 Ladies and gentlemen, hello and welcome. I'm Michael Fully Love, the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute. It's my pleasure to welcome you to this special event with the British Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss. Let me begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of this land, the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, and I pay my respects to their elders past and present. With us here at 31 Blyth Street today, we have a small but high-powered audience, including the Foreign Secretary, Australia's Foreign Minister, Senator Maurice Payne, the Permanent Undersecretary of the FCDO, Sir Philip Barton, the Secretary of DFAT, Catherine Campbell, and High Commissioners George Brandus and Vicki Tradell. Welcome. Ladies and gentlemen, it's hard to think of two countries with more in common than Australia and the UK. We share a language, a history, and a sense of humour. We're both old democracies and free societies. Our diplomats work closely together in the great councils of the world. Our servicemen and women have fought alongside one another from the Boer War to the Iraq War. In the secret world, we share intelligence through the Five Eyes. We trade and we do business with each other. The Australian diaspora in Britain is large, as is the British diaspora in Australia. And Australians feel remarkably warm towards the United Kingdom. When the Lowy Institute asked Australians last year, which countries they trusted to act responsibly in the world, nearly nine in ten said they trust the UK. It's always an honour, therefore, to welcome the British Foreign Secretary to the Institute, especially in a week when momentous events are taking place in both the Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Today's event will be absorbing but brief, a bit like an ashes test, if you'll excuse me, Foreign Secretary. Shortly, I will invite the Foreign Secretary to give her speech, and after that, I'll put some questions to her, including audience questions. If you'd like to submit a question, there's still time, please send it to eventsatloyinstitute.org. I'll come back in a few moments to introduce the Foreign Secretary, but first, let me welcome Senator Maurice Payne. We're very pleased to have Australia's Foreign Minister back with us today at Bly Street. I know that our British friends won't hold this against us, but Maurice and I met 30 years ago through the Republican movement. Maurice has represented New South Wales in the Senate since 1997 and served on the front bench since 2013. In 2015, she was appointed Australia's Defence Minister, and in 2018, she was appointed Foreign Minister. She also serves as the Minister for Women. I'm very grateful that after hosting the Foreign Secretary for the last couple of days and participating in the Yorkman talks this morning at Admiralty House, Maurice has agreed to give some welcoming remarks to this event. Minister, the lectern is yours. Thank you. Thank you very much, Markle, and it is indeed a great pleasure to be back here at Lowy. Thank you so much for the opportunity and the invitation that may also begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land in which the Lowy Institute stands, the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, and pay my respects to their elders, past, present and emerging. Welcome to our small contingent in the room here today, including our DFAT and British officials who have done such a great job of bringing together this visit and this Auckland. Thank you all very much for what you have done. It is my pleasure to introduce today's address by the United Kingdom Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and Minister for Women and Equalities, and my good friend, the right Honourable Liz Truss. I've come to know Liz over the past few years as Trade Secretary, as Foreign Secretary now, and we both share a great passion for gender equality. So I was delighted when Liz became Foreign Secretary in September. We met in New York then. We met again in Liverpool at the G7 Plus at the end of 2021, and I'm very pleased that she and Secretary Wallace have been able to join me for the first two-plus-two ministerial in Australia since the COVID pandemic began. Our interactions yesterday and today during our Auckland consultations have been very warm, very productive and very cooperative alongside Minister Dutton and Secretary for Defence, Ben Wallace. In defining the relationship between our two nations, it is tempting to reach for stories from our history, stories of mateship, stories of sacrifice together, and that's fair enough. Our history is a crucial foundation. It gives us confidence in our partnership. It tells us something about ourselves and it brings our people together. But it would be a mistake to think that what binds us primarily today is a misty-eyed view of our past. Yes, our history has contributed to our shared values, those such as democracy, freedom, openness, respect for human dignity and for the rule of law. But as distinct sovereign nations, we each cherish these principles in our own way, in our own modern contexts. The ways in which our people instinctively embrace these principles today means they're as relevant for contemporary