ウィスパリング同時通訳研究会コミュの Marise Payne and foreign ministers of US, India and Japan spoke after Quad talks

Marise Payne:Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, for joining us here in Melbourne this evening. Let me start by thanking my friends and counterparts, India's External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, Japan's Foreign Minister Hayashi and US Secretary of State Blinken, after what has been a very substantive and productive Quad Ministers’ meeting here in Melbourne. Our fourth.

Let me start also by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we are meeting this evening, the Wurundjeri people and pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging.

Today the Quad Foreign Ministers have reaffirmed our support for the principles of openness, the protection of national sovereignty and the observance of rules and fair play. Our region is in a period of rising strategic uncertainty. The rules and norms that have provided a foundation for our stability, and hence our prosperity, are under pressure, in particular from authoritarian regimes.

The Quad is a grouping with a positive and ambitious agenda. We continue to support the centrality of ASEAN, including to advance practical implementation of ASEAN's outlook on the Indo‑Pacific. The Quad has made practical commitments and we're delivering on them.

We have delivered over 500 million vaccine doses under the Quad leaders’ commitment and ensured they reached the people who need them. Australia will bolster the efforts of the Quad vaccine partnership by making a further investment through our regional health security initiative for the Indo‑Pacific. Australia in our actions works to support a world order that favours freedom; where rules, not power and coercion, resolve disputes.

Today in Melbourne our overarching focus was on the Indo‑Pacific. We agreed to strengthen Quad cyber and counter‑terrorism cooperation, including by coordinating efforts to address the threat of ransomware.

We discussed humanitarian and disaster response and vital infrastructure delivery which is climate adapted and climate resilient in consultation with our partners.

We agreed to boost maritime security support for Indo‑Pacific partners to strengthen their maritime domain awareness and ability to develop their offshore resources, to ensure freedom of navigation and overflight and to combat challenges such as illegal fishing.

I am delighted that Japan has offered to host the next Quad leaders’ summit in the first half of 2022.

To finish my remarks, and I'll ask my colleagues to indulge me just for a moment. Many of you will know that today was the holding of the State memorial service for the passing of a former Australian Foreign Minister and leader of my Parliamentary Liberal Party Andrew Peacock.

I think if Andrew Peacock was here now and able to see a Quad Foreign Ministers meeting being held in person in Melbourne after two years of a global pandemic, and only two years after the first in‑person meeting of the Quad Foreign Ministers, he'd be immensely proud of Australia and our Quad partners for what we have worked to deliver, for the practical cooperation that we've engaged in and for our strong focus on our friends and partners in ASEAN.

It gives me great pleasure to ask Minister Jaishankar to make some remarks.

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar:Thank you Marise. Foreign Minister Payne, let me first of all of thank you for hosting what was truly a productive meeting of the Quad Foreign Ministers. We also had an opportunity earlier in the day to meet collectively with Prime Minister Scott Morrison for what was a very insightful, very useful discussion before our own deliberations.

The interactions that we've had has made it evident that robust bilateral relations between our respective countries, our strategic convergences and our shared democratic values have all combined to make the Quad a vibrant and substantial framework.

We are building an agenda which seeks to further our shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo‑Pacific. We are keen to work together to further peace and stability and economic prosperity in the Indo‑Pacific through collective efforts which address contemporary issues.

In this context we will continue to support our ASEAN partners in their efforts to uphold peace, stability and prosperity in the region. Their centrality is important to recognise and reiterate.

We reviewed the Quad's ongoing efforts to combat the COVID pandemic and agreed to expedite delivery of safe and affordable vaccines, support capacity building and augment infrastructure for last mile delivery.

Quad's discussions and efforts to build resilient supply chains, enhance availability of trusted critical technologies, counter disinformation and uphold a rules‑based multilateral trading system will contribute to fostering global economic resilience.

I welcome the Quad's shared desire to address common global threats, such as terrorism, strengthen maritime domain awareness, provide timely HADR assistance and assist countries in the Indo‑Pacific in the area of cyber security.

Taking forward the Quad's positive agenda which our leaders endorsed last year, we will take steps to strengthen our existing people‑to‑people linkages through education programs and think tank dialogues.

As we conclude this very timely and valuable interaction, we will work together to give shape and substance to the Quad's positive agenda to make it, in the words of my Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a force for global good.

Once again, I thank the Government of Australia and in particular my friend Marise Payne for the warmth, hospitality and excellent arrangements for our visit and meetings.

Marise Payne:Thank you very much, Minister. Let me ask Minister Hayashi to make some remarks please.