New AUKUS laws to fast-track Australia’s access to top American defence technology

Australia’s access to futuristic American defence innovations will be fast-tracked by new laws, amid fears the Biden administration is moving too slowly to share technology.

EXCLUSIVE: Australia would receive fast-tracked access to America’s top defence technologies under a plan drawn up by US lawmakers to slash the red tape that could otherwise cruel the AUKUS pact.

Republican senators have unveiled the TORPEDO Act to overhaul the complicated web of US arms trafficking regulations that the Albanese government has warned will stifle efforts to share innovations including hypersonic missiles, artificial intelligence and electronic warfare.

House Republicans are also working with Democrats on their own bipartisan legislation, amid fears the Biden administration is not moving quickly enough to resolve the issue.

While US export controls are unlikely to impede Australia’s plans to acquire a nuclear-powered submarine fleet, American officials and defence experts have echoed the Albanese government’s concerns that the rules were a roadblock to sharing other hi-tech military innovations under the AUKUS agreement.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveil the AUKUS nuclear submarine plan. Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images

The congressional solutions can be revealed ahead of Joe Biden’s first presidential visit to Australia next week, the first by a US leader since Barack Obama in 2011.

While Mr Biden last week foreshadowed cancelling the trip to deal with the US debt ceiling drama, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday that the White House was “planning to conduct this trip as scheduled”.

US State Department assistant secretary Jessica Lewis said an “AUKUS bubble” was being implemented to improve technology-sharing with Australia while a permanent legislative solution was developed. She acknowledged existing rules were “complex and difficult”.

“AUKUS is too important to wait. We need to act now, and we are,” Ms Lewis said.

“We have not only a generational opportunity, but also a historic responsibility to protect these technologies.”

House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Michael McCaul said US export controls were “prohibiting our ability to make weapons with our closest allies in a very expeditious way”, and that he was drafting laws to create an exemption for Australia.

Australia's US ambassador Kevin Rudd meets House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Michael McCaul.

Mr McCaul, who recently held a hearing with Australian officials and met US ambassador Kevin Rudd, said AUKUS government and industry leaders had been “crystal clear about the current challenges relating to an operational AUKUS”.

Republican senators Bill Hegarty and Jim Risch – the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations committee – went further this month, introducing the TORPEDO Act for “Truncating Onerous Regulations for Partners and Enhancing Deterrence Operations”.

Their bill would also create a senior State Department adviser to oversee the implementation of AUKUS, require regular reporting on blocked export requests, and force the Biden administration to advise on further changes required to ensure the success of AUKUS.

Senator Risch cautioned that the Biden administration was “failing to move at the speed of relevance given the China threat”.

“The TORPEDO Act aims to speed up the implementation process by reforming the US regulatory system so we can co-operate in a timely and efficient manner on the capabilities we and our partners need,” he said.

The sharing of defence technologies under AUKUS was designed to rapidly enhance Australia’s military might, given our nuclear submarines will not begin hitting the water until the 2030s.

Originally published as New AUKUS laws to fast-track Australia’s access to top American defence technology