Marles heads to Washington for AUKUS talks with new US defence secretary

Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles is heading to Washington DC to talk AUKUS with his new counterpart in Donald Trump’s administration.

Richard Marles is heading to Washington to meet with his newly sworn-in defence counterpart in what will be the first official visit by a foreign defence minister to the US capital since Donald Trump’s inauguration.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth will host the Deputy Prime Minister on Saturday (Friday local time).

Mr Marles will formally confirm the transfer of $US500m ($795m) as part of the AUKUS submarine deal.

The payment is the first of several amounting $US3bn ($4.8bn) to “uplift the US submarine industrial base”.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles is heading to the US for bilateral defence talks. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“This is a known part of the pathway the Albanese government announced in March 2023 and is an important investment – it is about Australia paying its way when it comes to AUKUS by helping to uplift the US submarine industrial base so that Virginia class submarines are available to be transferred to Australia,” Mr Marles said ahead of his trip.

“We have long said this is a fair and equitable contribution which will see Australia acquire Virginia Class submarines from the early 2030s and bridge the submarine capability gap we were left with by Peter Dutton.

“The discussions with Secretary Hegseth are about opportunities for Australia through AUKUS, which will see the Albanese government make record investments across Defence and defence industry which alone will support around 20,000 jobs in Australia and opportunity for business.”

Mr Marles and Mr Hegseth will also hold bilateral talks before laying a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth will host Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles. Picture: Roberto Schmidt / AFP

NewsWire understands the two will discuss security concerns in the Indo-Pacific and boosting munitions productions.

Uncertainty and speculation has swirled around the future of AUKUS in the wake of Mr Trump’s second White House win.

With many of Washington’s allies wondering where they fit into President Trump’s America first agenda, the Albanese government has faced calls to do more to shore up Australia’s position.

But both Labor and the Coalition have said they were confident the Trump administration was committed to the Australia-US defence and economic relationship.

Indeed, US State Secretary Marco Rubio has praised AUKUS as “almost a blueprint” for how the US can work with allies.

Originally published as Marles heads to Washington for AUKUS talks with new US defence secretary