International relations

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin hosted Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women Marise Payne and Minister for Defence Peter Dutton on September 16 in Washington D.C. for the 31st Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN 2021).

The United States-Australia Alliance remains an anchor of stability, and the principals reaffirmed the Indo-Pacific is the focus of the Alliance.  This year as we celebrate our Alliance’s 70th anniversary we proudly reflect on the legacy of peace and prosperity to which our partnership has contributed.

Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States have agreed to the creation of an enhanced trilateral security partnership – AUKUS.

We commend the IIMM’s important work collecting, preserving and analysing evidence of killings, violence and detentions, including those perpetrated in Rakhine State, and following the 1 February coup. The number of deaths, detentions and disappearances continues to rise in Myanmar, as do reports of torture, sexual violence and persecution.

Our group expresses its deep concern over the desperate situation of journalists and media workers in Afghanistan over the last few weeks.

COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the promotion and protection of human rights globally.  Australia is deeply concerned that States have used the shield of the pandemic to target human rights defenders, civil society, health workers, and journalists.

We remain gravely concerned by ongoing violence in northern Ethiopia. The Ethiopian government and regional authorities' cutting off of Tigray - and the TPLF's expansion of the conflict into neighboring regions - have caused a humanitarian catastrophe

48th Session of the Human Rights Council HRC statements

Australia and India are working together to shape a safer and more secure global environment, launching the second round of the Australia-India Cyber and Critical Technology Partnership (AICCTP) grants program.

The Morrison Government has today announced the first stage of reforms to Australia's labour mobility programs – the Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS) and the Seasonal Worker Program (SWP) – which will make the programs easier to access, protect worker welfare, and better meet the workforce needs of regional Australia.