Scott Morrison, Joe Biden, Boris Johnson announce new defence alliance
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has declared Australia has entered a “new era” of security as it seals a new alliance with the UK and US which will include a nuclear submarine fleet for Australia.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has declared Australia is entering a “new era” of security.
In an address to the nation at 11am, Mr Morrison said the relatively “benign” period of peace and stability Australia had previously enjoyed in the region was now “behind” us.
It comes as Mr Morrison early this morning joined UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden in announcing a historic trilateral defence partnership, named AUKUS.
Intelligence advising of the “changing” threat environment in the region informed Australia’s decision to develop a nuclear submarine capability as part of the treaty, with an increase in US military presence not ruled out in the meantime.
Mr Morrison did not rule out a bolstering of allied military presence in the Indo-Pacific between now and when Australia’s planned nuclear-powered submarines are delivered, which is expected to be from the late 2030s.
“These are matters that we are directly discussing with the United States and with United Kingdom,” he said.
“They’re also matters we’re discussing with the French.”
Mr Morrison said the new AUKUS agreement would ensure the “strategic needs” in the region were addressed “carefully” and “in accordance with all the usual protocols and protections that you’d expect”.
“Short answer is we can expect that, yes, but there are no announcements that I have today that are in relation to that,” he said.
Mr Morrison said the “relatively benign environment” Australia has enjoyed in many decades in our region “is behind us”.
“We have entered, no doubt a new era, with new challenges for Australia and for our partners and friends and countries right across our region,” he said.
Describing the AUKUS agreement as a “forever partnership,” Mr Morrison said it was the result of many months of planning and did not “happen overnight”.
Department of Defence secretary Greg Moriarty said the threat environment in Australia was “changing”.
“Analysis done within our agencies and the broader intelligence community I think has been made available to the government and is one of the factors that they’ve taken into account,” he said.
“So the AUKUS framework offers great opportunities for defence to keep that capability edge in new and different ways moving into the future.”
Mr Moriarty said nuclear-powered submarines were not the only cutting edge technology Australia would benefit from through the new partnership.
“Quantum, AI, cyber, undersea capabilities that we will be able to look to in future ... the sort of weapons systems that will continue to give the ADF a potent capability advantage in the decades ahead because the threat environment is changing.”
Over the next 18-months Australia will undertake detailed work on the nuclear-powered submarine venture, considering what type of vessel, costs and workforce needs.
The government will also consider what to do with the nuclear waste from the submarines when the vessels eventually retire.
AUSTRALIA IN HISTORIC DEFENCE ALLIANCE WITH US AND UK
Prime Minister Scott Morrison joined UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden in announcing a historic trilateral defence partnership, named AUKUS.
Saying the first step will be to deliver a nuclear submarine fleet for Australia over the next 18 months, Mr Morrison said the intention was to build these submarines in Adelaide with the help of the UK and US.
However Mr Morrison added that this was not to be seen as an attempt to acquire nuclear weapons or develop a civil nuclear capability.
“We have always believed in a world that favours freedom, “ Mr Morrison said.
“Our world is becoming more complex, especially in our region, the Indo-Pacific. The future of the Indo-Pacific will impact all our futures.”
However, French diplomat Gerard Araud lashed out over the new arms deal declaring his country had been “stabbed in the back”.
France’s former ambassador to the US Gerard Araud said on Twitter he believed the deal had nothing to do with nuclear capabilities and was actually about Australia trying to secure a “juicy contract”.
“The world is a jungle,” Mr Araud declared.
“France has just been reminded this bitter truth by the way the US and the UK have stabbed her in the back in Australia.”
Talks between France and Australia over a potential deal with France’s Naval Group SA to build a new fleet of submarines occurred earlier this year but were marred by delays and frustrations.
The world is a jungle. France has just been reminded this bitter truth by the way the US and the UK have stabbed her in the back in Australia. C’est la vie.
— Gérard Araud (@GerardAraud) September 15, 2021
The new submarines were not expected to be delivered until about 2035, and defence strategists expressed concerns that this timeline was too sluggish considering tensions in the Indo-Pacific region are expected to increase.
By June, Mr Morrison announced he had a “candid” discussion with French President Emmanuel Macron over delays and cost overruns in his government’s deal.
White House officials have confirmed nuclear powered submarines will allow Australia to “play at a much higher level” in the security of the Indo-Pacific and “augment” US defence capabilities.
