The Australian Minister for Defence John Moore and the New Zealand Minister for Defence, Max Bradford, will meet in Sydney tomorrow for the annual Australia-New Zealand Defence Minister's talks. ; ; Issues to be discussed will include regional security, specifically East Timor, Bougainville, and the Five Power Defence Arrangement (FPDA), as well as interoperability between the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF). ; ; Mr Moore said that regional developments over the last few years illustrate how interpreting and managing the security environment in the Asia-Pacific region has become more complex and demanding. ; ; "ll of this underlies the value of strategic partnerships such as the arrangement that exists between Australia and New Zealand, and the importance of maximising our collective capacity to shape our security environment," said Mr Moore. ; ; "Australia has particularly welcomed the close cooperation between our two respective defence organisations on the issue of East Timor, including the NZ contribution to UNAMET." ; ; Tomorrow's Ministerial discussions will follow a meeting of the Australia-New Zealand Consultative Committee (ANZCC) involving Secretaries of Defence and Chiefs of the Defence Forces from both countries.
