UK to back 50-year AUKUS treaty as US shadow looms
The treaty will be inked when Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles host their UK counterparts David Lammy and John Healey in Sydney on Friday for regular Australia-UK ministerial meetings, according to British news agency PA.
"This historic treaty confirms our AUKUS commitment for the next half century," UK Defence Secretary John Healey said.
While the AUKUS nuclear submarine partnership involves the US, UK and Australia, the treaty is between the latter two nations, as a Pentagon review into the agreement threatens America's future participation.
Australia and the UK are expected to lay out the bilateral aspects of the agreement and explore ways the two countries can work together over the next half-century.
In a joint statement, Mr Marles and Senator Wong said the Australia-UK Ministerial Consultations, or AUKMIN, were critical to the two nations' shared interests.
"We take the world as it is - but together, we are working to shape it for the better," Senator Wong said.
Under the $368 billion AUKUS program, Australia will buy at least three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the US in the early 2030s. A new class of nuclear submarines will be built in Adelaide and delivered in the 2040s.
The US had promised to sell Australia nuclear-powered attack submarines under the AUKUS agreement, but President Donald Trump's administration has launched a review into the deal to examine whether it aligns with his "America first" agenda.
Defence analysts believe a likely outcome of the US review will be a request for more money from Australia to support its submarine industrial base.
The Australian government has said it remains confident in the nuclear-submarine deal being delivered.
The UK has fast become one of Australia's most important defence allies amid turmoil under the Trump administration, a security analyst says.
Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Alex Bristow said holding ministerial meetings on a six-monthly cycle, rather than the traditional annual timeline, highlights strengthened ties between the two nations.
"The tempo of it increasing, I think, is a signal that Britain is moving into an elite category," he told AAP.
The UK was probably third behind Japan and the US in terms of how strategically significant the defence relationship was to Australia, Dr Bristow said.
Meanwhile, the UK's Carrier Strike Group, led by the Royal Navy flagship HMS Prince of Wales, arrived in Darwin on Wednesday in the midst of the Talisman Sabre multi-nation military exercises being hosted by Australia.
It's the first UK carrier strike group to visit Australia since 1997.
The international task group includes five core ships, 24 jets and 17 helicopters, centred on the flagship aircraft carrier.
On Sunday, Mr Marles and Senator Wong will join their counterparts in Darwin to observe the UK Carrier Strike Group in action at Talisman Sabre.
UK High Commissioner to Australia Sarah MacIntosh said the arrival of the strike group was a demonstration of commitment to the region and the strong relationship with Canberra.
"This is an anchor relationship in a contested world," she said.
Dr Bristow said Australia should be welcoming carrier strike groups from European countries.
He said NATO had identified China as a threat to its interests as Beijing continues to collaborate with Russia and North Korea.
"It's entirely in the interests of European allies in NATO to be working with Indo-Pacific allies," Dr Bristow said.
with PA
The United Kingdom has underscored its commitment to AUKUS after revealing it will sign a new 50-year treaty with Australia, amid questions over US involvement in the trilateral security pact.
The treaty will be inked when Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles host their UK counterparts David Lammy and John Healey in Sydney on Friday for regular Australia-UK ministerial meetings, according to British news agency PA.
"This historic treaty confirms our AUKUS commitment for the next half century," UK Defence Secretary John Healey said.
While the AUKUS nuclear submarine partnership involves the US, UK and Australia, the treaty is between the latter two nations, as a Pentagon review into the agreement threatens America's future participation.
Australia and the UK are expected to lay out the bilateral aspects of the agreement and explore ways the two countries can work together over the next half-century.
In a joint statement, Mr Marles and Senator Wong said the Australia-UK Ministerial Consultations, or AUKMIN, were critical to the two nations' shared interests.
"We take the world as it is - but together, we are working to shape it for the better," Senator Wong said.
Under the $368 billion AUKUS program, Australia will buy at least three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the US in the early 2030s. A new class of nuclear submarines will be built in Adelaide and delivered in the 2040s.
The US had promised to sell Australia nuclear-powered attack submarines under the AUKUS agreement, but President Donald Trump's administration has launched a review into the deal to examine whether it aligns with his "America first" agenda.
Defence analysts believe a likely outcome of the US review will be a request for more money from Australia to support its submarine industrial base.
