East Asia Summit and Treaty of Amity and Cooperation

I am pleased to announce that ASEAN Foreign Ministers have confirmed today that Australia will be an inaugural participant in the East Asia Summit, which will be held in Kuala Lumpur in December. Australia looks forward to making a constructive contribution to the East Asia Summit, which will bring together the leaders of ASEAN, Australia, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand. The East Asia Summit will be a key development in regional architecture at a particularly dynamic time for our region.

The invitation to Australia to participate in the East Asia Summit follows the Government's decision to accede to the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation. The Government has taken this decision following extensive consultation with ASEAN, which resolved Australia's long-standing issues with the treaty. ASEAN partners have confirmed that Australia's accession will not affect our existing bilateral and multilateral treaty commitments nor our rights and obligations under the UN Charter.

I will place this Treaty before Parliament when Parliament resumes in August, in conformity with Australia's treaties process, which will pave the way for formal accession later this year.

Media inquiries : Ministerial 02 6277 7500 , DFAT Media Liaison 02 6261 1555