Amazon mega deal underscores economic relationship with US, minister says

West Australian

8 hours ago

Amazon's $20bn investment into Australian data centre infrastructure underscores the economic relationship with the US ahead of Anthony Albanese's first face-to-face with Donald Trump, Labor's industry tsar says.
The Prime Minister announced the mega deal with Amazon at the tech giant's headquarters in Seattle overnight.
Speaking to media, Mr Albanese also said he and the US President had 'scheduled' a meeting on the sidelines of the G7 in Canada after Mr Trump confirmed he would attend the summit.
Pressure has been mounting on Mr Albanese to secure a carve out from sweeping US tariffs and shore up Washington's support for AUKUS after the Trump administration launched a review of the $368bn defence pact.
Industry and Innovation Minister Tim Ayres said on Sunday the deal was 'not designed' to send a message to Mr Trump but that 'it certainly does underscore the depth of the economic and strategic and technological relationship' with the US.
'It's not just about trading in goods and services,' Senator Ayres told Sky News.
'It's about collaboration around science and research and development and in industrial terms.'
He singled out AUKUS as 'offering opportunities for Australian and United States firms … to invest in each other's economy', highlighting it as 'a real counterpoint to the position that the United States has adopted around tariff announcements'.
'They are not the act of a friend, as has been said repeatedly by me and my colleagues,' Senator Ayres said.
'They are not in Australia's interest, but they're not in the United States' interest either.
'Australian steel, for example, exported to the United States, feeds into American supply chains and supports competitive industry that provides good jobs for American workers.
'Why on Earth would anybody want to make Australian steel in the United States more expensive?
'That's what the tariff measures do.'
He said Mr Albanese would be putting that 'position directly to the President of the United States' when they meet next week.
'But the Amazon announcement does underscore how vital the direct economic relationship really is,' Senator Ayres said.
At his Seattle press conference announcing the deal, Mr Albanese said he would raise tariffs and AUKUS with Mr Trump.
Though he stopped short of saying the Amazon announcement was a message to the US leader.
'The US (Free Trade Agreement) has been important,' Mr Albanese told reporters.
'It's enjoyed bipartisan support in Australia and indeed in the United States.
'And so we welcome very much American investment in Australia.'
He added it was 'important to recognise as well that the United States has a two for one surplus when it comes to the trading relationship in not just in goods, but in services as well'.
'And we want to grow the economic relationship between our two countries,' Mr Albanese said.
'And I'm sure that when I have the opportunity to have discussions with President Trump, we will speak about the important economic relationship between our two countries, which is in the interests of both Australia and the United States.'
Under the deal, Amazon has committed to pumping cash into developing data centres in Melbourne and Sydney over the next five years, focusing on storage, networking, analytics, and secure services supporting cloud and AI.
The firm will build renewable energy sources to support its operations.
Speaking alongside Mr Albanese, Amazon Web Services chief executive Matt Garman dismissed concerns Australia's grid lacked the power needed for AI.
'I think definitely the explosion of AI requires a lot of power, so that's one of the things we're thinking about,' Mr Garman told reporters.
'I think here in the United States, we see nuclear as part of that portfolio.
'Our investments in Australia are wind and solar, but I think depending on the local setup and economies and other things, it's a global question, but there's no question that we will continue to need more and more power going forward.'