The foreign minister is set to meet with her US counterpart for crucial talks as America ramps up pressure on Australia to increase defence spending.
Penny Wong will fly out to Washington on Monday ahead of a meeting of Quad foreign ministers, which includes US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, along with ministers from India and Japan.
The trip to the US will also see Senator Wong hold one-on-one talks with Mr Rubio, as Australia tries to carve out an exemption to tariffs imposed on exports to America.
“This will be the second Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting within six months, reflecting the importance of our partnership and the strategic circumstances confronting our region and the world,” Senator Wong said.
“The United States is our closest ally and principal strategic partner. Our alliance contributes to the peace, prosperity and stability of our countries and the region we share.
“We will continue to work together to further our important economic and security partnership and advance our mutual interests.”
The meeting with senior US officials comes after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was due to meet President Donald Trump at the G7 summit in Canada earlier in June.
However, the talks were cancelled at the eleventh hour due to the situation in the Middle East.
Australia has been trying to get the US economic sanctions removed, both the 10 per cent tariff applied to all exports and the 50 per cent tariff for steel and aluminium.
The Quad summit coincides with calls from the US for Australia to lift its defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP.
Australia is currently on track to grow its defence budget to 2.3 per cent by 2033/34, with the federal government holding firm on its spending commitments.
The debate on defence spending comes as a report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute released on Monday called for security for sovereign research to be increased.
The report called for research security to be given the same level for defence priorities as dealing with foreign interference and espionage.
“Foreign states have actively targeted Australia’s research ecosystem, seeking to influence research agendas, extract sensitive information and exploit institutional vulnerabilities,” the report said.
“However, the threat landscape hasn’t remained static, it has evolved, and rapidly.”
The report said research security would become even more important as the AUKUS partnership between Australia, the US and the UK developed.
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