challenges opposed by circumstances, by critical technologies, by cyberspace and by coercion as they were during the Cold War or the ongoing threat of terrorism or indeed the world wars of the 20th century. A close UK-Australia relationship is vital in today's complex and fractious strategic environment. In which authoritarian regimes are behaving as though now is their time to increase oppression internally and coerce others internationally. We are faced with coercion, with disinformation, with cyber attacks, with a disregard for the rules and norms that have given us decades of peace and stability regularly. The Australia-UK relationship is primed for our present reality and focused on being in control of our respective futures, not dominated by the will of authoritarian powers. And that's why the strategic contest is so important. As liberal democracies, it is only natural that we stand in solidarity with each other in this contested global period. That means standing up for each other and for like-minded partners, defending our values and our principles, respect for sovereignty, open markets and adherence to international law. That applies whether it is China's actions against Lithuania or in the South China Sea, Russia's aggression on the Ukraine border, or the DPRK's testing of missiles in breach of UN conventions and sanctions. That's also why it is important that these Orchman consultations have taken place in person this week. Our two great nations are able to address multiple simultaneous challenges around the globe. It's why we are working ever more closely together and with all our partners, including across ASEAN, the Pacific, the Commonwealth and the European Union, to shape the kind of Indo-Pacific and world we want. That's why our discussions have focused on practical cooperation through measures that include a new Australia-UK cyber and critical technology partnership, a new infrastructure investment partnership in the Indo-Pacific. We'll also build resilience to disinformation that is designed to undermine liberal values and erode social cohesion. And we will work together to support the Indo-Pacific's health and economic recovery, including ensuring more secure, reliable and sustainable supply chains. The UK-Australia FTA signed last month is an historic moment in our relationship. It is a gold standard trade agreement. Our enhanced trilateral security partnership with the United Kingdom and the United States, Orcus, will enable us to significantly deepen cooperation on a range of emerging security and defence capabilities, including artificial intelligence, quantum computing and cyber. These new areas of cooperation go to the heart of challenges affecting the peace, stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific. Before I finish, I'd like to remind everyone that in 2017, another UK foreign secretary spoke here at Lowy. But I don't know how to describe it. Colourful speech. Then Secretary Johnson said, after we leave the EU, I am confident that Australia will be at, or near, the front of the queue for a new free trade agreement with Britain, an agreement that could boost even further what we do together. Such remarkable prescience. Liz as former trade secretary deserves great credit for delivering that agreement, which came to fruition just last month. So Liz as that trade secretary and now foreign secretary, perhaps I can challenge you today to project the trajectory of our nation's relationship over the next five years. Thankfully, a large part of our future is indeed a safe bet. We will be strong allies. We will be steadfast friends. We will be working together to shape the kind of world that we want. And we will remain deeply competitive and parochial over the ashes and the netball. It is now my great pleasure to introduce UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss. Thank you. Well, thank you very much, Maurice, and thank you, Michael, as well, for welcoming me to the Lowy Institute. I'd like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of this land, the Gadigal people, and by paying my respects to elders past and present. It's great to be back in Sydney at the Lowy Institute with my friend, Maurice Payne. As the UK sets out on its future as global Britain, we now have full use of our trade, our defense, our diplomacy, and our development policies to be able, and I see Australia as a real inspiration in that, you know, with the work you do to promote free trade, freedom of speech, human rights, and the rights of women and girls as a leading nation. And our close bonds now are more important than they've ever been, and we are doing more and more together. And this is vital because of the growing threats that we face. The Kremlin haven't learnt the lessons of history. They dream of recreating the Soviet Union, or a kind of greater Russia, carving up territory based on ethnicity and language. They claim they want stability while they work to threaten and destabilise others. We know what lies down that path and the terrible toll in lives lost in human suffering it brings. That's why we urge President Putin to desist and step back from Ukraine before he makes a massive strategic mistake. Ukraine is a proud country with a long history. They