{"id":4431,"date":"2026-05-04T08:14:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T08:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/4431\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T08:14:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T08:14:08","slug":"australia-and-japan-sign-agreements-on-energy-defence-and-critical-minerals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/4431\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia and Japan sign agreements on energy, defence and critical minerals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia and Japan have signed multiple new agreements to bolster cooperation on energy, defence and critical minerals, while warning against economic coercion and promising to consider a “joint response” if their economic security is threatened.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Japanese counterpart Takaichi Sanae have held annual leaders’ talks in Canberra this morning as the two countries mark 50 years since signing the landmark Basic Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation.<\/p>\n

Both leaders heaped praise on the relationship, with Ms Takaichi saying Australia and Japan were now “quasi allies”, and Mr Albanese saying the relationship was increasingly indispensable in difficult times.<\/p>\n

“Our friendship has never been closer, and in these uncertain times, friendships matter more than ever,” Mr Albanese said.\"two<\/p>\n

Anthony Albanese and Takaichi Sanae signed multiple agreements.\u00a0 (ABC News: Adam Kennedy)<\/p>\n

The two leaders signed four separate agreements, including statements on defence, energy and critical minerals cooperation and a joint declaration on “economic security cooperation”.<\/p>\n

The declaration says Japan and Australia will share information and consult on “economic contingencies”, including those stemming from geopolitical tensions, economic coercion or major market disruptions, and “consider measures in response” if their security is threatened.<\/p>\n

It also takes a thinly veiled swipe at China, which dominates rare earths supply chains and in January imposed restrictions on some rare earths exports to Japan after Ms Takaichi made contentious comments about Taiwan.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Anthony Albanese and Takaichi Sanae agreed to stand against “all forms of economic coercion”. (ABC News: Adam Kennedy)<\/p>\n

“We express our strong concerns over all forms of economic coercion, and the use of non-market policies and practices that are leading to harmful overcapacity and market distortions, as well as export restrictions, particularly on critical minerals, that could have a significant negative impact on global supply chains,” the declaration says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Australia and Japan have also signed a new agreement on critical minerals, saying they would elevate it to a “core pillar” of the economic relationship and identifying six rare earths “strategic projects” that they can support to diversify supply chains.<\/p>\n

That list of projects includes the major Lynas Rare Earths Project in Kalgoorlie and Alcoa’s Gallium Recovery Project.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

The Lynas Rare Earths refinery is on the western outskirts of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in Western Australia.\u00a0 (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)<\/p>\n

They have also signed a new leaders’ statement on defence. which notes the “unprecedented strategic alignment and increasing number of joint activities” between the two countries.<\/p>\n

Ms Takaichi said defence ministers in both nations would now explore “tangible” ways to “further elevate and institutionalise comprehensive security cooperation”.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Takaichi Sanae says she wants Japan and Australia to work together on national security.\u00a0 (ABC News: Adam Kennedy)<\/p>\n

The two leaders discussed China, North Korea, the Indo-Pacific and the uncertainty of roiling energy markets because of the war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

The agreement on energy security is much briefer than the other statements issued, but says the two countries will maintain “stable and transparent engagement” on the trade of energy products.<\/p>\n

Japan has been pushing Australia not to impose an additional tax on LNG exports, despite fury from climate groups who have pointed out that Japanese gas companies onsell vast amounts of that LNG to other Asian markets.<\/p>\n

Gas tax campaign cuts through to community but Labor opposed<\/a><\/p>\n

The government will not increase taxes on gas giants in next month’s budget, echoing the industry’s argument that exporters are already paying tens of billions of dollars in taxes each year.<\/p>\n

The prime minister and foreign minister have both said Australia will not press ahead with any new tax on existing gas exports, in part because they need to assure major fuel suppliers in Asia that Australia will be a “reliable” energy partner during the looming fuel crisis.<\/p>\n

Mr Albanese said the new agreements signed by Australia and Japan would help secure Australia’s energy and economic security.<\/p>\n

“Our partnership helps us secure the energy we both need, underpins the trade and investment that leads to more jobs and helps keep us safe in a more uncertain world,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Anthony Albanese says Australia’s relationship with Japan is mutually beneficial.\u00a0 (ABC News: Adam Kennedy)<\/p>\n

Ms Takaichi said Japan and Australia would “closely communicate with each other” and respond to the energy crisis in the Middle East with “a sense of urgency”.<\/p>\n

She also\u00a0said the United States, which is a formal ally to Tokyo and Canberra, remained “indispensable” to both countries.<\/p>\n

“Japan and Australia now have a firm intention to contribute together to peace and stability of the region and the international community,” she said.<\/p>\n

“The two countries have built a relationship as frontrunners in cooperation among like-minded countries by advancing pioneering security cooperation at a level that could be described as quasi allies.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia and Japan have signed multiple new agreements to bolster cooperation on energy, defence and critical minerals, while…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[483,22,21,2285,5731,5735,5732,2416,5730,489,5734,5729,5733],"class_list":{"0":"post-4431","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-anthony-albanese","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-austrlia","11":"tag-china","12":"tag-critical-minerals","13":"tag-defence","14":"tag-diplomacy","15":"tag-japan","16":"tag-japanese-prime-minister","17":"tag-prime-minister","18":"tag-rare-earths","19":"tag-sanae-takaichi","20":"tag-takaichi-sanae"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}