Canberra anniversary events link 50 years of ties to future energy trade

Japan’s push for secure clean ammonia supply emerged as a central theme at 50th anniversary events for the NARA Treaty in Canberra.

The two-day conference and gala dinner marked half a century since Gough Whitlam and Takeo Miki signed the Australia-Japan Basic Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, widely known as the NARA Treaty.

Members of the Australia-Japan Business Cooperation Committee gathered in the capital with federal officials and Japanese partners to celebrate the past 50 years and shape the next phase of trade.

Energy featured heavily in those talks. Japanese participants framed the relationship with Australia less as a simple commodity trade and more as a partnership built on energy security and decarbonisation.

WAH2 meetings in Canberra

NH3 Clean Energy chairman Charles Whitfield and chief executive Stephen Hall spent the visit meeting Japanese counterparts and federal ministerial offices.

Their schedule included the offices of the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Special Minister of State, and the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia.

They also met officials from the Department of Industry, Science and Resources and the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

Japan’s interest is tied to ammonia use in co-generation power and to rising demand from ammonia-fuelled ship engines and ships that run on ammonia.

Because Japan wants nearby suppliers, Australia stands out with large gas reserves, close shipping routes to Asia and a stable operating setting.

NH3 Clean Energy is pitching its WAH2 project in the Pilbara as a practical source of that supply.

Whitfield, who previously worked at Citigroup and Galaxy Resources, has spent two decades in clean energy and now focuses on clean ammonia.

“Fifty years on from the NARA Treaty, this forum reinforced for us that the next chapter of the Australia-Japan relationship will be written, in part, through energy partnerships like the one NH3 Clean Energy is building,” Whitfield said.

He added that Japanese counterparts want projects that can deliver ammonia at commercial scale, rather than small pilot plants.