have known invading forces before, from the Mongols to the Tatars. They suffered through the state-sponsored famine. Their resilience runs deep. If they have to, Ukrainians will fight to defend their country. Invasion will only lead to a quagmire, as we know from the Soviet-Afghan War or the conflict in Chechnya. Last week at the NATO-Russia Council, we sent a clear message to Moscow that any encouragement into Ukraine would bring massive consequences, including through coordinated sanctions hitting the financial sector and individuals. This week, the United Kingdom announced a new package of training support and defensive weapons for Ukraine to boost their capabilities. And we're working with our partners on high-impact measures, targeting the Russian financial sector and individuals. We're also strengthening our bilateral partnership, following high-level talks in London in December, and we're fostering new trilateral ties with Poland and Ukraine. We're also pushing for alternatives in energy supply so that nations are less reliant on Russia for their gas. We need everyone to step up. Together with our allies, we will continue to stand with Ukraine and urge Russia to de-escalate. What happens in Eastern Europe matters for the world. Threats to freedom, democracy, and the rule of law aren't just regional, they're global, and that's why we have to respond together. Iran's nuclear program has never been more advanced. China has been conducting military flights near Taiwan, and it's using its economic muscle to attempt to coerce democracies like Australia and Lithuania. Russia and China are working together more and more as they strive to set the standards in technologies like artificial intelligence to assert their dominance over the West and Pacific through joint military exercises and in space through closer ties. The International Institute for Strategic Studies argues that we're now seeing the strongest, closest, and best relationship the two countries have had for 70 years. And we're seeing the alignment of authoritarian regimes around the world. It's no surprise that regimes like Belarus, North Korea, and Myanmar find their closest allies in Moscow and Beijing. They don't look to these nations as partners, but as puppets. Moscow wants them to promote their propaganda and destabilize free democracies on their doorstep. At the same time, Beijing has forged a so-called Iron Brotherhood with Belarus. China is the biggest buyer of Iranian oil and Pyongyang's largest trading partner. China and Russia have spotted an ideological vacuum and they're rushing to fill it. They are emboldened in a way that we haven't seen since the Cold War. As freedom-loving democracies, we need to rise up to face down these threats. As well as NATO, we're working with partners like Australia, India, Japan, Indonesia, and Israel to build a global network of liberty. Aggressors are reneging on their commitments and obligations. They're destabilizing the rules-based international order and they're chipping away at the values that underpin it. But they have nothing to offer, the world is different. We're not defined to believe in freedom and democracy. We believe in individual liberty as the greatest transformative force on earth. When people have agency over their own lives, when they have freedom and opportunity, they achieve incredible things. As Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, we know from the evidence of human history that democracies are the engine room of change. We see this in the ideas and innovations that fueled our fight back against COVID, from the University of Sydney's Edward Holmes publishing the COVID Gino, to Oxford's Sarah Gilbert and her life-saving vaccine, to our shared effort to distribute vaccines to those in need around the world. And we want to work together to tackle the big problems we face. That does include working with countries like Russia and China where it's necessary, on trade, tackling climate change, or bringing Iran to the negotiating table. But in doing so, we will stand up for what we believe in. In December, I welcomed G7 foreign ministers to Liverpool, together with Maurice Payne and some of our other closest allies and friends. We expressed our concern about China's economic, coercive policies, and we united to condemn Russia's aggression. Together, we showed our determination to stand shoulder to shoulder for freedom and democracy around the world. We're continuing that vital work this week with our Aukmin, our Australia, UK, foreign and defence ministerial meeting, the first that we've had since 2018. And we're determined to act together in three key areas. Firstly, we'll stand up for our economic security. That means calling out China when it blocks products from Lithuania or imposes punitive tariffs on Australian barley and wine. It means cutting strategic dependence in authoritarian regimes, starting with Europe's dependence on Russian gas. It means helping countries avoiding having their balance sheets loaded with debt. It's estimated that 44 low-to-middle-income countries have debts to Beijing in excess of 10% of their GDP. We're responding on all of these fronts, and we're strengthening our supply chains by taking our economic ties with like-minded