This week in Australian foreign affairs: Marles in New Zealand for South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting; new financial and cyber sanctions imposed on Russian citizens for cybercrime; new humanitarian assistance package to support civilians in Lebanon, and more.

On 1 October, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles announced he will travel to New Zealand for South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM).  The SPDMM 2024 marks the ninth iteration of the regional defence forum, which seeks to “progress tangible initiatives to deepen military-to-military cooperation in the Pacific. This year’s theme is ‘collectively looking to the future: our region in 2050’.” While in Auckland, Marles will also hold bilateral meetings with his Pacific counterparts as well as the “Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General, Baron Waqa, who will attend the SPDMM as a guest. The members of the SPDMM are Australia, Chile, Fiji, France, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga. Officials from Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States will attend as observers.”

The corresponding SPDMM 2024 Joint Communique was released on 3 October. Marles joined partners in discussing climate change, maritime security, and strategic competition. The “members exchanged assessments on the top regional security challenges now and in the future, considered the role of emerging technology, and reaffirmed the value of operational collaboration between the militaries of the South Pacific as a contribution to a secure and resilient region.” Members “recommitted to enhance their ability to jointly respond to climate-induced disasters, meet the increased demand for rapid and effective Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief response, address maritime security threats, such as illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and transnational crime across their vast exclusive economic zones, and tackle cyber threats, alongside other agencies.” Further topics of importance were interoperability and collective action, maritime security, training and academic network, non-traditional security issues, people-to-people links, and coordinating with regional architecture. A full read out of the communique can be found here.

New financial and cyber sanctions have been imposed on Russian citizens for cybercrime. On 2 October, Marles joined Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong and Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Cyber Security Tony Burke to announce the sanctions and travel bans on three Russian citizens for their involvement in the Evil Corp cybercrime group. “Evil Corp is one of the most prolific and longest running cybercrime groups in the world.” They have been “responsible for significant cyber incidents, including ransomware attacks across Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States, resulting in millions of dollars of losses and disruptions to critical health systems, national infrastructure and government sectors.” The three individuals are Maksim Viktorovich Yakubets, Igor Olegovich Turashev and Aleksandr Viktorovich Ryzhenkov. The sanctions “are part of a coordinated effort with the United Kingdom and the United States to deter and respond to malicious cyber activity,” and amounts to the third use of Australia’s autonomous cyber sanctions framework.

On 28 September, Wong joined Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy to announce a new humanitarian assistance package to support civilians in Lebanon, impacted by the escalation of conflict. The “new funding will support the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to provide medical assistance, and address essential nutrition, education and water sanitation needs for displaced and conflict-affected people in southern Lebanon.” The package will bring Australia’s total assistance to the Middle East to AUD$84.5 million since 7 October 2023. “Australia has called for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon,” and the government continues to “reiterate calls for all parties to exercise restraint, de-escalate and comply with UN Security Council resolutions.”

Also on 28 September, Minister for Trade and Tourism and Special Minister of State Don Farrell welcomed Minister of State for Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi to Australia, to meet some of Australia’s most senior business leaders. The meeting follows the recent agreement on trade negotiations. While in Australia, Conroy and Thani will “confirm arrangements for signing and implementing our trade agreement, to ensure the benefits can be locked in as soon as possible.” Additionally, Thani and Conroy will host a “roundtable of senior business representatives from both countries to explore business partnerships and highlight opportunities under our trade agreement.” According to the statement “the UAE is the gateway for Australian exporters and businesses to expand into the Middle East, and under our trade agreement Australian exports to the UAE are expected to increase by $678 million per year. Opening up new markets for our world-class exports creates more well-paying, secure jobs at home, while lowering tariffs on imports and materials reduces the cost for all Australians.”

Dr Adam Bartley is the managing editor for AIIA’s Australian Outlook and weekly columnist for The Week in Australian Foreign Affairs. He is a former Fulbright Scholar and non-resident fellow at the Elliot School for International Affairs, the George Washington University. Adam also has positions as post-doctoral fellow at the Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation RMIT University  and as program manager of the AI Trilateral Experts Group. He can be found on Twitter here.

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