Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles meeting with US, UK counterparts to discuss AUKUS
The fate of $368bn defence pact AUKUS has been revealed days after Australian officials got their hands on a secretive review.
Australia, the US and the United Kingdom are determined to “reboot” AUKUS and deliver the first phase of trilateral defence pact, officials say, after the deal was subject to a secretive Pentagon review.
The $368bn defence agreement had been secured during the Biden administration, but then was placed - to Australia’s surprise - under review by Donald Trump in June.
At the time, the prospective review had stoked fears the trilateral deal could be knocked off the table.
However Anthony Albanese’s positive meeting with the US President in October, followed by Mr Trump’s first public endorsement of the pact, has provided assurances to the contents of the review – which have yet to be made public.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles met with his counterparts US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and UK Defence Secretary John Healey to discuss the deal on Wednesday.
“So this is a — this is a big moment. It’s a big moment for AUKUS. It’s a big moment for three nations together,” Mr Healey told reporters in Washington ahead of the trilateral meeting.
“It is, as President Trump has said, the moment of full steam ahead for AUKUS. And it’s right that all three governments, as newly elected governments, have carried out a review of AUKUS.
“Those reviews are now done and all three of us are now determined to reboot AUKUS with a new commitment and a new determination, in particular, to deliver.”
AUKUS was a “massive project” but had seen a lot of progress, Mr Marles said.
“In the last six weeks, we’ve had the USS Vermont in HMAS Stirling, south of Perth in Australia, undertaking the most extensive maintenance of an American nuclear-powered submarine outside of America ever,” he said.
“And it is an example of what we are doing together, but this is a massive project and there is so much more to do.
“And it’s really important that we are looking at the ways in which we can now get on with this and deliver it.”
Mr Hegseth described the relationship between the three countries as being “as strong as they’ve ever been”.
“And as President Trump has laid out from the beginning, the president loves supporting countries that step up … the discussions we’ve had are a reflection of both Australia and the UK stepping up,” he said.
“And you see through AUKUS and the review that we conducted, its continued commitment to a pragmatic practical application of hard power between our countries that reflect peace through strength and also hard power, real capabilities that demonstrate a deterrent effect that we all want.
Originally published as Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles meeting with US, UK counterparts to discuss AUKUS