nations to new heights. We took a huge step forward by signing our free trade agreement with Australia in December. This is a world-class deal that will remove all of the tariffs on goods both ways. It's going to be easier for our people to live and work in each other's countries, particularly those under 35. And we're building on this by working with Australia to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, reinforcing reliability of supply through one of the largest free trade areas on Earth. We're also working together to provide low- and middle-income countries with honest and reliable alternative sources of investment. In November, I launched British International Investment, helping to mobilise up to £8 billion a year of public and private financing to these countries by 2025, leveraging the firepower of the City of London. Yesterday, Maurice Payne and I agreed on a closer UK-Australia cooperation to boost opportunities for investment across the Indo-Pacific, particularly in areas like energy, climate change adaptation and technology. And we're working together to impose sanctions on human rights abusers and to keep those using forced labour out of our supply chains. Secondly, freedom must be defended, and that's why we are deepening our security ties. Last year, in our integrated review, the UK set out a new deterrence posture, including the biggest increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War. We need to see everyone stepping up in this way. Too few of our NATO allies are meeting the 2% spending target, so it's great to see that Australia is also increasing its commitment to our collective security. The power of our partnership has been demonstrated time and time again. We will forever remember those from Australia and New Zealand who gave their lives for freedom on the historic battlefields of Europe, the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Pacific. The depth of our commitment remains plain to see today, from the Five Eyes Intelligence Partnership to the Five Powers Defence Arrangements with our friends Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand to the carrier strike group, which visited the region last year, led by HMS Queen Elizabeth. Our forces exercised in the South China Sea with ships and aircraft from Australia and other partners standing up for our mutual interests and supporting regional stability. And of course, last year, we finalised our landmark AUKUS partnership. With this deal, we've opened a bold new era in our long history together. And by joining forces with the US, we're showing our determination to protect security and stability across the region. We're helping Australia acquire a nuclear-powered submarine and also means deeper cooperation between our three nations on advanced capabilities like cyber, AI and quantum. We want to use this deeper expertise to help support stability and with partners right across the Indo-Pacific. I'm looking forward to more to visiting the shipyard in Adelaide, where the UK and Australia are building new Type 26 frigates. And Adelaide, of course, will play an important role in developing the new AUKUS submarines. This is a truly formidable and cutting-edge partnership and we're determined to continue strengthening it for the benefit of all. And finally, we're boosting our cooperation on technology. Technology is empowered people by enabling incredible freedom, but we know it can be seized on by others to promote fear. We can't allow the technologies of the future to be hijacked from malign ends, whether it's cyber attacks or building high-tech surveillance states through facial recognition software and AI. Global technology standards must be shaped by the free world. That's where we want to go further and faster by deepening our science and tech collaboration. Just as Australia has banned Huawei from its 5G network, we're stripping high-risk vendors out of our infrastructure and we're embracing Australian expertise, for example, to bring the state of the art 5G to London Underground. Delivering our strategic advantage in science and technology is an absolutely vital objective of the integrated review. And so I'm pleased this week, we're launching our new cyber critical technology partnership with Australia, aimed at tackling malign actors, strengthening supply chains and harnessing tech to support freedom and democracy. Building these partnerships and drawing other countries closer to the orbit of free market democracies will ultimately make us all safer and freer in the years to come. That's why it's time for the free world to stand its ground. We need to face down global aggressors. We should be proud of our ideas and our ideals, clear about what they have brought to mankind and even more ambitious for what we can do together in the future. 