QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE › COVID-19: Australia-India-Japan-United States Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting
Senator PAYNE (New South Wales—Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women) (14:22): These are very important engagements because the Quad's positive agenda complements Australia's other bilateral regional and multilateral engagements, including, of course, as I said in my previous response, with ASEAN, to support an open, inclusive and resilient region anchored in international law. We reiterated our commitment to ongoing practical work deepening Quad cooperation on regional priorities that were agreed at our in-person meeting in Tokyo last year. They include maritime security, infrastructure, supply chain resilience, as I've mentioned, counterterrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, cyber and countering disinformation, as just a number. We discussed the importance of deepening our cooperation to address climate change, including Australia's focus on supporting adaptation and resilience in the Pacific through our $1½ billion climate finance commitment through to 2025. So despite the significant disruption that COVID-19 is causing, Australia remains absolutely focused on working with our key regional partners to respond to these longer term challenges. (Time expired)