American Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis appeared alongside their Australian counterparts, Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop and Minister for Defense Marise Payne, at the 2017 Australia-United States Ministerial (AUSMIN) Conference in Sydney, Australia on Monday.  The government officials from each nation reaffirmed the importance of their alliance with one another, and discussed the threats America and Australia face in the Pacific, as well as the looming threat of terrorism the word over.

The four officials took a moment to provide statements to one another and the press before beginning the day of talks.

The global terrorist threat is ever evolving, we’ve seen brutal attacks in a number of European cities, we’ve thwarted attacks here in Australia,” Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop said, “and so we want to discuss that with you, the links back into the Middle East, the role we’re playing with you in Iraq and Syria, and also in Afghanistan.”

“Ours in a unique partnership, with a century of shared military history and we have one of the closest strategic and economic partnerships that any two countries could aspire to.” She added.