The Australian government has said it remains confident in the nuclear-submarine deal being delivered.
The UK has fast become one of Australia's most important defence allies amid turmoil under the Trump administration, a security analyst says.
Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Alex Bristow said holding ministerial meetings on a six-monthly cycle, rather than the traditional annual timeline, highlights strengthened ties between the two nations.
"The tempo of it increasing, I think, is a signal that Britain is moving into an elite category," he told AAP.
The UK was probably third behind Japan and the US in terms of how strategically significant the defence relationship was to Australia, Dr Bristow said.
Meanwhile, the UK's Carrier Strike Group, led by the Royal Navy flagship HMS Prince of Wales, arrived in Darwin on Wednesday in the midst of the Talisman Sabre multi-nation military exercises being hosted by Australia.
It's the first UK carrier strike group to visit Australia since 1997.
The international task group includes five core ships, 24 jets and 17 helicopters, centred on the flagship aircraft carrier.
On Sunday, Mr Marles and Senator Wong will join their counterparts in Darwin to observe the UK Carrier Strike Group in action at Talisman Sabre.
UK High Commissioner to Australia Sarah MacIntosh said the arrival of the strike group was a demonstration of commitment to the region and the strong relationship with Canberra.
"This is an anchor relationship in a contested world," she said.
Dr Bristow said Australia should be welcoming carrier strike groups from European countries.
He said NATO had identified China as a threat to its interests as Beijing continues to collaborate with Russia and North Korea.
"It's entirely in the interests of European allies in NATO to be working with Indo-Pacific allies," Dr Bristow said.
with PA
The United Kingdom has underscored its commitment to AUKUS after revealing it will sign a new 50-year treaty with Australia, amid questions over US involvement in the trilateral security pact.
The treaty will be inked when Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles host their UK counterparts David Lammy and John Healey in Sydney on Friday for regular Australia-UK ministerial meetings, according to British news agency PA.
"This historic treaty confirms our AUKUS commitment for the next half century," UK Defence Secretary John Healey said.
While the AUKUS nuclear submarine partnership involves the US, UK and Australia, the treaty is between the latter two nations, as a Pentagon review into the agreement threatens America's future participation.
Australia and the UK are expected to lay out the bilateral aspects of the agreement and explore ways the two countries can work together over the next half-century.
In a joint statement, Mr Marles and Senator Wong said the Australia-UK Ministerial Consultations, or AUKMIN, were critical to the two nations' shared interests.
"We take the world as it is - but together, we are working to shape it for the better," Senator Wong said.
Under the $368 billion AUKUS program, Australia will buy at least three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the US in the early 2030s. A new class of nuclear submarines will be built in Adelaide and delivered in the 2040s.
The US had promised to sell Australia nuclear-powered attack submarines under the AUKUS agreement, but President Donald Trump's administration has launched a review into the deal to examine whether it aligns with his "America first" agenda.
Defence analysts believe a likely outcome of the US review will be a request for more money from Australia to support its submarine industrial base.
The Australian government has said it remains confident in the nuclear-submarine deal being delivered.
The UK has fast become one of Australia's most important defence allies amid turmoil under the Trump administration, a security analyst says.
Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Alex Bristow said holding ministerial meetings on a six-monthly cycle, rather than the traditional annual timeline, highlights strengthened ties between the two nations.
"The tempo of it increasing, I think, is a signal that Britain is moving into an elite category," he told AAP.
The UK was probably third behind Japan and the US in terms of how strategically significant the defence relationship was to Australia, Dr Bristow said.
Meanwhile, the UK's Carrier Strike Group, led by the Royal Navy flagship HMS Prince of Wales, arrived in Darwin on Wednesday in the midst of the Talisman Sabre multi-nation military exercises being hosted by Australia.
It's the first UK carrier strike group to visit Australia since 1997.
The international task group includes five core ships, 24 jets and 17 helicopters, centred on the flagship aircraft carrier.
On Sunday, Mr Marles and Senator Wong will join their counterparts in Darwin to observe the UK Carrier Strike Group in action at Talisman Sabre.
UK High Commissioner to Australia Sarah MacIntosh said the arrival of the strike group was a demonstration of commitment to the region and the strong relationship with Canberra.
"This is an anchor relationship in a contested world," she said.
Dr Bristow said Australia should be welcoming carrier strike groups from European countries.
