Australia and New Zealand have put their close partnership on display, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hosting his New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon for their annual leaders meeting. The talks, held on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, touched on defence, trade and regional cooperation, and were framed by both leaders as a chance to deepen one of the world's most enduring bilateral relationships.
Both sides went out of their way to stress the warmth between the two nations. One of the leaders described the relationship as a small-scale version of how the two countries relate more broadly, saying the connection goes well beyond shared borders and history and rests on genuine warmth. We are family, came the message, with the assessment that the relationship is in the best shape it has ever been.
Defence cooperation was a central theme of the discussions. The leaders pointed to the historic ANZAC connection, forged long ago, as a reminder of how enduring and relevant the relationship remains. They spoke of ensuring that cooperation stays fit for purpose, with the goal of operating even more closely and in a more integrated way over time, working towards what they called a capable ANZAC force by 2035.
The two governments also underlined their shared interests in the Pacific. Australia and New Zealand said they have closely aligned positions on supporting a region that is stable, resilient and prosperous, and committed to working together in a coordinated way to deliver practical outcomes for their Pacific partners, describing it as something they do each and every day.
On the economy, the relationship is already deeply developed. According to the leaders, around 38 billion dollars worth of goods and services moves between the two countries every year. The meeting also brought together chief executives from both sides to discuss how the two economies could do more together, particularly around technology, resilience and lifting productivity and growth.
The summit produced at least one concrete deliverable. The leaders witnessed the signing of the next phase of the Trans-Tasman Science Collaboration, linked to a synchrotron agreement, a step that ties the two countries more closely together in scientific research and reflects the broader push to build resilience and economic strength through cooperation rather than competition.
The leaders placed the meeting in a wider strategic context, noting that the Indo-Pacific is the biggest driver of global growth, with two thirds of future growth and two thirds of the world's middle class expected to come from the region. Acknowledging a world they said is shifting from rules to power and from economics to security, both argued that, despite the volatility, the two nations are well placed to prosper by working together.