Payne bound for anti-Daesh conference

Defence Minister Marise Payne is off to the US for a major conference on how to accelerate the defeat of Islamic State terrorists in Iraq and Syria and halt expansion of its global networks.

Senator Payne said she would represent Australia at the Counter-Daesh Defence Ministers meeting in Washington on July 20.

"This is an important opportunity to review the progress that has been made in the military campaign against Daesh and to plan for the next phase of the campaign," she said in a statement.