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S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 05 CANBERRA 000180 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR D, NEA/I, PM AND EAP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/23/2018 
TAGS: OVIP GATES ROBERT OVIP NEGROPONTE JOHN MARR
MOPS, PREL, AS 
SUBJECT: AUSMIN 2008:  SESSION IV: ALLIANCE AND DEFENSE 
PARTNERSHIP 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Robert D. McCallum, Jr, for reasons 1.4 (b),( 
d). 
 
¶1. (U) February 23, 2008, Parliament House, Canberra, 
Australia. 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
¶2. (S) Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Australian 
Minister for Defence Joel Fitzgibbon led the fourth and last 
U.S.-Australia Ministerial (AUSMIN) session, which focused on 
bilateral alliance issues, primarily in the defense arena. 
Secretary Gates made the following points: 1) The U.S. looked 
 
SIPDIS 
forward to cooperating with Australia on three areas designed 
to enhance defense cooperation: the Joint Combined Training 
Capability; Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief; and 
Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance for the next 
year; 2) the United States welcomed the signing of two 
statements of principle to further strengthen information and 
intelligence sharing, one on Satellite Communications 
cooperation and a second on geospatial intelligence 
collaboration; 3) it has taken the United States longer to 
finalize the Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty exemptions list 
than originally anticipated but the U.S. still hoped to send 
the treaty implementing arrangements to the Senate for 
ratification by early March; 4) the United States stands 
ready to brief the new Labor government on missile defense 
technologies and activities as they review their missile 
defense policy; and 5) the United States encourages Australia 
to continue to keep interoperability with the U.S. as a key 
decision factor in all capability requirements analysis. 
Minister Fitzgibbon made the following points: 1) Australia 
is undertaking a comprehensive review of its future 
capability acquisitions as part of its Defense White Paper 
process and said it would make a pro forma request regarding 
possible sale of the F-22 to respond to domestic pressures; 
2) they were still finding their footing on missile defense, 
with lukewarm support for in-theater missile defense but as 
part of their review were open to advice from the United 
States; 3) they valued the close intelligence, defense 
planning, and exercise and training relationships with the 
United States; 4) they appreciated the Secretary's frankness 
on the delay in finalizing the implementing arrangements of 
the Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty; and 5) they welcomed 
the efforts in enhanced defense cooperation.  This is the 
fourth of four AUSMIN 2008 reporting cables.  End Summary. 
 
¶3. (U) Participants: 
 
UNITED STATES 
Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates 
 
SIPDIS 
Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte 
QDeputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte 
Ambassador Robert D. McCallum, Jr. 
Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 
Admiral Timothy J. Keating, Commander, U.S. Pacific Command 
Acting Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs 
Stephen Mull 
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian & Pacific Security 
Affairs James Shinn 
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian & Pacific 
Affairs Glyn Davies 
Tim Davis, Carol Hanlon, Aleisha Woodward, John Crowley, 
Jessica Powers (Notetakers) 
 
AUSTRALIA 
 
CANBERRA 00000180  002 OF 005 
 
 
Minister for Foreign Affairs Stephen Smith 
Minister for Defence Joel Fitzgibbon 
Michael L,Estrange, Secretary of the Department of Foreign 
Affairs and Trade 
Nick Warner, Secretary of the Department of Defence 
Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston, Chief of the Defence Force 
Duncan Lewis, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Prime 
Minister and Cabinet 
Peter Varghese, Director General of the Office of National 
Assessments 
Dennis Richardson, Australian Ambassador to the United States 
Berenice Owen-Jones, Alistair McEachern, Alanna Mackay, 
Antony Horrocks, Marina Tsirbas, Amanda Pickrell, John 
Feakes, Peter West (notetakers). 
 
ENHANCED DEFENSE COOPERATION 
---------------------------- 
¶4. (S/REL AUS) The Secretary of Defense kicked off the 
discussion, noting U.S. and Australian agreement to focus on 
some key areas following the September 2007 announcement by 
Prime Minister Howard and President Bush at the APEC Summit 
to cooperate more closely.  Secretary Gates signaled U.S. 
agreement to sign an updated memorandum of agreement on the 
Joint Combined Training Capability (JCTC) when the text was 
finalized, allowing for even greater combined management of 
the JCTC.  He also mentioned that the U.S. and Australia had 
agreed to move forward on prepositioning of Humanitarian 
Assistance/Disaster Relief (HA/DR) equipment.  On both HA/DR 
and JCTC, the two sides agreed to Joint Investment Programs. 
In the last area of Intelligence, Surveillance, and 
Reconnaissance (ISR), the Secretary agreed with the 
Australian proposal for a Joint Project Definition Study to 
help inform a decision for consideration at the 2009 AUSMIN. 
He noted that the lessons learned most recently in Iraq and 
Afghanistan had allowed the United States to take its ISR 
capability to a completely different level.  Lastly, the 
Secretary pushed Australia to continue its review of combined 
 
SIPDIS 
command and control arrangements and U.S. willingness to 
assist with this review, with the hope that by the 2009 
AUSMIN, the two sides might agree to take the next step in 
this area.  Minister Fitzgibbon concurred that these areas of 
mutual cooperation were of immense benefit to Australia. 
 
