Portfolio — 24 March 2026

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence signed the Australia-EU Security and Defence Partnership on 24 March, alongside the Foreign Minister and Kaja Kallas, Vice President and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Commission [TA-260324-house-a9c2a02c99ed:s092]. The signing marks a formal institutionalisation of security ties between Australia and the European Union at a moment of significant strategic pressure on the rules-based international order.

The Deputy Prime Minister framed the partnership explicitly against two converging threats: the Russia-China no-limits agreement and Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine [TA-260324-house-a9c2a02c99ed:s092]. His core strategic argument was that Eastern Europe and the Indo-Pacific are not separate security theatres but operate under a single rules-based order — meaning lessons from the Ukraine conflict carry direct operational and doctrinal relevance for Australia's own neighbourhood.

This framing positions the partnership as geopolitically purposeful rather than declaratory.

On substance, the partnership will deepen cooperation across cybersecurity, space, counterterrorism financing, information sharing, and defence industrial collaboration [TA-260324-house-a9c2a02c99ed:s092]. The defence industrial dimension carries particular weight: the Deputy Prime Minister pointed to European platforms already embedded in Australian capability — Spanish-designed air warfare destroyers and supply ships, French-built Bushmasters currently in service in Ukraine, and German Boxer combat reconnaissance vehicles being manufactured in Brisbane for both the Australian Army and Germany.

The Boxer co-production arrangement in Brisbane is a concrete example of the kind of two-way industrial integration the partnership is designed to formalise and expand.

The Deputy Prime Minister characterised the partnership as foundational to Australia and Europe navigating a challenging world together, anchored in shared democratic values, freedom of speech, and mutual trust. That framing — values-based as well as capability-based — signals the partnership is intended to carry political durability beyond individual procurement cycles or crisis responses.