Marles to travel for AUKUS talks, US says it's 'full steam ahead'
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: Defence Minister Richard Marles will meet US counterpart Pete Hegseth next week, in the first meeting on AUKUS since Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
The context: Questions about Trump’s commitment to the deal were raised after revelations that undersecretary of defense for policy and AUKUS-sceptic Elbridge Colby had been tasked with reviewing the defence pact.
Those fears were allayed after Trump delivered a public commitment to the pact when he met Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in October.
Colby’s review has been delivered to the Pentagon, and to the Australian government, though it remains unclear whether its contents will be made public. Regardless, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed this week that the Trump administration was “full steam ahead” on the pact after Colby concluded it was in the US’ interests.
Marles will travel to the US to meet Hegseth and UK Secretary for Defence Joe Healey to discuss the review — and AUKUS more broadly — in Washington on Wednesday.
The trio are set to discuss the need for the project, which will see Australia operate US-made nuclear submarines, to remain on schedule amid concerns that submarine production is lagging.
Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy insisted that Australia was “realistic and clear eyed about the challenges going forward”.
Marles will visit Japan, a key defence partner, on the way to the US.
What they said: “Consistent with President Trump’s guidance that AUKUS should move ‘full steam ahead’, the review identified opportunities to put AUKUS on the strongest possible footing,” Parnell said.
The sources: Richard Marles statement, Pat Conroy press conference, Pentagon statement, Australian Defence Magazine
