Australia and New Zealand have launched a new platform to increase defence co-operation and streamline military operations between the two nations.
Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith and his New Zealand counterpart, Jonathan Coleman, announced the Australia-New Zealand Defence Relationship Framework, which builds on the Anzac tradition of trans-Tasman military collaboration.
The framework includes closer co-operation to develop and buy military hardware and services and to share the defence burden in the region.
It follows a 2011 review to shape future strategic co-operation and set priorities for the defence relationship.
Under the new framework, both nations will have regular discussions on strategy between senior civilian and military personnel.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
This will lead to a more orderly, rigorous and comprehensive method to set policy, military capabilities and defence activities.
"The improved senior dialogue framework and the new 1.5 track security dialogue will enhance understanding of the mutual security challenges facing Australia and New Zealand, particularly in our immediate region," Mr Smith said in a statement on Sunday.
Dr Coleman said the two nations had to work more co-operatively on defence services.
"In a more complex and expensive strategic operating environment, New Zealand and Australia have to find ways of working more closely together, so that we complement each other's effectiveness," he said.
A new memorandum of arrangement on co-operation in the fields of defence research and development was also signed by the defence ministers.
This will include collaborative research in future naval helicopters and counter-IED (improvised explosive device) measures.
The ministers also discussed strategic issues of mutual interest, such as joint operations serving in East Timor and the Solomon Islands, and respective commitments to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
The meeting between the two defence ministers was held in conjunction with the annual Australia-New Zealand leaders' meeting in Melbourne on Sunday.
