On a warm evening at Muara Naval Base, personnel from the Australian Defence Force, Royal Brunei Armed Forces and Brunei Ministry of Defence came together on board HMAS Ballarat for the opening ceremony of the Bruneian segment of Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2025 (IPE 2025).
With a core focus on people-to-people connections, the activity will see participants build ties through faith-based and cultural engagements, alongside knowledge sharing in areas such as cyber defence, military law and workforce planning.
Commander IPE 2025 Brigadier Jennifer Harris delivered the welcome address.
"It is about people," Brigadier Harris said.
"And for those participating in IPE, I encourage you to share deeply, to challenge and to learn from each other. Most of all, maximise every opportunity to build enduring friendships."
To support the shared goal of keeping the region open, safe and prosperous for all, workshops will continue conversations focused on maritime security and cooperation, including discussion of the challenges involved operating in emerging domains such as cyber.
'It is about people.'
"We are a maritime region, where maritime security and international law guide how we operate in this amazing part of the world," Brigadier Harris said.
Acknowledging the two nations' longstanding defence partnership that stretches back to World War 2, Brigadier Harris formally opened the 2025 Brunei Program.
"In the backdrop of this beautiful country filled with rich cultures, traditions and history, it is an absolute privilege and honour to declare IPE 2025 'open'," she said.
Running concurrently with IPE 2025, HMAS Ballarat and a Royal Australian Air Force P-8A Poseidon will participate in the 20th iteration of Exercise Penguin.
It is a bilateral maritime security training exercise in sea and air surface warfare with the Royal Brunei Navy, further reinforcing defence cooperation under the Australia-Brunei Darussalam Comprehensive Partnership.
