US ‘unquestionably' Australia's top diplomatic priority
"I'm not sure that patronising the reviewer of AUKUS is the best way to go if you want to continue the agreement and save the agreement from the chopping block," Mr Paterson told Sky News Australia.
"This appears to be calculated. The prime minister, perhaps out of some misguided belief that there's a domestic political advantage for him in keeping a distance from the Trump administration, is neglecting our most important security relationship in the most perilous time.
"I believe our task is to reassure our American friends that we are their most reliable ally, and frankly, that's an easy thing to do given our track record and given our history."
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West Australian
3 hours ago
- West Australian
Australia, UK solidify AUKUS deal as Pentagon review raised at high-level Australia-UK talks in Sydney
Despite fears the Trump administration could abandon AUKUS, Australia and the UK have pressed ahead, preparing to sign a 50-year agreement they hope will cement the submarine pact. Defence Minister Richard Marles, Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and their UK counterparts John Healey and David Lammy unveiled the new treaty during the annual AUSMIN meeting in Sydney. The Pentagon's review of the trilateral submarine plan had been raised during the high-level talks on Friday, Mr Marles said. Both defence ministers sought to ease concerns, welcoming the still-ongoing review, with Mr Marles cushioning it as 'the most natural thing in the world' for a new government to reassess such a major deal. 'We've welcomed the review, which is being undertaken by the Trump administration. We spoke today about how both of us — both countries — can contribute to the review,' he said. 'When we came to Government back in 2022, we undertook the Defence Strategic Review. When the UK Government came to power, they, in turn, undertook a review. This is a very, very natural step.' Australia had spearheaded the AUKUS pact in 2021 under then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison, after recognising the country needed to rapidly upgrade its defence capabilities. Labor then agreed to continue it. But Mr Trump's return to the White House in January has sparked new doubts over the pricey pact, as Washington slaps controversial tariffs on multiple countries, including close allies UK and Australia. Australia has also been pressured to increase defence spending in line with the NATO agreement for governments to raise their expenditure to 5 per cent of their country's GDP by 2034. While Australia currently spends about two per cent of its GDP on defence — on track to rise slightly above 2.3 per cent by the end of the decade — Washington has signalled that may not be enough. The UK's increase to 2.5 per cent of GDP by the end of the decade, equivalent to an extra £75 billion, was announced at last month's NATO summit and welcomed by US officials. The Coalition welcomed the UK-Australia treaty but called for defence spending to be increased, urging the Albanese Government to show greater commitment to the US. 'The Albanese Government must urgently demonstrate the same clarity and commitment with the United States,' a joint statement by shadow ministers Michaelia Cash and Angus Taylor said: 'Particularly in light of the Pentagon review, to reassure our partners that Australia can deliver on its contributions and, in turn, secure continued US backing for the agreement. 'Australia must do what we can to ensure AUKUS' longevity and success.' 'At a time of rising global instability, sustained underfunding risks weakening Australia's deterrence and damaging trust in our alliances,' they said. 'The Government must match its rhetoric with investment, and we stand ready to support a bipartisan pathway to deliver the capabilities our nation needs.' Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Euan Graham said it could be contributing to current alliance tensions. The pressure comes ahead of summit season, where the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hopes to land his first meeting with Donald Trump. The Prime Minister has dodged questions on when he'll meet the US President after their planned G7 meeting fell through, with Opposition Leader Sussan Ley attacking the lack of progress during the first sitting of the new Parliament this week. Dr Graham said while the UK could support long-term ambitions, Australia still faced a near-term capability gap it would need the US to fill. He said Australia still had an interim reliance on US-made Virginia-class submarines — set to be acquired in the early 2030s, while waiting for the AUKUS subs to be delivered in the 2040s. 'It doesn't solve the issue of the gap between now and when those submarines start being delivered,' he said. 'That's where the American Virginia class gap-filling really comes into play.' But he reiterated that the AUKUS arrangement was a three-nation pact and can be reinforced by each side, saying if confidence dips in one party, strengthening ties with the others can help balance it out. 'This is a clear commitment from the UK to honour its side of the bargain, and I think hopefully that should steady some of the nervousness around Washington's commitment levels,' he said. Greens Senator David Shoebridge blasted the new treaty, calling it a backward step that enriches foreign arms companies and damages regional ties. 'Australia needs to look to our region, not tie our future to a dying empire a world away. All this will do is line the pockets of foreign arms companies and alienate our neighbours,' Senator Shoebridge said. But Dr Graham said Australia must pay to play, and it was necessary to offshore work because Australia lacks the technology to produce the subs on its own. 'If Australia wants capability, it has to buy it. It can't produce it itself,' he said. 'As part of that, Australia is committed to directly investing in the defence industrial base of both countries. 'That's money that's going to leave Australia and go into other countries, but those other countries are providing a service. It's like anything else.' Mr Marles expressed the importance of Australia's 'oldest relationship' with Britain amid global uncertainty and a 'great power contest' in the region. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy labelled the AUSMIN talks as ' focused and constructive' and the pact a 'landmark treaty' which was necessary in a 'turbulent world'. 'It's clear that the UK-Australia relationship is an anchor in what is a very volatile world, providing stability in troubled waters and a relationship that holds steady,' he said. 'Whichever way the geopolitical winds are blowing . . . I think we're sending a clear signal, a signal of the UK's commitment to this region of the world.' He said the UK was determined to keep the Indo-Pacific 'free and open'. Senator Wong said the relationship was rooted in shared values and interests, but it was important to 'modernise' the partnership to meet current global challenges. 'We all know we face the most challenging, strategic circumstances since World War II. More conflict, more contest, a multilateral system under strain,' Senator Wong said. 'And against that backdrop, the partnership between our nations matters even more. And we are determined to work together to modernise our partnership, to take the world as it is, but to work together to shape it for the better. 'We've had an excellent set of discussions today.' Both parties will travel to Mr Marles' Geelong electorate tomorrow, where the agreement is expected to be officially signed. Mr Marles and Ms Wong will also join their UK counterparts in Darwin on Sunday for the visit of the UK Carrier Strike Group, the first such deployment to Australia since 1997, taking place during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025.
