AUSTRALIA'S MAIN PARTNERS

UNITED KINGDOM

• The United Kingdom colonized Australia 1788
• there is a large British expat community in Australia and vice versa
• both nations participate in the Five Eyes surveillance network
• both nations are in the Commonwealth

NEW ZEALAND

• the closest and most comprehensive of all Australia's international relationships
• significant amount of shared culture (rugby, food etc.)
• both nations participate in the Five Eyes surveillance network, ANZUS, and are part of the Commonwealth, APEC, and the Cairns Group
• often present a united front on an international scale

UNITED STATES

• Defense ties are very close.
• Australia's second largest major trading partner. In 2005 Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement was put in place
• Australia sent forces to fight alongside the United States in the Afghanistan war and the Vietnam conflict
• Both are members of the ANZUS treaty, APEC, and Five Eyes

CANADA

• often present a united front at the United Nations ( CANZ - Canada, Australia,New Zealand)
• Canada's and Australia's forces have fought alongside each other in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and many United Nations Security Council-sanctioned missions.
• both nations are members of Five Eyes, the Commonwealth, APEC, and Cairns Group

CHINA

• Australia's largest trading Partner (30% of total exports went to China in 2016/17)
• large Chinese diaspora in Australia
• both nations are members of APEC
• tend to disagree on human rights issues
• recent diplomatic relations have been strained due to allegations of Chinese  political influence in Australia

JAPAN

• share many core values and principles ( democracy, human rights, rule of law)
• Australia's second largest trading partner
• both nations are members of APEC

SOUTH KOREA

• both nations are members of APEC

ARMENIA

• Australia has not passed a motion recognising the mass murder of Armenians in 1915 as genocide

Russia

•  Australia placed sanctions and travel bans on Russia in 2014 after their involvement in Crimea
• relationship further strained by Russia's suspected involvement in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 where 38 Australians died

FIJI

• Australia heavily sanctioned Fiji in 2006, condemning the military coup which overthrew Fiji's government
• Fiji expelled the Australian high commissioner in 2009 alleging Australia was "waging a negative campaign against the government and people of Fiji". In reposes, Australia removed acting high commissioner, Kamlesh Kumar Arya.
• Fiji then threatened to withdraw from the United Nations and declare war on Australia and New Zealand.

NORTH KOREA

• Australia sent 17,000 to South Korea to fight  against North Korea in the Korean War. 
• On 22 April, North Korea threatened Australia with a nuclear strike.

Commonwealth ( 53 nations )

Africa

• Botswana
• Cameroon
• Gambia, The
• Ghana
• Kenya
• Kingdom of eSwatini
• Lesotho
• Malawi
• Mauritius
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Nigeria
• Rwanda
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• South Africa
• Uganda
• United Republic of Tanzania
• Zambia

Caribbean and Americas

• Antigua and Barbuda
• Bahamas, The
• Barbados
• Belize
• Canada
• Dominica
• Grenada
• Guyana
• Jamaica
• Saint Lucia
• St Kitts and Nevis
• St Vincent and The Grenadines
• Trinidad and Tobago

Europe

• Cyprus
• Malta
• United Kingdom

Pacific

• Australia
• Fiji
• Kiribati
• Nauru
• New Zealand
• Papua New Guinea
• Samoa
• Solomon Islands
• Tonga
• Tuvalu
• Vanuatu

Five Eyes

 MEMBERS

• Australia
• Canada
• New Zealand
• United Kingdom
• United States

A intelligence-sharing alliance established after WW2 ( formerly known as the 1946 UKUSA agreement). Australia joined in 1955.

ANZUS

• signed in San Francisco, Calif., on Sept. 1, 1951
• security treaty requiring signatories to provide mutual aid in the event of aggression
• evoked only once in the aftermath of 9/11

 MEMBERS:             Australia,          New Zealand,         United States

Cairns Group (Cairns Group of Fair Trading Nations)

Cairns Group seeks to liberalize global

trade in agricultural produce by abolishing

export subsidies and improving market access. They present a common front in multilateral trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

 MEMBERS

• Argentina
• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Guatemala
• Indonesia
• Malaysia

• New Zealand
• Pakistan
• Paraguay
• Peru
• the Philippines
• South Africa
• Thailand
• Uruguay
• Vietnam.