event of a regional crisis.”
This would appear to be the most significant development as any deployment of personnel or equipment requires the fundamental groundwork to be laid, desirably well in advance.
The UK has already announced one notable deployment. Two Royal Navy patrol boats HMS Tamar and HMS Spey will spend five years in the Indo-Pacific. Both vessels departed Portsmouth last September, following the deployment of the RN aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and task group to the region last year.
These are roughly equivalent to Australia’s new Arafura-class Offshore Patrol Vessels, displacing around 2000 tonnes. Neither has a specified homeport for this lengthy mission – they will stay in different ports, showing the flag. That would certainly include Australian ports. As for joint activities, a Freedom of Navigation exercise in the South China Sea would be one possibility.