SBS Australia
3 hours ago
- SBS Australia
Australia and UK strengthen AUKUS pact with a 50-year treaty
Australia and UK strengthen AUKUS pact with a 50-year treaty Published 25 July 2025, 9:00 am While the Australian government has not ruled out recognising Palestinian statehood at the New York talks in September, the Prime Minister today described the situation in Gaza as a humanitarian catastrophe. Mr Albanese called on Israel to immediately comply with international law. As the international defence and security landscape continues to deteriorate the United Kingdom's foreign and defence secretaries have arrived in Australia for top level talks as the alliance grows in stature.
ABC News
4 hours ago
- ABC News
NT government expands role of G4S private security guards to support overcrowded watch houses
In an expansion of private prison staff responsibilities in the Northern Territory, Department of Corrections employees have heard the duties performed by private security firm G4S will be increased. In March, the NT government signed a six-month contract with G4S to manage the transfer of Darwin prisoners. G4S security guards currently help to transfer inmates between prisons and the courts, as territory correctional staff face record prisoner numbers. Despite a recruitment drive for 202 new corrections officers to be employed inside prisons this financial year, NT Corrections Minister Gerard Maley has previously acknowledged the prison population is growing and that the government needs to expand the workforce. In an internal memo seen by the ABC, corrections staff were told Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley had signed a work order to expand the duties carried out by private security guards. "As we shape this next phase, we are working closely with G4S to determine what a Northern Territory-based G4S staffing model could look like." The United Workers Union (UWU), which represents corrections officers, has been strongly opposed to the NT's six-month arrangement with G4S since it began in March. UWU NT branch secretary Erina Early said although G4S guards had been assisting with prison transfers since that time, corrections staff had not seen any improvement to their working conditions. "It hasn't made much change to our correctional officers at all because the [prisoner] numbers are increasing," she said. "Bringing in G4S may relieve a couple of shifts, but it's not having the outcome that the government [is] hoping for." Ms Early said union members were worried for "the safety of the prisoners and also safety of the police" — who have a different skillset to correctional officers — and held concerns the expansion of G4S's services signalled growing privatisation in the NT's corrections system. "They've been saying this since it was announced by Commissioner Matthew Varley, that G4S were coming in — as soon as you have them in, it's like a cancer, they will spread," she said. "They have been taking more and more roles." Corrections Minister Gerard Maley last month told the ABC that privatising the entire NT prison system was not on the government's radar. "There are private firms that run prisons in their entirety, that's not our plan at all," he said. "Our plan is to make sure that we have highly trained officers behind the wire, and then independent contractors such as G4S doing the services outside that." The NT's corrections department has been housing a growing number of prisoners in police watch houses in recent months, due to capacity constraints at territory prisons. Earlier this week, there were about 100 people being held inside the Palmerston police watch house, including overflow corrections prisoners. G4S is part of American private security giant Allied Universal, which employs more than 800,000 people internationally and generates about $20 billion in annual revenue. The company describes itself as a "global leader in security". Security guards employed by G4S in Australia mainly work in prisons and detention centres. The firm has operated Victoria's largest maximum security prison, Port Phillip Prison, since it opened in 1997. A 2018 report by the Victorian auditor-general's office found "serious incidents" at Port Phillip Prison, including assaults and drug use, and "exposed weaknesses in how G4S … manage safety and security risks". A Victorian coroner recently recommended G4S improve staff training following the "preventable" 2022 death of an Aboriginal man in his prison cell. Port Phillip Prison is due to close by the end of this year. Last year, G4S reached a confidential settlement with the parents of an Iranian asylum seeker, who was fatally bashed by guards at a Manus Island offshore detention centre in 2014. The company was also fined over its role in the death of an Aboriginal elder, who overheated in the back of a prison van in remote Western Australia in 2008. It is not yet clear how much the NT government's contract with G4S has cost the public.
