‘High price': Grim warning after AUKUS move

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19 hours ago

Australia will have 'a very high price to pay if AUKUS fails', opposition defence spokesman Angus Taylor says.
The warning came after the US Department of Defence launched a review of the trilateral pact with Australia and the UK to ensure it aligned with Donald Trump's 'America First' agenda.
The Albanese government has brushed off concerns the move signals waning US support for the alliance with Canberra, with Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles saying it was 'natural that the (Trump) administration would want to examine this major undertaking'.
But with AUKUS the centrepiece of Australia's defence strategy over the first half of this century, it has offered little reassurance.
'This is an incredibly important alliance,' Mr Taylor said on Friday.
'It's an incredibly important capability, both in terms of the submarine capability and the technology capability … and this must be a top priority of the government.'
He said the Albanese government had 'many questions to answer'.
'What discussions has Richard Marles already had? To what extent is our lack of defence spending a driver of this review? When will the Prime Minister meet with the President to actually discuss this face-to-face?' he queried.
'These are questions we need answers to, and they're questions that go to the heart of making sure that AUKUS is a success and that we ensure that we have peace through deterrence in our region.'
NewsWire understands Anthony Albanese was set to meet the US President on the sidelines of the upcoming G7.
But US State Department sources said a time had not been set and the situation was 'fluid'.
'No submarines'
Canberra has already spent billions laying the groundwork to acquire and build nuclear-powered submarines and train personnel to crew them under AUKUS.
Washington has committed to supply up to five Virginia-class submarines starting in 2032.
But sluggish submarine production has put the US on track to face a shortage early next decade.
To help bolster production, Australia has agreed to inject $4.6bn into the US defence industrial base.
Mr Marles said on Thursday he was 'confident' the production rate was on track.
'And we are seeing real progress – increases in both production and sustainment – associated with what we're doing with AUKUS and what the Americans themselves are doing,' Mr Marles told the ABC.
'That's what is set out in the agreement that we already have with the United States, which forms part of the treaty that we now have between the US and the UK.
'I think it's completely appropriate for this administration to have a look at all of the facts and figures around that.'
Malcolm Turnbull, who was prime minister during Mr Trump's first term, took a different view.
Also speaking to the ABC, he said it was 'very likely' Australia would end up 'having no submarines'.
'The latest numbers given to the congress by the navy on 11 March this year was that the rate of production is 1.1 per annum,' Mr Turnbull said.
'They need to get to two by 2028 to be able to meet their own requirements, and to 2.33 to meet their own plus Australia's.
'And they have not been able to lift production rates despite the expenditure of over $10bn over the last six or seven years.'So they've got a real problem there.'
Mr Trump can renege on Washington's AUKUS commitments if they put US national security at risk.