Remarks by Minister for Defence Chan Chun Sing at 15th Singapore-Australia Joint Ministerial Committee Joint Press Conference at Commonwealth Parliament Office, Adelaide

On behalf of the Singapore delegation, first, let me thank Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Richard (Marles), Penny (Wong), and Don (Farrell) for hosting us.

As DPM Richard mentioned, this is a very unique relationship between our two countries in terms of the breadth, the depth, and the quality of the relationship. I echo what DPM Richard said, "it has never been better". Having said that, we never rest on our laurels. We are constantly in communication, looking for things that we can do to enhance our bilateral ties, both on the bilateral front and also, on the multilateral front.

I just want to emphasise this point, that Singapore and Australia share a lot of strategic interests, and key to that is that we complement one another in terms of our strategic reach and our strategic resilience. You can see that being manifested in many of the things that we do. We help each other extend our strategic reach; we help each other make sure that we have that resilience in a much more complex world.

On the military front, besides the exercises that have been mentioned and the many other cooperation projects, we are also looking to strengthening the resilience of our defence ecosystems. What do I mean by that? In today's more complex military operations and security operations, it is not just a contest of the equipping that we have, the training that we have, or even the operational plans that we have. It is also a contest of the defence ecosystems to see how we can be more resilient and how we can outlast the adversary. Today, the Industrial Base Resilience Arrangement is a step towards that direction, whereby we know that we can depend on one another, not just in times of peace, but also in the toughest of times. That we can watch out for one another and ensure that we can have continuity in our operations, very much like what we have achieved on the economic front.

I really want to thank Richard, Penny, and Don for your partnership, for us to get this off the ground. As I say, this will not be the end of what we are going to do, and we are constantly looking for new things to strengthen our strategic reach and resilience together.

The last thing I would say is that this ability to complement one another really depends on one word - trust. That kind of deep reservoir of trust that exists between Australia and Singapore at all levels - at the personal level and at the institutional level - that is key to how we are able to do things together and constantly look for new opportunities to do better things and to do things better.

On that note, I really want to thank DPM Richard and your team for this great partnership, and we look forward to doing even more with Australia and doing even higher quality stuff with Australia.

Thank you.

Lianhe Zaobao: The Industrial Base Resiliency Arrangement (IBRA) between Singapore and Australia appears to be more comprehensive than similar arrangements previously signed with other countries. Is that an accurate characterisation? If so, how is this IBRA different from other arrangements? Why and how will it contribute to the security of Singapore and Australia, as well as the wider region?

Minister for Defence Chan Chun Sing: Well, the simple answer to the first question is this: I think between Singapore and Australia, the depth of the relationship and the breadth of the relationship is quite different from anything that we have with any other country. That goes to the deep sense of trust that we have.

Why this agreement? Because, as I have mentioned, in modern security issues and warfare, it is not just a contest of the training, the equipping, or even the operational plans. It is the ability to be resilient, the ability to sustain operations from peace through the troubled peace or grey-zone operations, all the way to war. This agreement gives us a framework to support each other throughout that continuum.

In peacetime, there will be essential supplies that both of us depend on. We operate various common platforms. We have joint research and development across various areas and domains, and these agreements allow us to closer integrate the kind of supply chain dependencies that we have. Together, we can be more resilient than just doing it on our own.

When it comes to operations, we have operated with the Australian Defence Force across the spectrum of operations throughout the years. Sometimes even in domestic situations where there are situations in Australia where we can chip in to help, whether it is a bushfire, drought or floods. We integrate seamlessly with the Australian Defence Force, and nobody misses a heartbeat when operating together.

Beyond Australia, whether it is in the region or even as far away as Afghanistan, in the past, we have always operated seamlessly together. This is not just about the close relationship in terms of our training and deployment, but also how we supported each other behind-the-scenes. That is actually all the more critical going forward in uncertain times where supply chains can be disrupted or supply chains can be weaponised. This is where we have each other's back, and we can do more together and provide greater resilience to our forces.

More Resources

Signing of Industrial Base Resiliency Arrangement Deepens Defence Relations between Singapore and Australia

Fact Sheet: Singapore-Australia Industrial Base Resiliency Arrangement