UK and Australia to sign ‘historic’ bilateral pact to boost Australia’s ability to build nuclear subs

Australia and the UK are on the cusp of signing a “historic” 50-year bilateral pact to strengthen the AUKUS agreement and ensure Australia is able to acquire nuclear powered submarine capability, despite a US review into the pact. Defence Minister Richard Marles described the deal as a “significant a treaty as has been signed between our two countries since federation”. Mr Marles and UK Secretary of Defence John Healey are set to sign the bilateral pact in Geelong on Saturday. “It will be the honour of John and I to put our signatures to this treaty in Geelong, and it will very much underpin the development of AUKUS, the building of submarines in Adelaide, and what will ultimately see Australia and the United Kingdom operate the same class of nuclear powered submarines in the future,” said Mr Marles. Mr Healey said the treaty would support “tens of thousands of skilled, high paid jobs in both our nations”. “It’s a treaty to build the most powerful, the most advanced attack submarines our two navies have ever had,” he said. “It’s a treaty that strengthens NATO as well as security in the Indo-Pacific. It’s a treaty that will outlast us as politicians, that will safeguard the security of our children and our children’s children to come.” The AUKUS agreement has found itself on shaky ground as an increasingly erratic Trump administration undergoes a “review” of the defence pact announced in September 2021. Spearheaded by American bureaucrat Elbridge Colby, the AUKUS review has shrouded the multibillion-dollar agreement in doubt since it began in June, prompting Australian and UK officials to announce their renewed enthusiasm for the trilateral security pact. Mr Marles and Mr Healey also downplayed the US’ review into the AUKUS agreement, despite Mr Colby being a noted AUKUS critic. Mr Marles said a “new government undertaking a review is the most natural thing in the world”, and said both countries would contribute to the probe. Mr Healey said the review was an “opportunity for the new administration to renew America’s commitment” to the pact, adding that the review would also enforce the benefits of the agreement for the US. He noted the pact would create “thousands of jobs,” in a way that would not cost the US taxpayer any more money. It would also allow for “more attack subs in the Indo-Pacific,” plus increased “maintenance facilities in Perth” that can accommodate US subs, and the creation of more attack subs. “Again, it means more subs, greater deterrence and greater regional security in the Indo-Pacific,” he said. Marles, Wong welcome UK counterparts Mr Marles said he was enthusiastic about the opportunity to “address shared strategic challenges in an increasingly complex and uncertain world”. Senator Wong said “Australia and the United Kingdom are longstanding friends and partners”. “We take the world as it is – but together, we are working to shape it for the better,” she said. Mr Lammy said the ties that bind Australia and the UK together were like “no other”. “In our increasingly volatile and dangerous world, our anchoring friendship has real impact in the protection of global peace and prosperity,” he said. Mr Healey said AUKUS was “one of Britain’s most important defence partnerships”. “This historic treaty confirms our AUKUS commitment for the next half-century. Through the treaty, we are supporting high-skilled, well-paid jobs for tens of thousands of people in both the UK and Australia,” he said. “Our deep defence relationship with Australia – from our work together to support Ukraine, share vital intelligence, and develop innovative technology – makes us secure at home and strong abroad.” Mr Healey’s comments come as a UK carrier group joins the Australian Defence Force and various branches of the US military in Operation Talisman Sabre, a biannual war game exercise that takes place across Far North Queensland and Papua New Guinea over three weeks. More than 3000 British military personnel are taking part in the exercise, which marks the first time in more than 20 years that a British aircraft carrier has entered Australian waters. The United Kingdom’s foreign secretary has launched a comedic jab at one of Australia’s most well-known sporting names during a meeting with his diplomatic counterparts from Down Under. The four leaders engaged warmly with one another at Admiralty House on Friday morning, exchanging some light banter about Aussie weather and the pedigree of our sporting exports. “John, David, welcome. It’s fantastic to have you here at Admiralty House to look at the beautiful harbour behind us,” Mr Marles said. “This is our oldest relationship, but with AUKUS and with a range of other matters … we have a contemporary strategic dimension to the relationship which really hasn’t been there for a long time.” Mr Lammy said it was “fantastic” to be in the country that generated the former coach of his beloved Tottenham Hotspur football team, Ange Postecoglou. “My football team … has lifted a trophy thanks to the leadership of an Aussie,” he said. “It’s the first time in 17 years. Sadly, he didn’t keep his job, but that’s fine. We have kept ours.”