AUKUS unity in doubt as Anthony Albanese hesitates and UK PM Keir Starmer refuses to support President Trump's Iran strikes

Sky News AU

5 hours ago

The AUKUS alliance has shown signs of strain after Australia and the UK adopted 'ambiguous' positions on US President Donald Trump's strikes against Iran.
In an exclusive interview with Sky News, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese insisted he had acted in an 'orderly' way after taking 24 hours to support the strikes.
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been condemned in London for failing to support the strikes at all.
British media called into question which side Mr Starmer was on—Iran or US—after he refused to take a position.
Splashed across UK tabloid The Daily Mail, Mr Starmer was accused of a "lack of moral clarity" for not backing US military intervention.
The delay, or reluctance, of the UK and Australia willing to support the United States' actions has appeared at odds with the founding principles of the trilateral AUKUS defence pact.
In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, some global powers were ambivalent on the US military action, calling for peace or de-escalation, rather than expressing support.
When asked why his government waited 24 hours before declaring support for the US strikes, Mr Albanese dismissed the criticism as politically motivated.
He also rejected the suggestion that Australia was being sidelined by the US after President Trump cancelled their meeting at the G7 in Canada.
'I met with President Trump's key economic advisors on the sidelines of the G7… (but) President Trump took the understandable decision to leave that meeting,' Mr Albanese said.
Despite those meetings, Australia's initial response on Sunday came not from Mr Albanese, but via a short statement from a government spokesperson.
That statement notably refrained from supporting the US action, calling only for 'de-escalation' and 'dialogue'.
The government's 'ambiguous' response drew criticism from the opposition, with acting shadow foreign affairs minister Andrew Hastie accusing it of being 'flat-footed'.
'He should have called a national security committee meeting and he should have stood up and spoken to the Australian people,' Mr Hastie told Sky News on Monday.
'Sending out a government spokesman to make a brief comment about one of the biggest events to happen in the last five years was not good enough.'
Meanwhile, the Pentagon recently announced it would review the AUKUS security pact to ensure it aligned with President Trump's "America First" agenda.
The decision came after Mr Albanese resisted US demands to lift defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP.
Mr Albanese said he would not react to political pressure but that he would address defence policy according to need and capability.
Under the AUKUS deal, Australia would acquire nuclear power submarines and share advanced technologies with the US in a $368 billion deal over three decades.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Senior Analyst in Defence Strategy, Malcolm Davis, told Sky News the review was likely tied to the lack of defence spending.
'I think it is (related to calls to lift defence spending) … I think that he (Mr Albanese) does need to do more to increase defence spending,' Mr Davis said
Several Australian politicians have since called for the Albanese government to do its own review of AUKUS, to ensure it is in the national interest.