‘It’s more than one plus one plus one’, says Anthony Albanese on AUKUS

Anthony Albanese and British PM Rishi Sunak have discussed the ‘unprecedented co-operation’ between Australia and Britain that will flow from the announcement of a new nuclear submarine deal.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Anthony Albanese at the Lionfish restaurant in the Pendri Hotel, San Diego, California, on Monday (AEDT). Picture: Alex Ellinghausen

Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have discussed the “unprecedented co-operation” between Australia and Britain that will flow from the announcement of a new nuclear submarine deal under the AUKUS framework.

The pair met for the second time on Monday (AEDT) in San Diego, with the Prime Minister saying the historic agreement delivering Australia a nuclear powered submarine capability would serve the interests of Australia, the US and the UK.

“The sum of the three is more than one plus one plus one in this case,” Mr Albanese said.

“And I think that the co-operation we’ve had is really exciting.

“We see that this is an investment in our capability. At the same time, of course, we’re investing in our relationships in the region as well.

“And I’ve been talking with other leaders in the region, as well, explaining our position. And it’s been well-received and understood why we’re doing this. It builds on our long-term ­relationship.”

Mr Sunak said the deal was “about our commitment to the ­Pacific region, which, even though it’s geographically a long way from where we are, it’s important in a way to demonstrate our commitment to the values that we hold dear as countries.”

Mr Albanese began his day with a walk alongside Chief of Navy Mark Hammond, declaring: “It’s a new dawn in San Diego, and it will be a new dawn in Australian defence policy tomorrow.”

Before his trip to the US for the AUKUS announcement, Mr Sunak expressed concern about China’s future direction and role in the international system.

“It’s a country with fundamentally different values to ours, and I think over the last few years it’s become increasingly authoritarian at home and assertive abroad,” the British Prime Minister was quoted as saying in a report in The Wall Street Journal.

“It’s behaviour suggests it has the intention – but also its actions show it is interested in reshaping the world order. And that’s the crux of it.”

Mr Sunak told The Wall Street Journal that threats to security were increasing.

“The world has become a more volatile place,” he said. “What we need to do as allies is out-co-­operate and out-compete our ­adversaries.”

Britain will spend an extra £5bn ($9bn) investing in its nuclear-weapon capabilities and replenishing munitions stockpiles to bolster support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and deter Beijing.

In his interview, Mr Sunak ­declined to classify China as a ­national-security threat, saying the country needed a foreign ­policy approach that was sophisticated enough not to be boiled down to two words.

He also said Britain would need to co-operate with China on global issues such as climate change and global financial stability, an approach the US also had taken.

The comments from Mr Sunak came as Chinese President Xi Jinping used his speech to the ­National People’s Congress to warn that he would modernise the ­Chinese armed forces and turn them into a “great wall of steel” to safeguard his nation’s sovereignty.

Last week, Mr Xi accused the US of trying to encircle and contain China.

Australia’s incoming ambassador to Washington Kevin Rudd told CNN it was “probably not since that ’90s that I’ve seen a Chinese paramount leader attack the ­US by name”.

The former Australian prime minister said the narrowing of the military gap with the US had led China to conclude it could “project its own interests and values in a way in which it didn’t see as possible before.”

Meeting at the San Diego ­sustainable seafood restaurant ­Lionfish where they drank water together ahead of Tuesday’s ­announcement, Mr Albanese and Mr Sunak discussed the Ukraine war, climate change action, the coronation of King Charles in May and the Australia-UK free-trade agreement in their bilateral meeting. “We’ve got a free-trade agreement, which is going to get passed through and be enforced,” Mr Sunak said.

The British Prime Minister added that the announcement of the AUKUS submarine arrangements would represent an ­“important day” in the Australia-UK relationship and he was “delighted” to see his Australian counterpart again.