Countries in the Quad grouping will strengthen cooperation on cyber- and counter-terrorism, including on ransomware attacks, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said after meeting her counterparts from India, Japan and the United States.
Ms Payne and Prime Minister Scott Morrison met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, India's Minister of External Affairs Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and Japan's Foreign Affairs Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa.
The four countries pledged on Friday to deepen cooperation to ensure the Indo-Pacific region was free from "coercion", a thinly-veiled swipe at China's growing economic and military expansion.
The Quad discussed humanitarian and disaster response in the region, and agreed to help combat illegal fishing, Ms Payne said.
"We agreed to boost maritime security support for Indo-Pacific partners to strengthen their maritime domain awareness and ability to develop their offshore resources, to ensure freedom of navigation and overflight and to combat challenges such as illegal fishing," she said.
Also on the agenda was COVID-19 vaccination distribution, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, maritime security, climate change, and Myanmar's one-year anniversary of the military take over.
From left to right: Antony Blinken, Marise Payne, Scott Morrison, Dr. S. Jaishankar and Hayashi Yoshimasa Source: Getty Images
Mr Blinken said the worsening situation in Myanmar was disturbing, and Ms Marise Payne raised the issue of the detention of Professor Sean Turnell, an economist and former adviser to deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
"I think it is painfully obvious that the developments there are deeply, deeply troubling, to all of us," Mr Blinken said.
"We have seen the junta double down on repression and violence. We just had the one-year anniversary of the coup taking over. We support the ASEAN five point consensus. We need to see it implemented. This is something President Biden will focus on when he hosts the ASEAN leaders in Washington."
Mr Blinken's trip to Australia is the first cabinet-level official US visit under Joe Biden's presidency.
He said that more than any other region [the Indo Pacific region] will shape the trajectory of the 21st century.
"We talk about a free and open Indo-Pacific a lot, and it is worth explaining what that actually means to us, and it is a shared meaning," he said.
"It means people will be free in their daily lives, and live in open societies. It means countries will be able to choose their own path and their own partners.
"It means goods, ideas, individuals will flow freely in the region. And that problems will be dealt with openly, according to the rules of the road that everyone has agreed to.
"We believe the only way to make their vision a reality is to deepen engagement with allies and partners who share it. That is exactly what the Quad is all about."
Ms Payne said the alliance gives countries in the region choices.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) land Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi. Source: AAP, Reuters
"The region is in a period of rising strategic uncertainty," she said.
"The rules and norms that have provided a foundation for our stability and hence our prosperity are under pressure, in particular from authoritarian regimes. Australia, in our actions, works to support a world order that favours freedom, where rules, not power and coercion, resolve disputes.
Ms Payne also said more than one authoritarian regime, including North Korea, China and Russia, are presenting challenges globally and regionally.
Mr Morrison also attended the gathering and said the four nations would work together to counter those challenges.
"We stand up to those who would seek to coerce us, and as I understand from our Quad partners, none of you understand better than we do, and that is a great comfort to us, the coercion and the pressure that Australia has been placed under, we greatly appreciate your support."
Mr Blinken played down the prospect of any conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific.
"Nothing is inevitable. I think we share concerns that China has been acting more aggressively, more aggressively in the region.
"What brings us together, what unites us, is an affirmative vision for what the future can bring. But also a commitment to defend the rules-based system that we have spent tremendous time and effort building over many years
India's External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar praised their shared vision for a strong economy, regional security, and opportunities for more engagement.
"The interactions that we have had makes it evident that robust bilateral relations between our respective countries, our strategic convergences and our shared democratic values, have all combined to make the Quad a vibrant and substantial framework."
Ukraine conflict 'matters' for Australia
The build-up of Russian military forces on Ukraine's border matters to Australia despite being half a world away, Mr Blinken said.
Following the Quad talks, Mr Blinken said the United States would maintain its dual-track approach to Russia and the forces it has amassed at the border "unprovoked".
That strategy involves the US keeping diplomatic dialogue open, while also building deterrences and defences if Russia chooses to invade.
"(We've been) making it clear to Russia that if it chooses the path of renewed aggression, it will face massive consequences," he said.
An estimated 4,000 foreign fighters, including Australians, have joined Ukraine's militias and regular armed forces. Numbers are likely to boom if Russia invades.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Source: AAP, Reuters
Even though the conflict is brewing across the other side of the globe, Mr Blinken said what happens in Ukraine matters in Australia and the Indo-Pacific region, in an apparent reference to China.
"What's at stake is not simply, as important as it is, Ukraine's territorial integrity. It's sovereignty, it's independence," he said.
"But very basic principles that have a hard-fought play after two world wars, and a cold war - undergirded security, peace and prosperity for countries around the world.
"Principles like one country can simply change the borders of another by force. Principles like one country can't simply dictate to another its choices, its policies, with whom it will associate.
"If we allow those principles to be challenged with impunity, even if it's half a world away, that will have an impact here as well. Others are watching. Others are looking to all of us to see how we respond."
In an interview with Nine newspapers, Mr Bilken said he would expect Australia to play its role in imposing "massive costs" on Moscow should it invade.
He said the US and its allies were still ironing out what that would entail, but floated the prospect of economic and financial sanctions, export controls, and building up Ukraine's armed forces and NATO defences.
In the meeting, Ms Payne said she reiterated her "very deep concerns" about the presence of Russia's military on the Ukrainian border.
"We will continue to support our allies and partners to deter this sort of aggression and to raise the costs of this kind of behaviour."
With additional reporting by AAP and Reuters.