40 years ago, Margaret Thatcher gave the Sir Robert Menzies lecture in Melbourne. She said, where freedom exists, I seek to expand it. Where it is under attack, I shall defend it. Where it does not exist, I shall try to create it. I cannot think of a better friend than Australia to work with on this vital endeavor. We can make great things happen. Thank you. Foreign Secretary, thank you very much. Thank you for giving an important speech that's already been widely reported around the world and thank you for agreeing to take some questions. I'm gonna kick off and then we've got some questions from our audience which I'll also put to you. Let me start with you, Crane. You said in your speech that Kremlin has not learned the lessons of history. But Vladimir Putin might reply that history tells him that the West, the free world, is not prepared to stand up to him. After all, eight years later, the Russian flag still flies over Crimea. Why are you confident that the free world will stand its ground, as you said? First of all, I think it's very important to note the commitments that Russia made. In the 1994 Budapest Agreement, in exchange for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons, Russia agreed, alongside the UK and the US, to protect Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. So the claims that are being made by Vladimir Putin are completely wrong about what has happened. And it is true, and I made this point in my speech, that the free world has not been doing enough since the end of the Cold War to make sure that we are deterring aggressors. But we are very clear together with our allies in the G7, with our allies in NATO, that if there is an incursion by Russia into Ukraine, it would come at a massive cost. We are prepared to put very severe sanctions in place. We are also working to support Ukraine in terms of defensive capability. What I would say as well is that dealing with this immediate situation is, of course, an absolute priority. But the free world also needs to work together to reduce economic dependence on Russia, to put in place the agreements that help countries have alternatives in terms of trade and investment. So in the future it becomes harder for those aggressive regimes to use economic dependence as a way of getting what they want. So, yes, we are very ready to act in the immediate term, but in the longer term, this is why it's so important that we are investing in developing countries. It's so important that we are trading widely across the world using strong rules-based agreements like the CPTPP. That's the West way to protect ourselves from aggressors, is from a position of economic and defensive strength. Let's move to that long-term approach because I know that you're also very keen on allies and like-minded countries working much more closely together, cooperating with each other. And AUKUS is an example of that. When I heard about AUKUS, I was reminded of something that Winston Churchill said in 1940 when the United States provided Britain with 50 overage destroyers in exchange for access to British naval bases. And Churchill said that the two countries, the UK and Britain, the UK and the United States, will have to be somewhat mixed up together in some of their affairs for mutual and general advantage. Do you think that in the face of new challenges, we will once again see like-minded countries getting more mixed up together? Yes, and I think that's a good thing. And one of the points I made in my speech is we're seeing more working together by authoritarian nations. And it's vital that we do work together and that we rely on each other. And that's a course about important allies like Australia, like the United States, like our European allies. But we also need to make sure we're working more closely with India, with Japan, with Indonesia. These are all important parts, I think, of creating a much stronger alliance of those in the free world. What are the limits of liberty as an organizing principle for foreign policy? Because in the Indo-Pacific, for example, many of the countries that would be useful in balancing against China are non-democracies or quasi-democracies. Well, the way I look at it is I want a world where free democratic countries can survive and thrive. Survive and thrive. Now, there are many countries who are not, which are not free democracies, who want to live in that world, too. A world that's based on the rules. A world where countries hold true to their commitments, like the 1994 Budapest Agreement. So I think it's right that we form partnerships with all of those countries who want to see a fair rules-based world. Now, not all of them will share our exact way of life and our exact values. And I'm a believer in personal freedom in democracy. I do think it is the best way to organize a society. But I also believe in countries' sovereignty and countries' ability to make their own decisions. What I think is important is that the countries that we work with believe in the rules-based international system and fair play. What's the most important aspect of AUKUS from your perspective? Well, AUKUS is a comprehensive arrangement that is going to involve very deep work together in areas like artificial intelligence, in cyber, in quantum, as well as helping Australia acquire that nuclear-powered submarine capability. So to me, it's a comprehensive arrangement that is going to deepen that partnership. It's worth saying, though, that it's part of a broader picture. We also need to make sure we are preparing NATO for the new era, working much more in areas like hybrid, in areas like cyber, as well. So this is not... We want to work together to develop these capabilities