AUSMIN 2010

For­eign Min­is­ter Kevin Rudd and Defence Min­is­ter Stephen Smith will hold Aus­tralia-Unit­ed States Min­is­te­r­i­al Con­sul­ta­tions (AUSMIN) with US Sec­re­tary of State Hillary Clin­ton and US Sec­re­tary of Defense Dr Robert Gates in Aus­tralia in Novem­ber.

This year is the 25th anniver­sary of the first AUSMIN talks, held in Can­ber­ra in 1985. 

AUSMIN is the pre­mier forum for strength­en­ing alliance coop­er­a­tion on for­eign pol­i­cy, defence and strate­gic matters. 

It is sched­uled annu­al­ly, with the venue alter­nat­ing between Aus­tralia and the Unit­ed States. The last AUSMIN was held in Wash­ing­ton on 9 April 2009.

AUSMIN 2010 fol­lows Mr Rudd’s meet­ings in Wash­ing­ton this week with Sec­re­tary Clin­ton and oth­er senior mem­bers of the Oba­ma Administration. 

AUSMIN 2010, the third AUSMIN meet­ing since Novem­ber 2007 and the sec­ond with the Oba­ma Admin­is­tra­tion, reflects the endur­ing strate­gic impor­tance of the Alliance.

Australia’s Alliance with the Unit­ed States con­tin­ues to be the bedrock of Australia’s defence, secu­ri­ty, and strate­gic arrangements. 

Aus­tralia works in close part­ner­ship with the Unit­ed States to advance shared secu­ri­ty inter­ests in the region and globally. 

Both coun­tries are com­mit­ted to mil­i­tary and civil­ian efforts in Afghanistan to pre­vent it from again becom­ing a base for inter­na­tion­al ter­ror­ism, and are work­ing close­ly in the Asia-Pacif­ic region to pro­mote peace and prosperity.

Mr Rudd and Mr Smith’s dis­cus­sions with Sec­re­tary Clin­ton and Sec­re­tary Gates in Can­ber­ra will fur­ther advance the close coop­er­a­tion under the Aus­tralia-US Alliance. 

Mr Smith’s Office: Mary Bag­nall (02) 6277 7800 or 0434 665067
Mr Rudd’s Office: Kate Sieper (02) 6277 7500 or 0488 484689
Depart­ment: (02) 6127 1999 (Defence) or (02) 6261 1555 (DFAT)

Press release
Min­is­te­r­i­al Sup­port and Pub­lic Affairs,
Depart­ment of Defence,
Can­ber­ra, Australia 

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