In Australia, Prime Minister Mark Carney continued his argument that middle powers should come together, saying Canada and Australia share the benefits of legitimacy and trust.
“Australia and Canada cannot coerce as great powers; but we can convene, we can set the agenda, shape the rules, and organize and build capacity through coalitions that deliver results at speed and on a global scale,” Carney said in a speech at Sydney’s Lowy Institute think tank.
Carney hit on many of the same points as he did in his headline-making Davos speech in January.
“Medium powers have more power than many realize,” he argued.
Carney gave the example of Europe, Australia, Canada, Japan and South Korea, which, collectively, have a larger GDP than the United States and three times the trade of China.
Prior to Australia, Carney visited India and will head to Japan on the third and final stop of his 10-day tour.
Carney said Canada and Australia are both rich in critical minerals and are working together to build “the largest mineral reserves any credible democracy has.”
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Canada and Australia could partner on more defense projects like AI and aerospace, he said, adding, “Right now, when we spend capital on defense, 70 cents of those dollars go to the United States.”
Ottawa and Canberra signed an agreement last year to buy an Australian over-the-horizon radar system for Canada to use in the Arctic.
Carney said both countries were working to build links between the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the European Union, which he said would create a new trade bloc of 1.5 billion people.
Carney has pushed to get the European Union into some form of partnership with the CPTPP, the massive Pacific Rim trade bloc that includes Australia, a Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Canada is a member of the CPTPP and has a trade agreement with the EU.
After his speech, Carney participated in a question-and-answer session, joking at times and dropping the F-word at one point.
He told the story when he was governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008 financial crisis in response to a question about whether central bankers or politicians had more fun.
An hour and a half before Asian markets opened, he was at a dinner with a group of other central bankers as investment bank Bear Stearns collapsed, the group’s chairman spending only more than half an hour explaining the wine selections.
“Central bankers have too much fun, and (politicians), we’re working all the time. No fun, no rest for us,” he said.
Before the speech, Carney held meetings with business leaders, including Simon Trott of global mining company Rio Tinto and Jack Cowin, CEO of fast-food company Competitive Foods. He met the heads of investment funds, spoke to Raphael Arndt, CEO of Future Fund, Shemara Wickramanayake, CEO of Macquarie Group and Kate Galvin, CEO of Victorian Funds Management Corporation.
Next, he will travel to Canberra, where he will meet Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and address the Australian Parliament.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
(tags to translate)Mark Carney
