Pat Conroy: AUKUS partnership ‘greatest asset in troubled times’

Australia’s Defence Minister has made an urgent pitch to US Congress about AUKUS’s importance, just days before a crucial White House meeting between Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy has argued the AUKUS deal is one of the greatest mutual assets “in troubled times” in a speech to members of the United States congress and senior defence figures.

Speaking in Washington DC days before Anthony Albanese meets with Donald Trump at the White House, Mr Conroy laid the groundwork with government officials, spruiking Australia’s value to the alliance amid a “critical juncture in global geo-politics”.

“As the situation across the world becomes more volatile and uncertain, the ties that bind Australia and the United States together are stronger than ever, and our co-operation on defence and security only sharpens in the face of these challenges,” Mr Conroy said at an event in the US capital.

“Our relationship is strong, based on our shared defence history – one of great affection and trust, that makes both nations stronger.”

Mr Conroy said the US was Australia’s “oldest and closest ally”.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy has spruiked Australia’s value to the AUKUS. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

“And together, sharing our strategic assets, expertise, technology, and aligning our defence industrial bases, our AUKUS partnership is one of our greatest assets in troubled times,” he said.

It came as he announced the government’s AUKUS licence-free export program had facilitated $150 million in Australian defence trade with US and UK partners since it began in September 2024.

Under the program, the three AUKUS countries allowed reciprocal exemptions for export licensing for scientific, industrial and technological defence partners.

Mr Conroy said almost 500 Australian businesses had used the export exemptions which abolished the recruitment for 900 export permits.

“The AUKUS licence-free environment is a generational reform for our Australian defence industry,” he said.

“We’ll keep working to streamline defence trade opportunities with our AUKUS partners because cutting red tape and removing trade barriers means backing Australian industry.”

AUS-US ROCKET DEAL

Australia will deepen its defence ties with the United States under a deal to produce guided rockets by the end of the year and the separate creation of a joint office for developing precision strike missiles in Alabama’s “Rocket City”.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy signed a statement of intent with the US Department of War and Lockheed Martin Australia as he arrived in Washington DC to meet with senior members of the Trump administration a week before Anthony Albanese visits the White House.

Under the plan, Australia will begin manufacturing Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System missiles before the end of the year in a major boost to efforts toward building a sovereign guided weapons pipeline.

“This statement recognises that Australia’s guided weapons initiative will make a vital contribution to international security supply chains and increasing the combined industrial capacity of Australia and the United States,” Mr Conroy said.

“The Australian weapons manufacturing complex will be flexible and scalable, expand global manufacturing capacity and reduce dependence on overseas infrastructure.”

Anthony Albanese snuck in a selfie with President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last month. Picture: PMO

He said for Australia’s guided weapons industry to be sustainable, production quantities needed to extend beyond domestic demand.

In addition, Australia and the United States will open a joint office in Huntsville, Alabama, often referred to as Rocket City for its ties to rocketry and space exploration industries, to oversee the development of precision strike missiles.

Mr Conroy will spend the week in Washington meeting with senior members of the Trump administration and military decision makers but he would not identify any of the figures he planned to see.

“The Albanese government and the Trump administration share a steadfast commitment to advancing our defence industry,” he said.

“Of course, the US is our principal strategic partner, we are vital to one another’s defence, security and economic prosperity and that of the region.”

Mr Conroy sought to downplay concerns over the Pentagon’s review of AUKUS which is examining whether the trilateral defence pact is compatible with the Trump administration’s America First agenda, arguing both Australia and the UK undertook similar reviews after changes in government.

He said the alliance, including through AUKUS, was beneficial to all parties in sharpening collective deterrence and in helping to revitalise the US marine industrial base.

“I’m confident that the AUKUS arrangement remains in the national interest of all three countries,” he said.

Originally published as Pat Conroy: AUKUS partnership ‘greatest asset in troubled times’