INFORMATION SHARING 
------------------- 
¶5. (S/REL AUS) In a public ceremony, Minister Fitzgibbon and 
Secretary Gates signed the U.S.-Australia Military Satellite 
 
SIPDIS 
Communications (SATCOM) Partnership Statement of Principles, 
which will allow the United States and Australia to take 
advantage of modern technologies to further strengthen 
Qadvantage of modern technologies to further strengthen 
intelligence cooperation.  Minister Fitzgibbon noted this 
would continue to operate under the long-standing principle 
of full knowledge and concurrence that guide current 
intelligence cooperation.  During the closed session, they 
also signed a Statement of Principles on geospatial 
intelligence cooperation to take GEOINT cooperation to the 
same level that signals intelligence has reached between the 
two countries.  As an illustration of how much the political 
environment had changed in Australia, Secretary Gates noted 
that the SATCOM cooperation agreement was not expected to 
generate any public controversy. 
 
DEFENSE TRADE COOPERATION TREATY 
-------------------------------- 
¶6. (SBU) Minister Fitzgibbon noted ongoing concerns of the 
 
CANBERRA 00000180  003 OF 005 
 
 
Australian defense industry created by U.S. International 
Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and export controls that 
he hoped the Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty would help to 
minimize.  Secretary Gates shared with the Minister that the 
development of the exemptions list for the treaty had taken 
longer than initially expected because the Under Secretary of 
Defense for Acquisition Technology and Logistics had worked 
closely with other DOD components to cull the list down to a 
minimum that would be in accordance with the export rules and 
regulations, but also remain within the spirit of the treaty. 
 He indicated that he expected the list to move to the 
Department of State soon for a narrow legal review with 
regard to export controls, after which the State Department 
would be able to forward the implementing arrangements to the 
Senate in early March so the treaty could be ratified. 
 
FUTURE CAPABILITY ACQUISITIONS AND AUSTRALIAN DEFENSE WHITE 
PAPER 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
¶7. (S/REL AUS) Minister Fitzgibbon explained that the new 
Australian government had four major priorities in defense: 
1) developing a new White Paper; 2) continuing growth in 
defense spending at three percent in real growth; 3) ensuring 
maximum capability; and 4) addressing the personnel and 
skills shortage in the military.  The new Defense White Paper 
that the Labor government was writing would be a strategic 
re-assessment that would guide decisions on capability 
requirements and force structure as well as plan for future 
defense budgets.  He expected the paper to be completed by 
early 2009 but hoped that it would not hold up some key 
projects for which the Labor government had already expressed 
support, including the three Air Warfare Destroyers and the 
two large amphibious ships already agreed to under the Howard 
government.  Simultaneously, the new government had convened 
an Air Combat Capability Review that would be completed by 
the end of April 2008 and would review the decision by the 
Howard government to retire the F-111s by 2010, review the 
status of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, revisit the 
F-22 issue and the Howard government's decision to purchase 
24 Super Hornets as a stopgap between the retirement of the 
F-111s and the arrival of the first JSF fighters.  He 
expressed his opinion, however, that the review would likely 
not result in any decision other than to keep the JSF and 
continue with the Super Hornet purchase, explaining that the 
Qcontinue with the Super Hornet purchase, explaining that the 
government felt it had to respond to Australian public 
concerns that the previous government had not based these 
decisions on capability requirements but rather on political 
expediency.  He also mentioned the ALP's commitment to 
submarines.  Secretary Gates acknowledged that it was 
reasonable for a new government to undertake a review of 
large procurement decisions.  He stressed the hope that a key 
decision factor would be for Australia to remain 
interoperable with the United States, and offered U.S. 
assistance to the review efforts. 
 
MISSILE DEFENSE AND SPACE POLICY 
-------------------------------- 
¶8. (S/REL AUS) Defence Minister Fitzgibbon noted that missile 
defense became an issue in Australian politics in the lead up 
to the November 2007 election.  The Australian Labor Party 
(ALP) adopted a position of lukewarm support for in-theater 
missile defense but rejected national missile defense because 
it risked upsetting the regional/global balance.  The new 
government was willing to discuss the issue, however, and was 
undertaking a review of missile defense as part of the White 
 
CANBERRA 00000180  004 OF 005 
 
 
Paper.  On the multilateral missile defense conference that 
had been scheduled to convene in Sydney in September 2008, he 
explained the government's decision to cancel hosting it as 
one of domestic political management.  The government could 
not be seen to host a major missile defense conference before 
completing its internal review and making public the 
government's decision on future missile defense.  He conceded 
that Australia would be willing to host a future iteration of 
the conference, perhaps in 2010. (France has already agreed 
to host the 2009 conference.)  Acknowledging the sensitivity 
of the issue, Secretary Gates encouraged Australia to allow a 
U.S. expert on missile defense to brief them on the latest 
technology and issues as they began their internal review. 
He also asked that Australia provide assurances publicly that 
the cancellation of the multilateral conference was not a 
signal of their direction on missile defense should the issue 
be leaked.  In the area of Space Policy, Minister Fitzgibbon 
thanked the United States for continued and growing close 
cooperation, acknowledging the benefits that Australia 
derives from such cooperation with the United States. 
 
