Australian Foreign Minister on Tuesday said meetings between senior government ministers and Japan’s Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara have been positive.

According to Rudd, recent economic changes pushed through the difficult Japanese parliament point in an absolutely positive direction.

There have been 10,000 Japanese students studying in Australia and 355,000 tourists from the world’s third largest economy visit every year.

“These are big figures for Australia’s economic future,” Rudd told Parliament in Canberra on Tuesday.

Maehara is in Canberra of Australia for talks with officials including Trade Minister Craig Emerson and Rudd. The majority of talks are aimed at moving toward a free trade agreement.

Eleven rounds of talks since April 2007 have failed to seal a bilateral Free Trade Agreement.

Security has also be an issue with Japan and Australia both key U.S. allies in the region, while joint efforts on nuclear non proliferation and disarmament has also be discussed.

The Australian Greens leader Bob Brown earlier urged the Government to raise Australia’s concerns about whaling with Japan’ s Foreign Minister.

Maehara is expected to fly out of Australia later on Tuesday.