Australia Confident in Progress of AUKUS Submarine Pact Despite US Review

Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles is optimistic about the $239 billion AUKUS submarine agreement with the US and UK, despite a Pentagon review.

On Thursday, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles expressed confidence that the AUKUS submarine agreement with the U.S. and Britain would progress, adding that his government plans to work closely with the United States during the formal review conducted by the Trump administration.

Australia pledged in 2023 toinvest A$368 billion ($239 billion) over three decades on AUKUS, the nation's largest defense initiative to date, to purchase and construct nuclear-powered submarines in collaboration with the United States and Britain.

The administration was evaluating AUKUS to make sure it was in line with the President's America First strategy, according to a Pentagon official, ahead of anticipated negotiations between Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Donald Trump.

In a radio interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Marles stated that the fresh review of the agreement struck in 2021, when Joe Biden was the president of the United States, was not surprising and that AUKUS was in the strategic interests of all three nations. This strategy spans several decades. There will be governments that come and go, and he believes that a review of this nature will be carried out whenever a new government is elected, Marles told ABC.

Albanese is set to meet Trump for the first time next week in Canada at the G7 summit, where the two security partners will discuss Washington’s request for Australia to increase its defense budget from 2% to 3.5% of GDP. Albanese has refused to adhere to the US aim and has stated that defense spending would increase to 2.3%.