¶9. (S/NF) Comment: A sign of the inchoate deliberations of 
the new government on missile defense was evidenced later in 
the day as both sides prepared for the concluding press 
conference.  Minister Fitzgibbon seemed prepared to make 
positive statements about the recent successful shootdown of 
a U.S. satellite, while rejecting missile defense concepts. 
In the end, he refrained from saying anything discordant in 
the press conference itself, but the back and forth 
discussion on the Australian side demonstrated that the new 
government is still feeling its way, and missile defense is 
one area where we can expect them to struggle.  End comment. 
 
AUSMIN DEFENSE ACQUISITION COMMITTEE (ADAC) MEETING 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
¶10. (SBU) Air Chief Marshal Houston, Chief of the Defence 
Force, briefed the results of the ADAC meeting earlier in the 
month that had examined capability and procurement issues. 
Key outcomes included technology transfer issues that were 
resolved; discussion of implementation of the Defense Trade 
Cooperation Treaty after it is ratified; and the decision to 
embed the outcomes from the Interoperability Statement of 
Principles into ongoing efforts. 
 
MILITARY REPRESENTATIVES (MILREPS) REPORT 
----------------------------------------- 
¶11. (S/REL AUS) Air Chief Marshal Houston also briefed the 
Q11. (S/REL AUS) Air Chief Marshal Houston also briefed the 
results of the September 2007 MILREPS meeting that he hosted 
with Admiral Keating.  The meeting resulted in 22 action 
items focused on counterterrorism; maritime security 
collaboration, particularly in Indonesia and the Philippines; 
China and combined efforts; intelligence sharing, and 
exercises and training.  Both Admiral Keating and Air Chief 
Marshal Houston noted that exercises like Talisman Sabre 
remained the bedrock of training for both sides.  Talisman 
Sabre was a high-end capability exercise that provided an 
opportunity to test significant air and naval capabilities. 
Houston called such interaction "invaluable" to Australia's 
ability to maintain its strategic capabilities and was 
pleased that these exercises continued despite the high 
operational tempo maintained by both countries. 
 
POLICY PLANNING PARTNERSHIP 
--------------------------- 
¶12. (SBU) Both sides noted the growing cooperation and 
 
CANBERRA 00000180  005 OF 005 
 
 
efforts to exchange classified planning guidance and 
personnel, as well as to cooperate on defense planning 
scenarios.  Minister Fitzgibbon indicated that Australia 
looked forward to commencing work in mid-2008 on further 
developing plans. 
 
COFFEE SESSION: AFGHANISTAN AND NATO, MISSILE DEFENSE, AND 
AIR COMBAT CAPABILITY REVIEW 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
¶13. (S/REL AUS) In an pre-AUSMIN early morning meeting, many 
of the topics were briefly discussed between Secretary Gates 
and Minister Fitzgibbon, including their mutual frustration 
with bringing NATO along on Afghanistan.  Gates noted the 
need to make the process work better and move NATO 
ministerials from stilted, sterile processes to more dynamic 
sessions.  France's return to NATO was an opportunity to 
restructure how NATO does business.  At Bucharest, the United 
States and Australia should press NATO ministers to take up 
the public statement on Afghanistan to strengthen European 
public support for the long-term vision.  Minister Fitzgibbon 
rejoined that Australia would like to get more visibility 
into internal NATO deliberations.  On missile defense, 
Minister Fitzgibbon reiterated the need to postpone the 
multilateral missile defense conference until after the ALP 
conference and that the cancellation of the conference this 
year should not be seen as "a matter of policy change but of 
political management.  We need to get our party platform on 
missile defense in order before holding the conference."  He 
reassured Secretary Gates that there would be no public 
announcement of the postponement to avoid the perception of a 
policy change on missile defense.  Minister Fitzgibbon 
discussed the Air Combat Capability Review that had just been 
announced.  The Defence Minister stated that "aircraft 
acquisition is now a topic of broad public discussion; every 
man in every hotel (bar) is talking about F-18 Super Hornets" 
so the Labor government needs to do a public review.  As part 
of that review, he asked for reassurance that the Joint 
Strike Fighter (JSF) was on track, which Admiral Mullen 
confirmed.  As for the F-22, Minister Fitzgibbon stated he 
has to ask for political reasons and asked for guidance as to 
what to do.  Secretary Gates noted the Obey Amendment 
prohibiting foreign sales of F-22s was unlikely to change 
anytime soon. (Note:  OSD/APSA advised Secretary Gates that 
any letter should be sent to DOD rather than to Congress.) 
 
¶14. (U) Secretary Gates, PM Acting Assistant Secretary Mull, 
Q14. (U) Secretary Gates, PM Acting Assistant Secretary Mull, 
and EAP Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Davies cleared 
on this cable. 
 
MCCALLUM