Julie Bishop - Member for Curtin

New Japanese Prime Minister

Friday, 04 June 2010

The Coalition welcomes the appointment of Naoto Kan as the new Prime Minister of Japan, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop said today.

Ms Bishop said the Coalition looked forward to working with the new Prime Minister and the Democratic Party of Japan government to build on the existing strong relationship between Australia and Japan.

“The strategic, political and economic relationship is of fundamental importance to Australia,” she said.

“Japan and Australia share common values and a deep interest in the security and prosperity of our region.

“Japan has been one of our most important trading partners for decades and is the country with which we have our largest trade surplus.”