Latest news with #AUKUS
Perth Now
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Perth Now
Big issue looming over Wong, Marles UK talks
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong will meet with their UK counterparts, with AUKUS set to dominate discussions. The annual AUKMIN talks with UK Secretary of State David Lammy and Defence Secretary John Healey are due to take place at Admiralty House in Sydney on Friday. It's the second meeting of its kind since UK Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer was elected in July 2024. Conversations are expected to focus on deepening the defence relationship between the two countries, as well as emerging challenges as a result of China's increasing dominance in the Indo-Pacific. The group will then travel to Darwin to witness the deployment of a UK Carrier Strike Group warship as part of the Talisman Sabre exercises. Defence Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong will meet with their UK counterparts on Friday. NewsWire/ Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia The group will then travel to Darwin to observe a deployment of UK warships as part of the Talisman Sabre exercises. NewsWire/ Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia Mr Marles said the UK was a 'critical partner for Australia'. 'We continue to work closely together, including through the AUKUS partnership, to address shared strategic challenges in an increasingly complex and uncertain world,' he said. 'I look forward to discussions in the coming days to advance our enduring relationship.' His sentiments were echoed by Senator Wong and said 'strengthening and modernising' Australia's 'longstanding' partnership with the UK was critical to advancing our 'shared interests' during 'uncertain times'. 'We take the world as it is – but together, we are working to shape it for the better,' she said. 'From building defence capability and boosting economic resilience, to standing up for human rights, advancing gender equality, and defending the international rules and institutions that protect us all.' The AUKUS security pact is expected to dominate conversations. NewsWire/ Nicholas Eagar Credit: NCA NewsWire The talks come amid anxieties about the AUKUS security partnership between Australia, the United States and UK, with noted sceptic Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon's policy chief, undertaking a review into the deal. However Sir Keir appeared to ease concerns about the future of the deal following a bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump at the G7 in Alberta, Canada. Asked if AUKUS was going ahead, Sir Keir responded with: 'Yep, we're proceeding with that, it's a really important deal to both of us'. Anthony Albanese has also watered down concerns, saying a review was expected due to the new Trump administration, with the UK undertaking a similar review following the change of government. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister confirmed Australia recently completed a scheduled $800m payment to the US to help bolster their capacity to build warships, bringing the total to $1.6bn. 'We support AUKUS. We have an agreement. It's a treaty-level agreement with our partners that was signed, of course, in San Diego with the United States and the United Kingdom,' he told the ABC.
AU Financial Review
3 hours ago
- Politics
- AU Financial Review
Brits arrive with an aircraft carrier and AUKUS reinforcements
Senior Australian and British ministers will rally around the importance of the AUKUS nuclear submarine pact as a keystone for both countries' defences, as they push back against threats to the agreement from the Trump administration's review. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Defence Secretary John Healey will hold annual defence and diplomatic talks in Sydney on Friday, coinciding with the arrival of a Royal Navy aircraft carrier in Darwin in a show of British prestige and power projection.