He said NATO had identified China as a threat to its interests as Beijing continues to collaborate with Russia and North Korea.
"It's entirely in the interests of European allies in NATO to be working with Indo-Pacific allies," Dr Bristow said.
with PA
The United Kingdom has underscored its commitment to AUKUS after revealing it will sign a new 50-year treaty with Australia, amid questions over US involvement in the trilateral security pact.
The treaty will be inked when Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles host their UK counterparts David Lammy and John Healey in Sydney on Friday for regular Australia-UK ministerial meetings, according to British news agency PA.
"This historic treaty confirms our AUKUS commitment for the next half century," UK Defence Secretary John Healey said.
While the AUKUS nuclear submarine partnership involves the US, UK and Australia, the treaty is between the latter two nations, as a Pentagon review into the agreement threatens America's future participation.
Australia and the UK are expected to lay out the bilateral aspects of the agreement and explore ways the two countries can work together over the next half-century.
In a joint statement, Mr Marles and Senator Wong said the Australia-UK Ministerial Consultations, or AUKMIN, were critical to the two nations' shared interests.
"We take the world as it is - but together, we are working to shape it for the better," Senator Wong said.
Under the $368 billion AUKUS program, Australia will buy at least three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the US in the early 2030s. A new class of nuclear submarines will be built in Adelaide and delivered in the 2040s.
The US had promised to sell Australia nuclear-powered attack submarines under the AUKUS agreement, but President Donald Trump's administration has launched a review into the deal to examine whether it aligns with his "America first" agenda.
Defence analysts believe a likely outcome of the US review will be a request for more money from Australia to support its submarine industrial base.
The Australian government has said it remains confident in the nuclear-submarine deal being delivered.
The UK has fast become one of Australia's most important defence allies amid turmoil under the Trump administration, a security analyst says.
Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Alex Bristow said holding ministerial meetings on a six-monthly cycle, rather than the traditional annual timeline, highlights strengthened ties between the two nations.
"The tempo of it increasing, I think, is a signal that Britain is moving into an elite category," he told AAP.
The UK was probably third behind Japan and the US in terms of how strategically significant the defence relationship was to Australia, Dr Bristow said.
Meanwhile, the UK's Carrier Strike Group, led by the Royal Navy flagship HMS Prince of Wales, arrived in Darwin on Wednesday in the midst of the Talisman Sabre multi-nation military exercises being hosted by Australia.
It's the first UK carrier strike group to visit Australia since 1997.
The international task group includes five core ships, 24 jets and 17 helicopters, centred on the flagship aircraft carrier.
On Sunday, Mr Marles and Senator Wong will join their counterparts in Darwin to observe the UK Carrier Strike Group in action at Talisman Sabre.
UK High Commissioner to Australia Sarah MacIntosh said the arrival of the strike group was a demonstration of commitment to the region and the strong relationship with Canberra.
"This is an anchor relationship in a contested world," she said.
Dr Bristow said Australia should be welcoming carrier strike groups from European countries.
He said NATO had identified China as a threat to its interests as Beijing continues to collaborate with Russia and North Korea.
"It's entirely in the interests of European allies in NATO to be working with Indo-Pacific allies," Dr Bristow said.
