PM Wong visits Australia, New Zealand to mark 60 years of diplomatic ties

SINGAPORE – Prime Minister Lawrence Wong is making his first official visit to Australia and New Zealand as head of government from Oct 6 to 11, as the Republic commemorates 60 years of diplomatic relations with both countries.

The six-day visit will reaffirm the excellent state of bilateral ties with both nations, said the Prime Minister’s Office in a statement on Oct 6.

PM Wong will be in Sydney and Canberra from Oct 6 to 9, and in Auckland from Oct 9 to 11.

In Canberra, PM Wong and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will hold the 10th Singapore-Australia Leaders’ Meeting.

The two leaders will then sign a joint declaration to launch an upgraded Singapore-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP), or CSP 2.0.

Singapore and Australia stepped up relations in 2015 with the city-state’s first CSP – a high-level and broad-ranging diplomatic relationship that Singapore has with only a few countries.

To date, the CSP, which encompasses bilateral cooperation in several sectors, has seen more than 110 completed initiatives across economics and trade, defence and foreign affairs, science and innovation, people-to-people links, the digital economy and the green economy.

While in Australia’s capital, PM Wong will also call on Governor-General Sam Mostyn and meet Leader of the Opposition Sussan Ley.

In Sydney, PM Wong will meet New South Wales Premier Chris Minns and senior business leaders, and have a dialogue at the Lowy Institute, an independent think-tank.

In Auckland, PM Wong and his delegation will have a meeting with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. This will be followed by the signing of a joint statement to launch the Singapore-New Zealand CSP.

This CSP is a step up from the two countries’ enhanced partnership, or EP, which was signed in May 2019 during then New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s official visit to Singapore to formally upgrade bilateral relations.

Under the EP, more than 40 initiatives have been concluded across trade and economics, security and defence, science, technology and innovation, people-to-people links, climate change and the green economy, as well as supply chains and connectivity.

During his trip, PM Wong will lay wreaths at the Australian War Memorial and the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

He will also meet overseas Singaporeans at receptions in Canberra and Auckland to celebrate Singapore’s 60th year of independence.

In a wide-ranging interview with Australia’s ABC News broadcast on Oct 6, PM Wong said Singapore and Australia share very similar strategic outlooks, including on security, free trade and the rules-based order.

This makes the two countries natural friends and partners, and there is scope to do even more together, he added.

For instance, both sides agreed to a Covid-19 vaccine swop in 2021, during the surge in cases caused by the Delta variant. The deal saw Singapore send 500,000 vaccine doses to Australia, which it got back at a later date, and helped both countries optimise their vaccination schedules at a crucial time.

Building on this, discussions are under way for a supply chain agreement to allow essential supplies to keep flowing between the countries during times of disruption, said PM Wong. Other new areas of cooperation include artificial intelligence and clean energy, and research and development in these fields.

Defence is another key area to deepen cooperation, with 2025 being the 50th anniversary of the Singapore Armed Forces’ training in Australia, he added. The two sides are discussing possibilities for their respective militaries to be able to access defence facilities in the other country, and for cooperation in defence technology and logistics.

Concerns over trade and tariffs featured heavily in the 30-minute interview. While the major powers have a lot of influence over the world’s trajectory, PM Wong said countries like Australia and Singapore have the agency to preserve multilateral frameworks and shape the emerging global order.

He noted that Singapore and Australia are both members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and that they have been looking at involving the European Union and Asean in a more formal partnership.

The CPTPP is a free trade agreement between 12 economies: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Vietnam. Taken together, the three blocs – CPTPP, EU and Asean – make up more than one-third of the world economy.

“If all three of us are able to come together with some understanding on a stronger partnership that reaffirms multilateral rules for trade, I think that would be worth doing, and that would certainly help steer things in the right direction,” said PM Wong.

The Republic’s bilateral ties with Australia and New Zealand are marked by substantive cooperation and steady high-level exchanges.

Australia was Singapore’s 12th-largest trading partner in 2024, with total bilateral trade in goods amounting to $30.3 billion. Singapore was also Australia’s sixth-largest foreign investor in 2023.

Mr Albanese was last in Singapore in May for a working visit, and

met PM Wong

. This was shortly after both countries’ respective general elections – Australians and Singaporeans both went to the polls on May 3.

More recently, in August,

Ms

Mostyn met President Tharman Shanmugaratnam

and PM Wong during a state visit to Singapore.

Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles also met PM Wong and Coordinating Minister for Public Services and Minister for Defence Chan Chun Sing on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in June.

New Zealand was Singapore’s 31st-largest trading partner in 2024, with bilateral trade in goods amounting to $5.1 billion. The bilateral free trade agreement the two countries signed in 2000 was Singapore’s first, and New Zealand’s second.

In March, then Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen visited Auckland, where he co-chaired the fourth Singapore-New Zealand Defence Ministers’ Meeting with his counterpart, Ms Judith Collins.

This followed Mr Luxon’s official visit to Singapore in April 2024, when he called on Mr Tharman and met then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

PM Wong will be accompanied on his visit by Mrs Wong and several ministers, including Mr Chan and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.

He will be joined in Australia by Minister for Manpower and Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science & Technology Tan See Leng, while Minister for Sustainability and the Environment and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations Grace Fu will join the New Zealand leg.

The Singapore delegation will also include MPs Nadia Ahmad Samdin and Victor Lye, as well as officials.

In PM Wong’s absence, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong will be Acting Prime Minister from Oct 6 to 8, while Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam will take on the role from Oct 9 to 11.