Penny Wong to go to Washington amid turbulence in Australia-US relationship
Penny Wong will head to the US amid ongoing pressure from the Trump administration to up defence spending.
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Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong will dash to Washington this week on a mission to patch-up the faltering relationship between Australia and the United States, as part of a heavy duty meeting of foreign ministers.
Ms Wong will have a one-on-one meeting with her US counterpart, secretary of state Marco Rubio, as part of a meeting of nations in the Quad alliance, including Australia, the US, Japan and India.
It follows the US consistently pressuring Australia to up its defence spending, alongside criticism over a 24-hour delay in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese coming out in support of the US bombing raid of Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The foreign affairs Minister isn’t set to meet with President Donald Trump, but in a pre-trip statement singled out the importance of Australia’s relationship with the US.
“The United States is our closest ally and principal strategic partner. Our alliance contributes to the peace, prosperity and stability of our countries and the region we share,” she said.
“We will continue to work together to further our important economic and security partnership and advance our mutual interests.”
It’ll be the second meeting of the Quad’s foreign ministers in six months, with Ms Wong to also have bilateral meetings with her counterparts from Japan and India.
She said the meetings reflected “the strategic circumstances confronting our region and the world”.
“I look forward to engaging with my Quad counterparts as we strengthen co-operation to ensure a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” she said.
It’s understood maritime security and China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific will be a key focus of the meeting, while the Minister’s bilateral with Mr Rubio will include discussions on the $368 billion AUKUS nuclear submarine deal, which remains on tenterhooks after the US announced a review of the scheme earlier this month.
Promisingly for Australia, Mr Rubio has previously described AUKUS as a “blueprint” for how defence and trade partnerships between nations can be formed.
The Quad meeting also comes amid the Trump administration consistently pressuring Australia to up defence spending to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product, up from the 2.3 per cent it is set to reach in coming years.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke on Sunday, asked on Sky News if a US request for more capability rather than a flat GDP figure would free up more funding, said the government had previously increased defence spending after looking “at what capability (has been) required”.
Coalition defence spokesman Angus Taylor on Sunday renewed calls for the government to up defence spending.
“Forget the pressure being put on by the United States. This is about what’s appropriate for us, and if we are to have control of our own destiny (and) play the role we need to play in ensuring we have peace through deterrence in our region, the spending is too low…,” he told Sky News.
The President secured a major victory last week when members of NATO, excluding Spain, agreed to up their defence spending to five per cent of GDP, including 1.5 per cent for military infrastructure, cyber and intelligence assets.
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