American intelligence analysts will be embedded within Defence’s spy agency in Canberra, and northern bases expanded to accommodate US aircraft, after high-level talks binding Australia and America closer together in response to China’s growing threat to regional stability.

The defence and diplomatic talks, known as AUSMIN, also produced agreements for a fresh expansion of the deployment of US forces to include amphibious troops and maritime reconnaissance planes, and, as foreshadowed, fast-tracking domestic missile production, ensuring Australia becomes a secondary supplier to the US.