and also share with our friends and allies around the world. I mean, of course, the ASEAN group is extremely important in that, for example. Can I ask you, how does the network of liberty square with Brexit? I mean, I think, like you at the time, I supported the Remain case, because I was worried that Brexit would hinder Britain, make Europe less liberal and weaken the West, and provide succor to the adversaries of the West, like Beijing and Moscow. Hasn't Brexit undermined the network of liberty? I don't agree with that. Brexit was a sovereign decision made by the British people who wanted that ability to determine our future without being part of the EU. And we now have full control, for example, over all aspects of foreign policy, including policies like trade policy and sanctions we previously didn't have. And some of the portents of doom about Brexit simply haven't come true. Not that economic consequences were claimed, but also, in terms of security, if you look at the response to the issues with Russian aggression on Ukraine, we've been working very closely with the EU. Key part of the G7 statement, we've been working very closely as part of the Quad with France, Germany and the United States. So our security relationship is extremely strong, but it is from the position of independent sovereign nation. Let me come to China. You referred to China a couple of times in your speech. Is the UK late to the game on China and on China as a strategic actor and perhaps as a strategic threat? I mean, I recall David Cameron and George Osborne were incredibly bullish about China back in the day. I know the tone in London has changed very substantially and even I think it was last week, we saw that story about MI5 identifying an agent of the Chinese government working at Westminster. Why has it taken so long for London and other European capitals to clock to the threat that China poses? Well, I give credit to Australia here. I think the situation with Australia, the economic coercion we saw, it was one of the wake-up calls as to exactly what China was doing and the way it was using its economic might to try to exert control over other countries. And I think there was a belief in the past that as China got wealthier, it was headed on a path towards becoming a freer, more democratic society. The reality is that hasn't happened and the situation we're in in the late 90s, the Chinese economy was a tenth the size of the United States economy. We're now in a situation with China with a much bigger economy, much more able to coerce other nations. And as I said, we've looked to Australia as we formulate some of our policies around how we deal with those issues. In your speech, you talked about how democracy should be less economically dependent on countries that don't share our values. And that's obviously a good idea and desirable, but China, for example, does three times more trade with Indo-Pacific countries than its nearest competitor, the United States. Is it realistic for countries like Australia and the United Kingdom to diversify away from an economy the size of China's? Well, I look at it in positive terms as we are diversifying towards countries that follow the rules. For example, on areas like intellectual property or forced technology transfer. So one of the reasons why we want to sign up to the CPTPP is that has strong rules basis so that UK supply chains will, UK companies, when we are sourcing products, we will know that they have good environmental standards. We will know that there are good labour provisions in place, we will know that intellectual property is protected because that's part of the CPTPP agreement. So the way I see it is more making those supply chains more resilient by working with countries who share that rules-based approach. You want to join the CPTPP. Would the UK like to join the Quad as well? Well, we are looking at all kinds of groupings that we could potentially be part of. But it would take the Quad members to want to have the UK as part of it. OK. All right, I'm going to go to the audience, but I am going to squeeze in one question about domestic politics, if I can. The last time we hosted a foreign secretary at the institute, as Maurice noted, he went on in short order to become Prime Minister. Should we expect to see that phenomenon again, do you think? Well, our Prime Minister, as he said, spoke at the Lowy Institute. He became Prime Minister. I was delighted to serve as his trade secretary, delivering on the promise he made here at the Lowy Institute. And I'm now working from his foreign secretary. He is doing an excellent job. Britain has one of the first countries to get people vaccinated, to deliver a successful booster campaign. We've got the fastest-growing economy in the G7. And that is what is important to people. All right, let me put some questions from the audience to you, foreign secretary. First of all, back on Ukraine, I have a question from the chairman of the Lowy Institute, Sir Frank Lowy. He says that in your speech, you urge Vladimir Putin to desist and step back from Ukraine before he makes a disastrous, strategic mistake. What would NATO do if Russia invaded Ukraine? And should Russia be concerned about that? Well, what we have been clear is