Senior Biden administration officials briefing journalists refused to say what message the AUSUK trilateral agreement would send to China specifically.
“This partnership is not aimed or about any one country; it’s about advancing our strategic interests, upholding the international rules-based order, and promoting peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” an official said.
But asked how the nuclear powered submarines would impact Australia’s capabilities, an official said they would “really maintain superior characteristics of stealth and speed, maneuverability, survivability, and really substantial endurance”.
“The challenge with conventionally powered submarines is that you have to surface regularly, the range is limited,” the official said.
“What we’re seeing in the Indo-Pacific region is a — is a set of circumstances where capabilities are more advanced.
“This allows Australia to play at a much higher level and to augment American capabilities that will be similar.
“This is about maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.”
During the live announcement on Thursday, President Joe Biden thanked “that fellow Down Under” appearing to momentarily forget Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s name.
Mr Biden spoke from the White House, joined virtually by Mr Morrison and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday morning.
“Thank you Boris and I want to thank that fellow Down Under,” he said.
“Thank you very much, pal! Appreciate it, Mr Prime Minister.
“Prime Minister Morrison and Prime Minister Johnson … I want to thank you for this partnership.”
Mr Biden did not mention China specifically, but said the new agreement was a “historic step” that recognised the “imperative” of ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific long term.
“We need to be able to address both the current strategic environment in the region and how it may evolve,” he said.
“Because the future of each of our nation, and indeed, the world, depends on a free and open Indo-Pacific, enduring and flourishing in the decades ahead.”
Mr Biden said it was about updating the alliance to ensure the countries could “better meet the threats of today and tomorrow”.
“It’s about connecting America’s existing allies and partners in new ways and amplifying our ability to collaborate – recognising that there is no regional divide separating the
interests of our Atlantic and Pacific partners,” he said.
Mr Biden said a “key project” of AUKUS would be assisting Australia acquire conventionally armed, nuclear powered submarines.
“We’re not talking about nuclear-armed submarines,” he said.
“These are conventionally armed submarines powered by nuclear reactors.”
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the AUKUS initiative was a “new chapter” in the allies’ friendship.
“The first task of this partnership will be to help Australia acquire a fleet of nuclear powered submarines,” he said.
“This will be one of the most complex and technically demanding projects in the world, lasting for decades and requiring the most advanced technology.”
Mr Johnson said “only a handful of countries” possess nuclear powered submarines.
“It is a momentous decision for any nation to acquire this formidable capability,” he said. “And perhaps, equally momentous for any other state to come to its aid.
“But Australia is one of our oldest friends, a kindred nation and a fellow democracy and a natural partner in this enterprise.”
And here’s Joe Biden forgetting Scott Morrison’s name while announcing the historic AUUKUS agreement … pic.twitter.com/Zrrlf3BevN
— James Morrow (@pwafork) September 15, 2021
Anticipating a critical reaction, three nations all emphasised the submarines would not have nuclear weapons capabilities.
Mr Morrison said Australia would continue to meet its nuclear non-proliferation obligations.
“Australia has a long history of defence co-operation with the United States and the United Kingdom,” he said.
“For more than a century, we have stood together for the course of freedom, motivated by the beliefs we share.
“Sustained by the bonds of friendship we have forged. Enabled by the sacrifice of those who have gone before us and inspired by our shared hope for those who will follow us.”
Senior federal ministers and their opposition counterparts took part in high-level briefings on Wednesday night, ahead of the announcement this morning.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who had already returned to Canberra from Sydney on Tuesday, was joined by several senior cabinet ministers who were granted exemptions to enter the ACT for a national security committee briefing on Wednesday night.
Defence Minister Peter Dutton and Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne, who are in Washington for meetings, are believed to have joined the meeting via a secure connection.
A hastily organised briefing was also given to Labor leader Anthony Albanese, his deputy Richard Marles, defence spokesman Brendan O’Connor and foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong.
Mr Dutton and Senator Payne are to meet with their US counterparts Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin for the Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) over the next two days.
Mr Morrison will also travel to Washington next week for a meeting of the Quad alliance which also includes the US, India and Japan.
China, the Covid-19 pandemic response and an Australian request for greater access to US missile technology are among the agenda items for the meeting.
It is expected Mr Morrison will have his first one-on-one in person meeting with Mr Biden since he was elected US President.
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