{"id":37950,"date":"2026-02-20T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.internationalaffairs.org.au\/?post_type=australianoutlook&p=37950"},"modified":"2026-02-19T15:44:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T04:44:22","slug":"20-february-2026-the-week-in-australian-foreign-affairs","status":"publish","type":"australianoutlook","link":"https:\/\/www.internationalaffairs.org.au\/australianoutlook\/20-february-2026-the-week-in-australian-foreign-affairs\/","title":{"rendered":"20 February 2026: The Week in Australian Foreign Affairs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This week in Australian foreign affairs: Australia conducts a multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence travels to Kiribati and Solomon Islands, The Department of Defence announces Australia’s involvement in the AUKUS Pillar II Maritime Big Play exercise, and more. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On February 17, Australian defence ministers announced that Australia, the Philippines and the United States have conducted a multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity<\/a> (MCA) within the Philippines\u2019 Exclusive Economic Zone. <\/strong>This MCA was conducted between February 15-16 2026 and involved numerous vessels and aircraft from all nations involved. A Defence press release following the MCA affirmed \u201cAustralia\u2019s participation underscores our commitment to regional and international cooperation in support of a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On February 17,\u00a0the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade released a joint statement\u00a0with several other nations\u00a0on\u00a0the second anniversary of Alexei Navalny`s death on 16 February 2024.<\/strong>\u00a0The statement<\/a>\u00a0was made jointly with Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom and reiterated demands for a \u201cthorough and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Human rights in Russia have\u00a0degraded swiftly following\u00a0Navalny’s\u00a0death, with over 1700 people currently detained as political prisoners.\u00a0Along\u00a0with expressing \u201cour deepest condolences to his family\u201d, the statement also\u00a0affirmed \u201cwe stand by the brave Russian human rights defenders and independent civil society actors that continue to work under ever greater personal risks\u201d. In an effort to seek accountability, the statement demanded \u201cthe Russian authorities must fully comply with all their international obligations and release all political prisoners.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On February 17,\u00a0it was\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles, will travel to Kiribati and Solomon Islands\u00a0this week.<\/strong> While in Kiribati, the Deputy Prime Minister will meet with the Hon\u00a0Taneti\u00a0Maamau, President of Kiribati and attend an official state reception with senior ministers and officials.\u00a0As part of Australia\u2019s history as\u00a0Kiribati’s\u00a0largest\u00a0development\u00a0partner, Minister Marles will also mark the\u00a0construction\u00a0of a new wharf and facilities that support Kiribati\u2019s\u00a0maritime security.\u00a0In the Solomon Islands, the Deputy Prime Minister will meet with the Hon Jeremiah\u00a0Manele, Prime Minister of Solomon Islands and other Ministers\u00a0where they will\u00a0discuss further opportunities for economic, development and security cooperation.\u00a0As part of the visit, Minister Marles will also present a set of drones that will\u00a0assist\u00a0the Solomons\u2019 Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response capabilities. Minister Marles is quoted as saying \u201cAustralia is proud to partner with the Government and people of Kiribati to realise their maritime security priorities, as we have done for three decades.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On February 19, The Department of Defence announced Over 200 defence personnel, scientists, and industry participants from Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States came together on Australia\u2019s east coast to test state-of-the-art autonomous capabilities.<\/strong> This was part of an AUKUS Pillar II Maritime Big Play exercise<\/a> which saw Australian-developed capabilities \u201cat the forefront of the exercise\u201d. During the exercises AUKUS military operators and technical experts tested next-generation capabilities such as Innovaero\u2019s OWL-B one-way-attack munition and PentenAmio\u2019s Next Generation Electronic Deception capability, among others. These systems form part of a broader web of autonomous systems used across the three nations. The Department said, \u201cAustralia is committed to working closely with our partners to improve joint capability to communicate with and use autonomous systems together to deter threats in the Indo-Pacific.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Alexandra Desailly<\/a> is an Australian Outlook Intern at the Australian Institute of International Affairs National Office. She is one of thirty selected for the Young Australians in International Affairs (YAIA) Emerging Leaders Dialogues and the winner of the YAIA Policy Pitch Competition. She holds a Bachelor of International Studies with Distinction from UNSW;  her work focuses on European current affairs, national security, and diplomacy.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is published under a Creative Commons License and may be republished with attribution.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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