there would be severe consequences. Should Vladimir Putin stage an incursion into Ukraine? Economic consequences, in particular. And that would have a very damaging effect. And the other point I would make, which I made in my speech, is it would not be easy. The Ukrainians will fight this. This could end up as a quagmire. And I think that should be seriously considered by Russia. But of course, Ukraine isn't a member of NATO. So it's not in the same position as, for example, the Baltic states where there would be direct action in the case of any conflict. OK, we have a question from Susanna Patton, who's a researcher at the Institute. Susanna asks, how do you see the evolution and the purpose of the Five Eyes Intelligence Network? And she says, she asks, it appears to be emerging as a grouping to coordinate policies as well as to share intelligence. That is a very fair point. It is base of those things. It's a very, very valuable intelligence network that both the United Kingdom and Australia are part of. But I think what we're seeing in foreign policy in general is more overlap between different areas of policy, whether it's economic and trade policy, diplomacy, intelligence, communications. All of those things are interlinked. So, yes, it is a useful forum for policy, too. I have a question from Laura Jays of Sky News. What role will the UK play in maintaining the rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific and helping to curb China's growing aggression? Well, first of all, we are playing a leading role, for example, in organisations like the World Trade Organisation, to make sure the rules are adhered to, but also to update the rules for the modern age. The WTO was created before... Well, before the... In particular, we see so much use of technology in the internet. So, we need to make sure that it's updated to reflect the way things work now. I think the CPTPP is an important part of creating a better rules basis. And, of course, by joining that, the UK is helping bolster that organisation. We have a question from Evelyn Nordhoff in the Australian Defence Department on China's activities in the South Pacific. She asks, how can Australia and the UK work together to protect the democracies of the South Pacific and reduce their coercion by the CCP? I think one particular area is maritime security. The UK has already carried out a deployment of the carrier strike group in the region. There is more we can do to cooperate on maritime security with Australia, but also other nations in the area. We have also a question from Mary Jardine Clark from Greenwich House on... And she mentions that we've seen a growing presence of US defensive forces rotating through Australia. Might we see home porting for UK naval assets in Australia? Well, we're certainly looking at what more we can do, and this is a comment the Defence Secretary made earlier, to have a visible presence in the region, as well as a greater degree of diplomatic engagements, as well. Finally, Foreign Secretary, I might ask you one more question about the United States, if I can, which is at the center of any network of liberty. We've seen a lot of inconsistency in Washington's approach to the world. During the Trump era, for example, the President was very unconvincing in his commitment to the idea of collective defence, as enshrined in Article 5 of the NATO Treaty. Some people think Mr. Trump could return to the White House in 2024. Are you worried about the fractures in the American polity about how that affects America's credibility and influence in the world? Are you concerned at all about the trajectory of the United States? Because, in a way, the whole of the rest of the network of liberty is hinged off the United States. Well, the United States is very important. Other countries are also important. One of the reasons I'm here in Australia is very important partner of the United Kingdom. I've mentioned India and Japan as other absolutely key parts of working more closely together in areas like the economy and security. One comment I would make about the United States is that I want to see more engagement on trade and the economy. Because if countries don't have an alternative to strings-attached investment, that is a problem. So we are working with the United States on investment partnerships. They've got the Build Back Better World program. But I think more economic engagement. The UK and Australia, by working to promote free trade and doing that, it would be fantastic to see the US doing more and also the European Union doing more to make sure that countries have those alternatives. Foreign Secretary, it's been a pleasure to host you today at the Institute. We've run out of time. Thank you for giving an important speech that will be studied closely and for taking our questions. The Foreign Secretary has said that she's an admirer of Arya Stark from Game of Thrones. And like Arya, I would say that Liz Truss is one to watch. Foreign Secretary, we look forward to hosting you at the Institute again in the future. Thank you. Thank you also to Australia's Foreign Minister, Senator Maurice Payne, for joining us and to everyone in the audience for tuning in. For now, it's goodbye from the Lowy Institute. Thank you very much.