Foreign military officials attend Defence tour of Australia

The group visited a number of sites across South Australia this year, including RAAF Base Edinburgh, Woodside Barracks, Defence Science and Technology Group at Salisbury, the Australian Space Agency, and several companies that contribute to the Defence Industrial Complex.

The tour displayed a range of Defence military and civilian capabilities while providing engagement opportunities with Defence and industry representatives.

Commanding Officer 24 Squadron Wing Commander Craig Keane acknowledged the importance of such engagement activities and the opportunity to showcase elements of RAAF capability, including a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft as the centrepiece of a static display during the visit.

“These multilateral relationships are integral to our core business in Defence, so that when we coordinate international responses to a crisis, event or engagement, we already have that existing relationship of trust and mutual understanding,” WGCDR Keane said.

“The opportunity to host the SAAG during their visit to RAAF Edinburgh reinforced this to me.”

The Malaysian Defence Advisor to Australia, Colonel Mahammad Fazli, said he enjoyed the experience immensely.

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“This tour provided the SAAG an opportunity to better understand [and] to get to know more about Australia’s military and technology development capabilities while learning about Australian culture,” Colonel Fazli said.

“The tour also reinforced the strong cooperation between the ADF and those SAAG members who attended while allowing the SAAG members to better understand each other in a more relaxed environment.”

The SAAG program varies from year to year and visits different Australian Defence establishments, industry partners, cultural sites, and regional areas.

Robert Dougherty

Robert is a senior journalist who has previously worked for Seven West Media in Western Australia, as well as Fairfax Media and Australian Community Media in New South Wales. He has produced national headlines, photography and videography of emergency services, business, community, defence and government news across Australia. Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Public Relations and Journalism at Curtin University, attended student exchange program with Fudan University and holds Tier 1 General Advice certification for Kaplan Professional. Reach out via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via LinkedIn.