AUKUS alliance: No nuclear weapons for Australia, Scott Morrison reassures Joko Widodo

Scott Morrison has assured the Indonesian President Australia would not obtain nuclear weapons as part of a new security pact with the US and the UK.

Scott Morrison and Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Canberra last year. Picture Gary Ramage

Scott Morrison has assured the Indonesian President Australia would not obtain nuclear weapons as part of a new security pact with the US and the UK that will see the nation acquire nuclear-powered submarines, as the PM heads to the US to meet President Joe Biden and other Quad leaders.

In a “warm” phone call with Joko Widodo en route to the New York, Mr Morrison said Australia “would maintain all of our obligations” under nuclear non-proliferation treaties and the new AUKUS security partnership “would contribute to peace and stability and a strategic balance in the region”, a spokesman said.

Mr Morrison is set to touch down in New York at 8am Tuesday AEST, ahead of a packed first day of meetings including with Mr Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, and president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, culminating in a one-on-one dinner with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the Australian embassy in Washington.

“This visit to the United States is all about continuing to do what we must do to keep Australians safe in a rapidly changing world,” Mr Morrison said.

“The region we live in, the Indo-Pacific, is changing. This brings new challenges, risk and opportunities for Australia, not just today, but for our children and grandchildren,” he added.

Mr Morrison’s visit to the US follows a landmark agreement between the US, UK and Australia, which was announced last week, to share military technology and boost combined military strength in the Asia-Pacific region, where China has become increasingly aggressive.

“There’s nothing more important to my government than keeping Australians safe. A stable and secure Indo-Pacific region, where the sovereignty of every country is respected is central to Australia’s national security,” Mr Morrison said.

“My bilateral meeting with President Biden will be especially timely after the announcement of our AUKUS agreement and the meetings of our Foreign Affairs and Defence ministers and secretaries just last week,” he added.

After meeting with Mr Biden in New York, Mr Morrison will travel to Washington for the first ever in-person meeting of leaders of the Quad group of nations, a forum increasingly seen as a bulwark against Chinese aggression.

“At our Quad meetings, Covid vaccines, critical technology supply chains and addressing climate change will all feature heavily on our agenda for discussion,” Mr Morrison said.

The leaders of Japan and India, the other two members, will also be in Washington.

Mr Morrison will meet European leaders on his US trip despite pressure by the French government on its European neighbours to ignore Australia.

France has recalled its ambassadors from Australia and the US, furious at being excluded from the AUKUS discussions and losing a $90bn contract to supply Australia with submarines.

Separately, the co-chairs of the Friends of Australia caucus in the US congress, Republican and Democrat, welcomed the new security pact on Monday morning in Washington.

“We will become more capable and better allies through expanded defence collaboration in areas such as undersea warfare, long-range fires, artificial intelligence, and more,” said Mike Gallagher and Joe Courtney in a joint statement.

“We look forward to working with our partners in the executive branch, as well as our allies in Canberra and London, to build on this momentum and ensure the success of this promising new trilateral mechanism,” they added.