with PA
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Prime Minister Keir Starmer's ultimatum, setting a September deadline, prompted an immediate rebuke from Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, who said it rewarded Hamas and punished the victims of the fighters' 2023 attack that triggered the war. US President Donald Trump also said he did not think Hamas "should be rewarded" with recognition of Palestinian independence. But British Transport Minister Heidi Alexander - designated by the government to respond to media questions on Wednesday - said: "This is not a reward for Hamas. "Hamas is a vile terrorist organisation that has committed appalling atrocities. This is about the Palestinian people. It's about those children that we see in Gaza who are starving to death. "We've got to ratchet up pressure on the Israeli government to lift the restrictions to get aid back into Gaza." Starmer's decision follows that of French President Emmanuel Macron, who announced last week that Paris would recognise Palestinian statehood in September, becoming the first major Western power to do so, because of the dire humanitarian conditions in the enclave. Previously, Britain and France, like other Western powers, had been committed to Palestinian independence, but as a goal that would best be achieved only at the conclusion of negotiations with Israel. In a televised address on Tuesday, Starmer said it had become necessary to act because the prospect of such a two-state solution was under threat. Britain would make the move at the UN General Assembly in September unless Israel took substantive steps to allow more aid into Gaza, made clear it would not annex the West Bank and committed itself to a long-term peace process that delivered a two-state solution, Starmer said. The Board of Deputies of British Jews, Britain's biggest Jewish advocacy group, raised concerns that similarly clear conditions had not been set out for Hamas, which is still holding 50 hostages it seized in its October 2023 attack. The Muslim Council of Britain, the country's largest Muslim umbrella organisation, said making recognition conditional contradicted the government's stated position that statehood was the inalienable right of the Palestinian people. Britain rejects Israeli criticism that it is rewarding militant group Hamas by setting out plans to recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel takes steps to improve the situation in Gaza and bring about peace. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's ultimatum, setting a September deadline, prompted an immediate rebuke from Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, who said it rewarded Hamas and punished the victims of the fighters' 2023 attack that triggered the war. US President Donald Trump also said he did not think Hamas "should be rewarded" with recognition of Palestinian independence. But British Transport Minister Heidi Alexander - designated by the government to respond to media questions on Wednesday - said: "This is not a reward for Hamas. "Hamas is a vile terrorist organisation that has committed appalling atrocities. This is about the Palestinian people. It's about those children that we see in Gaza who are starving to death. "We've got to ratchet up pressure on the Israeli government to lift the restrictions to get aid back into Gaza." Starmer's decision follows that of French President Emmanuel Macron, who announced last week that Paris would recognise Palestinian statehood in September, becoming the first major Western power to do so, because of the dire humanitarian conditions in the enclave. Previously, Britain and France, like other Western powers, had been committed to Palestinian independence, but as a goal that would best be achieved only at the conclusion of negotiations with Israel. In a televised address on Tuesday, Starmer said it had become necessary to act because the prospect of such a two-state solution was under threat. Britain would make the move at the UN General Assembly in September unless Israel took substantive steps to allow more aid into Gaza, made clear it would not annex the West Bank and committed itself to a long-term peace process that delivered a two-state solution, Starmer said. The Board of Deputies of British Jews, Britain's biggest Jewish advocacy group, raised concerns that similarly clear conditions had not been set out for Hamas, which is still holding 50 hostages it seized in its October 2023 attack. The Muslim Council of Britain, the country's largest Muslim umbrella organisation, said making recognition conditional contradicted the government's stated position that statehood was the inalienable right of the Palestinian people. Britain rejects Israeli criticism that it is rewarding militant group Hamas by setting out plans to recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel takes steps to improve the situation in Gaza and bring about peace. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's ultimatum, setting a September deadline, prompted an immediate rebuke from Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, who said it rewarded Hamas and punished the victims of the fighters' 2023 attack that triggered the war. US President Donald Trump also said he did not think Hamas "should be rewarded" with recognition of Palestinian independence. But British Transport Minister Heidi Alexander - designated by the government to respond to media questions on Wednesday - said: "This is not a reward for Hamas. "Hamas is a vile terrorist organisation that has committed appalling atrocities. This is about the Palestinian people. It's about those children that we see in Gaza who are starving to death. "We've got to ratchet up pressure on the Israeli government to lift the restrictions to get aid back into Gaza." Starmer's decision follows that of French President Emmanuel Macron, who announced last week that Paris would recognise Palestinian statehood in September, becoming the first major Western power to do so, because of the dire humanitarian conditions in the enclave. Previously, Britain and France, like other Western powers, had been committed to Palestinian independence, but as a goal that would best be achieved only at the conclusion of negotiations with Israel. In a televised address on Tuesday, Starmer said it had become necessary to act because the prospect of such a two-state solution was under threat. Britain would make the move at the UN General Assembly in September unless Israel took substantive steps to allow more aid into Gaza, made clear it would not annex the West Bank and committed itself to a long-term peace process that delivered a two-state solution, Starmer said. The Board of Deputies of British Jews, Britain's biggest Jewish advocacy group, raised concerns that similarly clear conditions had not been set out for Hamas, which is still holding 50 hostages it seized in its October 2023 attack. The Muslim Council of Britain, the country's largest Muslim umbrella organisation, said making recognition conditional contradicted the government's stated position that statehood was the inalienable right of the Palestinian people.
