ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus, Philippines

Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, will travel to the from 23 –24 October 2017 for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus). Minister Payne will join defence Ministers from across South East Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific in Manila to discuss defence cooperation and regional security challenges. Minister Payne said the ADMM-Plus is the region’s preeminent regional security framework and was important for fostering practical military cooperation. “The region must work together to address common challenges, including North Korea’s provocative actions, the evolving terrorism threat and continued tensions in the South China Sea,” Minister Payne said. “The ADMM-Plus helps to promote the rules-based order and to build cooperation, transparency and trust between regional militaries.” While in the Philippines Minister Payne will also hold a number of bilateral meetings with her regional counterparts. Defence Ministers or their representatives from the 10 ASEAN states and the eight 'Plus' countries, (Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States) will attend the ADMM-Plus. Australia is the current co-chair of the ADMM-Plus Experts’ Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations with Indonesia.