Japan-Australia Prime Ministers' Meeting (Outline)

December 15, 2009
Japanese

On December 15 (Tuesday), Mr. Yukio Hatoyama, Prime Minister of Japan, held a meeting with Mr. Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia during his visit to Japan. The meeting lasted 30 minutes started at 2:17 pm. The outline of the meeting is as follows.

Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation
With a view towards the Nuclear Security Summit, the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and other meetings to be held next year as well as in light of the report made by the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND), the two Prime Ministers shared the view to spur international discussion pertaining to framework for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation as well as strengthen cooperation between Japan and Australia.
Bilateral Relations (Security Cooperation)
In light of the advancement of Japan-Australia cooperation in such fields as disaster relief and humanitarian assistance in recent years, mainly in the Asia-Pacific region, both Prime Ministers welcomed the revisions of the action plan regarding security cooperation and agreed on the commencement of negotiations between their on concluding an international agreement involving mutual support between the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the Australian military. It was also intended to arrange the 3rd Japan-Australia Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial Consultation (2 + 2) during the first half of 2010.
Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)
Prime Minister Rudd expressed his strong interest in concluding EPA negotiations with Japan. Prime Minister Hatoyama responded by saying that he would also like to accelerate the negotiation process.
Whaling
(1) Prime Minister Rudd stated that in order to diplomatically resolve the whaling issue, he would like to continue the discussions at the International Whaling Committee (IWC) as well as bilateral discussions between the two countries. Prime Minister Hatoyama agreed to this.
(2) Prime Minister Rudd said that if a diplomatic solution proved to be difficult, resolution through international legal mechanisms would also be an option. Prime Minister Hatoyama responded by pointing out that Japan’s research whaling is a recognized activity under international law.
(3) Prime Minister Hatoyama, noting that the unlawful obstructive activities by Sea Shepard threatened to put the safety of the (Japanese) research whaling ships at risk, requested appropriate responses by Australia as the port country.
Climate Change
Both Prime Ministers recognizing that the 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) is coming to conclude and wishing that the remaining points of discussion will be resolved, decided to seek an agreement among all the major nations towards a fair and effective international framework and ambitious goals.

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