Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced today in parliament that Australia would be deploying resources to respond to the current crisis, following a significant address from the Canadian Prime Minister.
Albanese acknowledged the safe return of numerous Australians from Dubai, thanks to the limited flights available from the region. He assured that the government is actively collaborating with its agencies and international partners to assist those needing to leave the area.
(Alex Ellinghausen)
“Our Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials are tirelessly working to increase consular support,” stated Albanese. “In response to the situation, we are sending six crisis response teams to the region, and have already positioned military assets as part of our earlier contingency plans.”
Australia and Canada were among the first Western nations to openly back the United States and Israel in their recent military actions against Iran. This solidarity between the two countries continued to be evident during today’s proceedings.
Albanese also announced that Australia would be joining Canada’s G7 initiative on critical minerals production. This alliance aims to establish a new coalition of middle powers, counterbalancing the influence of China and the United States.
Albanese said Australia would join Canada’s G7 critical minerals production alliance, a foundation for a new partnership of middle powers to stand up to the might of China and the US.
“We share a common heritage, have developed a common perspective and can build a common future togetherâtwo sovereign nations, two proud democracies: the true north and land down underânavigating with the same values,” Carney said in the first address to Australia’s parliament by a Canadian leader since 2007.
“As the prime minister indicated, what makes our relationship rare is that it was not built by geography or by great-power design.Â
“It was chosen repeatedly over centuries. In the mud of Flanders, on the shores of Normandy, in the hills of Korea and the valleys of Kandahar, Canadians and Australians have stood by each other when the hour was darkest and victory most in doubt.”
Albanese echoed those sentiments, saying the friendship was noteworthy because of the things Australia and Canada didn’t have in common.
“We do not share a border, a region, a hemisphere or any market smaller than the global one,” he said.
“Yet this makes the connection between our countries more meaningful, not less, because our cooperation, our partnership, is a positive choice, not a necessity.Â
“When we work together, it is on the basis of our shared convictions, not mutual convenience.”
The visit comes at a time of great change for Carney, pivoting away from his nearest neighbour in America and to like-minded friends around the globe.
“The fact is Australia and Canada have never waited for others to write our futures. We’ve written it ourselves through a century of choices, standing together in the darkest hours, building the post-war order with optimism and purpose and now helping to create what comes next,” he said.
“Yes, the world will always be driven by great powers, but it can also be shaped by middle powers that trust each other and act with speed and purpose. Australia and Canada have demonstrated that trust again this week.”
Asked whether Canada and Australia could trust Trump, Carney said “we need to build on what we have in order to re-establish that trust commercially.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor praised Carney for his famous speech in Davos earlier this year warning of a “rupture in the world order”, describing it as a “much-needed wake-up call for middle powers of the West”.
“You, Prime Minister Carney, said we’re at a turning point, and we must indeed ‘stop invoking rules-based international order as though it functions as advertised’,” Taylor said.
“I’d go further. The rules-based international order has been exposed as wishful thinking of a bygone and benign era, especially in these times when autocratic regimes act with impunity.Â
“I wholeheartedly agree with you; in this brave new world, middle powers cannot simply build higher walls and retreat behind them.Â
“We must work together. We must act together, closer than ever, on defence, on secure supply chains and sovereign capabilities, on maintaining free trade.”
Canada and Australia together produce about a third of global lithium and uranium, as well as more than 40 per cent of global iron ore.
Western nations have been attempting to diversify their supply chains away from China, which still controls the majority of production and processing of critical minerals, essential for semiconductors and defence applications.
Carney is on a multi-leg trip across the Asia-Pacific region also taking in Japan and India.
– Reported with Reuters
NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.