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- Politics
- News.com.au
AUKMIN: Defence Minister Richard Marles, Foreign Minister Penny Wong to meet UK counterparts
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong will meet with their UK counterparts, with AUKUS set to dominate discussions. The annual AUKMIN talks with UK Secretary of State David Lammy and Defence Secretary John Healey are due to take place at Admiralty House in Sydney on Friday. It's the second meeting of its kind since UK Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer was elected in July 2024. Conversations are expected to focus on deepening the defence relationship between the two countries, as well as emerging challenges as a result of China's increasing dominance in the Indo-Pacific. The group will then travel to Darwin to witness the deployment of a UK Carrier Strike Group warship as part of the Talisman Sabre exercises. Mr Marles said the UK was a 'critical partner for Australia'. 'We continue to work closely together, including through the AUKUS partnership, to address shared strategic challenges in an increasingly complex and uncertain world,' he said. 'I look forward to discussions in the coming days to advance our enduring relationship.' His sentiments were echoed by Senator Wong and said 'strengthening and modernising' Australia's 'longstanding' partnership with the UK was critical to advancing our 'shared interests' during 'uncertain times'. 'We take the world as it is – but together, we are working to shape it for the better,' she said. 'From building defence capability and boosting economic resilience, to standing up for human rights, advancing gender equality, and defending the international rules and institutions that protect us all.' The talks come amid anxieties about the AUKUS security partnership between Australia, the United States and UK, with noted sceptic Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon's policy chief, undertaking a review into the deal. However Sir Keir appeared to ease concerns about the future of the deal following a bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump at the G7 in Alberta, Canada. Asked if AUKUS was going ahead, Sir Keir responded with: 'Yep, we're proceeding with that, it's a really important deal to both of us'. Anthony Albanese has also watered down concerns, saying a review was expected due to the new Trump administration, with the UK undertaking a similar review following the change of government. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister confirmed Australia recently completed a scheduled $800m payment to the US to help bolster their capacity to build warships, bringing the total to $1.6bn. 'We support AUKUS. We have an agreement. It's a treaty-level agreement with our partners that was signed, of course, in San Diego with the United States and the United Kingdom,' he told the ABC.
SBS Australia
5 hours ago
- Business
- SBS Australia
Australia lifts biosecurity controls on US beef imports
Australia lifts biosecurity controls on US beef imports Published 24 July 2025, 9:20 am The White House has trumpeted Australia's decision to relax restrictions on US beef imports as an example of the US making 'Agriculture Great Again'. The Australian government is also under pressure to explain a lack of transparency over a major payment to the US for AUKUS amid the ongoing trade negotiations.
Sydney Morning Herald
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Scott Morrison thinks this beachside port should house Australia's next joint US base
The Australian Marine Complex in Henderson took shape in the early 2000s and houses shipbuilding and fabrication infrastructure among its five precincts. It is here the government plans to grow a new defence precinct to maintain nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS deal, and has committed $127 million over three years to do so. That's on top of $8 billion in upgrades to HMAS Stirling through to the mid-2030s. Immediately south of Henderson is the Kwinana Industrial Area, home to major operations run by Alcoa, Tianqi Lithium and BP, among others. The KIA will also be the future home of a massive container terminal when the WA state government's plans to shift the port from its current location at the Fremantle inner harbour come to fruition. How will the locals react to a US Navy presence? Already there has been disquiet in the port city of Fremantle to the north over the presence of nuclear-powered submarines at Henderson and HMAS Stirling under the AUKUS agreement. The federal MP whose electorate encompasses Henderson – Labor's Josh Wilson – has previously broken ranks to oppose the agreement, saying in 2023 he did not believe the deal was in Australia's national interest. The City of Fremantle – the local government above the City of Cockburn, which encompasses Henderson – has also been petitioned by locals to push back on the AUKUS plans under its nuclear-free policy and pledge. Fremantle was the first local government in WA to declare itself a nuclear-free zone more than four decades ago. So, what is the likelihood of a joint base in Henderson? Defence expert Jennifer Parker, an adjunct fellow at the Australian National University, believes the proposal doesn't make sense, and could add unnecessary complexity to existing plans for Henderson. 'Henderson really is focused on becoming a defence precinct that can support Australia's sovereign shipbuilding,' Parker said. 'Now a component of Henderson … will conduct depot-level maintenance for submarines, and it will include US submarines, and that's part of the benefit to the US in this deal. 'But to do that, it doesn't need to be a joint base whatsoever. 'In fact, really, that would put probably unnecessary tension on delivering what we need to deliver in Henderson, which is turning it into a defence precinct that has the ability to build large ships and maintain submarines for Australia.' Parker said US submarines and personnel would be already stationed at the nearby HMAS Stirling on Garden Island under the current AUKUS plans. 'Changing the structure of the base, how it's named, how it's administrated, adds no operational capability whatsoever to either shipbuilding and submarine maintenance or support to the squadron in WA,' she said. 'But what it does do is denude some of Australia's control over its main bases, and at Henderson, it could get in the way of Australia's priority, which is shipbuilding.'
