Tributes flow for Shinzo Abe, giant of international stage

Australia’s leading political figures have registered their horror at the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.

Shinzo Abe places a wreath at a war memorial in Darwin in 2018.

Australia’s leading political figures have expressed their horror at the assassination on Friday of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, and paid tribute to him as a “giant” on the international stage, after he was shot campaigning ahead of Sunday’s upper house election.

The 67-year-old was the longest-serving prime minister of Japan before stepping down in 2020 due to health concerns, and worked closely with a raft of Australian leaders including Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison.

Anthony Albanese remembered Mr Abe as one of Australia’s “closest friends on the world stage” and a leader in the Indo-Pacific.

“The tragic death of former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is devastating news,” he said in a statement.

“His legacy was one of global impact, and a profound and positive one for Australia … he will be greatly missed.”

Mr Morrison described Mr Abe as a “mentor” on international matters, telling The Weekend Australian: “He was at the centre for relationships with the region.

“I believe he’s one of the most significant political leaders in our region in the post-war era. He redefined Japan’s role in the world and he did it with a mixture of strength and grace. He’s a very generous guy, very humble, and always giving. He was a giant. He was very much a mentor to me in so much of what we did.”

Mr Abbott said the attack was “a shocking act of violence against one of the world’s leading democratic statesmen”. “Australia has never had a better friend in Japan than Shinzo Abe, which is why we are so numbed by this appalling act,” he tweeted.

Barack Obama, Tony Abbott and Shinzo Abe shake hands during a trilateral meeting at the G20 Summit in 2014 in Brisbane. Picture: Getty Images

Mr Turnbull said he was “horrified” by the news and called Mr Abe “one of the great leaders of our times”, while Mr Rudd said there was “a sense of disbelief” over the act of political violence committed in Japan.

Mr Abe visited Australia in 2018 and became the first Japanese leader to visit Darwin since the city was bombed in 1942, laying a wreath at the Cenotaph.

He is also credited with proposing the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue between Japan, Australia, India and the US, and spearheading the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Mr Abe was shot twice at 11.30am while giving a speech in the city of Nara in the south of Japan. The suspected gunman, former Maritime Self-Defence Force member Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, was arrested at the scene.

Japanese ambassador to Australia Shingo Yamagami said “such an outrageous act should never be condoned”.

Mr Abe was part of a political dynasty; his grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, was instrumental in forming the Liberal Democratic Party after World War II.

In 2006, Mr Abe, at 52, became the youngest prime minister since World War II. He resigned in 2007 but regained the leadership in 2012.

Senior vice-president at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Michael Green, who wrote a recent book on Mr Abe, said news of the attack had come as a complete shock.

“During his eight years in office Abe was the most consequential leader for Japan of his era,” Dr Green said. “He brought Japan back, managed Donald Trump, and established Japan’s standing as a leader of the liberal order in Asia. His tenure was particularly important for Japan-Australia relations.”