Chronologies
Australia-US/East Asia
Chronology from May 2017 to Aug 2017
: FM Bishop says Australia is prepared to expand its supporting role in the fight against Islamic State by sending troops to train and advise counterparts in the Philippines.
: Australia and Solomon Islands sign a security treaty for rapid Australian assistance to deal with future natural disasters or civil unrest.
: In Manila, the seventh ministerial meeting of the Trilateral Security Dialogue, involving Australia’s FM Bishop, US Secretary Tillerson, and Japan’s Foreign Minister Taro Kono is held.
: Three US Marines are killed in an aircraft crash, off the Queensland coast near Rockhampton, during a military exercise.
: Australian Federal Police conduct anti-terrorist raids across Sydney over an “advanced” plot to crash a commercial aircraft using a bomb/poison gas device.
: PM Turnbull appoints his chief of staff, Greg Moriarty, as the new secretary of the Defence Department.
: Turnbull announces the creation of a new security ministry, the Department of Home Affairs, to control the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. The review of Australia’s intelligence services is released.
: Turnbull announces new laws to allow the Australian Defence Force to deploy forces and even take charge during terrorist attacks on Australian soil.
: Turnbull leaves for the G20 Summit in Hamburg, then to Paris to meet French President Emmanuel Macron, and London to meet British officials and the queen.
: After 14 years, the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands ends. The RAMSI effort to stabilize Solomon Islands, involving Australia, New Zealand and 13 other Pacific countries, cost Australia $2.8 billion.
: Biennial US-Australia joint military exercise Talisman Sabre is held. More than 30,000 US and Australian personnel conduct their biggest ever joint exercises off the coast of Queensland and the Northern Territory.
: Australia’s military halts air operations over Syria as a precaution after the US shoots down a Syrian fighter jet.
: To prevent a class action going to court, Australia’s government agrees to pay $70 million in compensation to 1,905 asylum seekers detained on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island between 2012 and 2016, plus legal costs estimated at $20 million
: In Sydney, Defence Minister Marise Payne and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop host Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis for the annual Australia-United States Ministerial consultations.
: US Sen. John McCain visits Canberra and meets Turnbull.
: Australia’s annual budget presented to Parliament.
: In New York, Trump and Turnbull speak aboard the USS Intrepid, in a ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea.