UK, Australia make 50-year defence vow as US wavers
The UK and Australia have laid out a long-term vision for the future of the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal despite questions over America’s future involvement.
Australia and the United Kingdom will reaffirm their commitment to AUKUS for the next half-century as US devotion to the trilateral security pact wavers.
A 50-year treaty to underpin the nuclear submarine program will be signed when Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles host their counterparts for regular Australia-UK ministerial meetings in Sydney.
The AUKUS security partnership involves the US, UK and Australia, but the fresh treaty is only between the latter two nations.
While negotiations over the defence agreement were flagged before US President Donald Trump took power, the document’s inking on Friday makes it clear the UK and Australia are strengthening ties in the face of American tariffs and the Pentagon’s yet-to-be-completed AUKUS review.
“The UK-Australia relationship is like no other, and in our increasingly volatile and dangerous world, our anchoring friendship has real impact in the protection of global peace and prosperity,” UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said.
The bilateral treaty will facilitate greater economic co-operation between the two nations by improving both countries’ industrial capacity.
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As part of the existing defence agreement, Australia will pay about $5 billion to support British industry to design and produce nuclear reactors to power the future AUKUS-class submarines.
In a joint statement, Marles and Senator Wong said the Australia-UK ministerial talks were critical to the nations’ shared interests.
“We take the world as it is – but together, we are working to shape it for the better,” Wong said.
Under the $368 billion AUKUS program, Australia is due to buy at least three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the US in the early 2030s.
The new AUKUS-class nuclear submarines will be built in Adelaide and delivered in the 2040s.
But the planned sale of US-built boats has been up in the air since Trump’s administration launched a review into the deal to examine whether it aligns with his “America first” agenda.
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Defence analysts believe a likely outcome of the US review will be a request for more money from Australia to support its submarine industrial base.
Meanwhile, the UK has fast become one of Australia’s most important defence allies amid turmoil from the Trump-led White House, one security expert says.
Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Alex Bristow said holding ministerial meetings on a six-monthly cycle, rather than the traditional annual timeline, highlights strengthened ties between the two nations.
“The tempo of it increasing, I think, is a signal that Britain is moving into an elite category,” he told AAP.
The UK is probably now third behind only Japan and the US in terms of how strategically significant the defence relationship is to Australia, Dr Bristow said.
Meanwhile, the UK’s Carrier Strike Group, led by the Royal Navy flagship HMS Prince of Wales, arrived in Darwin on Wednesday during Talisman Sabre multi-nation military exercises hosted by Australia.
It’s the first UK carrier strike group to visit Australia since 1997.
The international task group includes five core ships, 24 jets and 17 helicopters, centred on the flagship aircraft carrier. Marles and Senator Wong will on Sunday join their UK counterparts in Darwin to observe the group in action.
UK High Commissioner to Australia Sarah MacIntosh said the strike group’s arrival was a demonstration of commitment to the region and the strong relationship with Canberra.
“This is an anchor relationship in a contested world,” she said.
Dr Bristow said Australia should also be welcoming carrier strike groups from other European countries.
“It’s entirely in the interests of European allies in NATO to be working with Indo-Pacific allies,” Dr Bristow said, pointing to NATO identifying China as a threat to its interests.
