PM Lawrence Wong at the Joint Press Conference with Australia PM Anthony Albanese in Canberra, Australia (Oct 2025)

Thank you, Prime Minister Albanese, for the warm welcome. I am pleased to be in Canberra to commemorate several significant milestones in our bilateral relationship.

This year, we mark 60 years of diplomatic ties. Australia was one of the very first countries to recognise Singapore’s independence and establish diplomatic ties with us. We are grateful for your friendship and steadfast support over the decades.

We also mark 50 years since the Singapore Armed Forces started training in Australia. Generations of our servicemen and women have benefited from your hospitality and support. In turn, Singapore has always stood ready to help in difficult times – most recently during the Queensland floods earlier this year.

This year is also the 10th anniversary of our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This has delivered real and tangible benefits for both countries – more than 110 initiatives, including pathfinding ones like the world’s first Digital and Green Economy Agreements. We have forged closer links between our businesses, with more than 5,000 Australian companies now using Singapore as a launchpad to access opportunities in the region. And, we have a significant flow of two-way travel – with people studying, working and living in our respective countries. Many have formed close ties and lifelong friendships. These people-to-people ties form the foundation of our partnership.

Prime Minister Albanese and I have earlier agreed and launched the upgraded Comprehensive Strategic Partnership – one which is anchored in trust and will allow us to chart new frontiers together.

For example, we are stepping up our security cooperation. Through the Enhanced Defence Cooperation MOU, we will improve our militaries’ reciprocal access to facilities, and deepen cooperation in defence science, technology, logistics and supply chains.

We are strengthening economic connectivity. We will ensure that critical goods continue flowing between our countries, even during disruptions.

We will cooperate in new and emerging areas like cyber, digital, space, and Artificial Intelligence. This will enable us to shape international standards and harness the transformative potential of these new technologies.

And we will enhance our green partnership by refreshing our Green Economy Agreement and holding a Ministerial Dialogue on Energy. And we will support Australia’s vision to become a renewable energy superpower, by connecting your abundant resources with Southeast Asia’s growing demand for clean power.

Both Australia and Singapore recognise that our future security and prosperity lies in Asia. That means we will have to work together to shape the architecture for cooperation in our region. Singapore will continue to support Australia’s efforts to deepen its engagement with Southeast Asia. And we will cooperate under a new Third Country Training Programme to deliver capacity-building programmes for Southeast Asian countries, including what will soon be ASEAN’s newest member – Timor-Leste.

All in all, we have a full and ambitious agenda ahead of us. Prime Minister Albanese and I have tasked our Ministers to begin implementing the CSP 2.0 in earnest, and we look forward to their updates.

The world today is becoming more uncertain and more unsettled. But Australia and Singapore share a common strategic perspective that is built on a deep reservoir of trust. I am confident that with this strong foundation, we can continue to chart new frontiers and deliver lasting benefits for both our peoples.

Thank you.

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