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A joint statement from the leaders following the Australia-New Zealand Leaders’ Meeting 2022 committed to the establishment of annual meetings on foreign affairs, defence and finance.
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Prime Ministers Anthony Albanese and Jacinda Ardern committed to the establishment of annual defence, foreign affairs and finance meetings during the Australia-New Zealand Leaders’ Meeting on the 8th of July in Sydney.
Within their joint statement released following the meeting, both leaders reiterated the importance of the bilateral defence relationship between Australia and New Zealand and committed to advancing defence interoperability between the two nations.
PMs Albanese and Ardern also restated their commitment to the international non-proliferation regime both now and into the future, supporting the upcoming 10th Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
A timely statement amid Australia’s acquisition of a nuclear submarine capability.
At a regional level, both Prime Ministers also reaffirmed their ongoing support for the regional security and governance architectures including the Pacific Islands Forum and ASEAN to build a stable Asia-Pacific region.
The pair also shared condemnations of Myanmar and Russia.
“The Prime Ministers reiterated their strong support for the ASEAN-led efforts to chart a course out of the crisis in Myanmar and urged the Myanmar military to engage meaningfully with ASEAN to urgently implement the ASEAN Five Point Consensus,” the statement read.
“They called on the Myanmar military to cease violence; engage in dialogue; release those arbitrarily detained, including Australian Professor Sean Turnell; and allow unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance.”
The pair also reaffirmed their unified approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The Prime Ministers condemned Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. They discussed the response of the international community in holding Russia responsible for its unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression. They reaffirmed their support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and their commitment to continue to encourage international cooperation to support Ukraine for as long as it takes,” the statement read.
“They recalled the close coordination between New Zealand and Australia on sanctions against Russia and Belarus, on the international diplomatic response, and on military and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine. They urged Russia to immediately stop its indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, and withdraw all its troops and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine.”
