50th anniversary of the signing of the Basic Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with Japan

Friends, it is an honour to be with you to celebrate 50 years since the signing of the Basic Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between Australia and Japan.

We also celebrate 50 years of the Australia-Japan Foundation.

These milestones reflect a relationship that spans the full breadth of our societies: government, business, academia, the arts, science, sports, and so much more.

You can see it in this room tonight.

Before we look ahead, I wanted to reflect on how we got here.

In the early 1970s, the relationship was thriving but it existed almost entirely on cargo ships.

Australian iron ore and coal were helping to grow Japan’s emerging iron and steel industry.

And Japanese brands like Toyota and Datsun were gaining a foothold in the Australian market.

But trade alone is a transaction. Friendship calls for more.

Japan had been seeking to expand the partnership, and Prime Minister Gough Whitlam saw the potential.

In October 1973, Gough visited the ancient capital of Nara – today, the home district of Japan’s Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi.

It’s also special to have Minister Horii, who represents the Nara Electoral District, and Nakagawa Motonobu, the Mayor of Nara, here with us this evening.

While Gough wandered Nara’s temples and lantern-lit paths, an idea took root and he proposed a Treaty to take the name of that city.

He put the case best himself that year when he said: “There are very few countries… whose prosperity is so interdependent as that of Australia and Japan. We ought to acknowledge that position much more frankly and formally.”

Gough was dismissed before the Basic Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation was signed. It is a credit to Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser for carrying the ambition and commitment forward.

And a demonstration of the enduring bipartisan support for our relationship with Japan.

Prime Minister Fraser signed the Treaty on 16 June 1976 in Tokyo with Prime Minister Miki Takeo.

Both Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser had profound and personal motivations borne of lived experience.

During the war, Whitlam served in the Air Force on Australia’s northern approaches – and Fraser came of age in a world upended by conflict.

They understood our future was here, in our region.

They understood our destiny hinged on the peace and prosperity of our region – and they understood that we have to work to create the conditions where peace and prosperity may flourish.

They understood, like their Japanese counterparts, the value of friendship and cooperation.

In the 50 years since, we have deepened our relationship even further.

As Japan’s Ambassador Suzuki recently described it, “the Treaty represented a historic act of vision and trust”.

It took a relationship that lived in the ports and on the docks and gave it a home in every facet of national life.

For decades, Australia has been a reliable supplier of energy, resources and food to Japan.

And Japanese investment has played a foundational role in our economy.

But alongside the ships came students, scientists, sister cities and sporting teams, artists and entrepreneurs.

Today, Australian and Japanese researchers listen together for gravitational waves, ripples from the very edge of the universe.

Australian lifesavers – supported by the Australian-Japan Foundation – educate Japanese students on water safety and survival.

We share more than 100 sister relationships, including Canberra, which is a sister city to Nara.

Our own media has reported that Australians have an “obsession” with travelling to Japan – a record number of Australian tourists visited Japan last year – more than 1 million.

And Japanese remains one of the most studied foreign languages in our schools, introducing new generations to Japan and its culture.

The decades after the Treaty have been defined by trust – two countries that can rely on each other in good times and in bad.

When the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami struck in 2011, Prime Minister Julia Gillard was the first foreign leader to visit the region – pledging support through food aid, donations, and relief teams on the ground.

And, during the Black Summer bushfires here, Japan sent us two Self Defense Force aircraft, making a real contribution to our response and recovery.

Since becoming Special Strategic Partners in 2014, and through our 2022 Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation and the entry into force of our Reciprocal Access Agreement in 2023, Australia and Japan have worked even more closely to grow resilience, stability and ensure peace across the region.

Just last month, Prime Minister Albanese welcomed Prime Minister Takaichi to Australia for a historic visit that elevated our partnership even further – with a new Joint Declaration on Economic Security Cooperation, deeper cooperation on energy security, critical minerals, cyber, and defence, as well as a new leadership dialogue to shape what comes next.

As Prime Minister Albanese reflected during the visit, the world has changed immensely since 1976 but the strength of our friendship is “stronger than it has ever been”.

All of this is proof that the Treaty’s statement of intent is as true today as it was five decades ago.

Even as the world – and our region – look very different.

We are seeing conflict and competition on multiple fronts.

The rules and norms so critical to our prosperity and security are being challenged.

We face new threats to our way of life from climate change, from rapid technological change, from misinformation and disinformation.

And Australia and Japan are choosing to act together.

To keep essential goods flowing – including fuel and gas – strengthening our energy security and building resilient critical minerals supply chains.

To deepen the interoperability of our defence forces, with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries supplying our upgraded Mogami-class frigate fleet.

To harden our cyber defences and work together to improve the resilience of our region to cyber threats.

To shape a peaceful, stable and prosperous region.

I don’t think those who drafted the Nara Treaty could have imagined the lives that have been transformed by our shared prosperity.

What they made possible in the drafting of those few careful pages.

What continues today as a living work, carried forward by the people here tonight.

A shared future, united by the enduring peace and friendship between our two countries, and between our people – a partnership that remains strong, prosperous and more important than ever.

Arigatou gozaimasu.