With the ink dry on a 50-year Anglo-Australian submarine agreement, visiting British ministers David Lammy and John Healey are set to join Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles for some fun and war games in the Top End.
Mr Marles and Secretary of State Mr Healey put pen to paper on a bilateral deal said to strengthen ties around the AUKUS nuclear submarine agreement in Geelong on Saturday despite a review of the three-nation pact by the US government.
AUKUS, formed with the UK and US in 2021 to address concerns about China’s rising military ambition, is designed to enable Australia to acquire nuclear-powered attack submarines in the 2040s.
However, concerns over the viability of the $560 billion deal have been ongoing since the Trump administration initiated a review to examine if it meets its “America-first” criteria.
In a bid to put the matter to rest, Mr Marles insisted after the Geelong Treaty signing that it built on “the strong foundation of trilateral co-operation between Australia, the UK and the United States” and advanced the shared objectives of AUKUS.
“It will support the development of the personnel, workforce, infrastructure and regulatory systems required for Australia’s … AUKUS program” as well as support the rotational presence of a UK Astute-class submarine at HMAS Stirling in Perth, he said.
Mr Marles said he remained confident about the future of US involvement in the partnership, as did Mr Healey and Mr Lammy, Britain’s Foreign Secretary.
Australia will pay $5 billion to support British industry in designing and producing nuclear reactors to power the future AUKUS-class subs.
It will also acquire at least three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the US in the early 2030s.
With the formalities done and dusted, Mr Marles, Mr Lammy and Mr Healey are expected to attend Talisman Sabre in Darwin on Sunday.
Australia’s largest and most sophisticated war-fighting exercise started on July 13 and involves more than 35,000 personnel from 19 militaries across three weeks.
In addition to the US, forces from Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, and the UK have joined as partners.
Malaysia and Vietnam are also attending as observers.
The 2025 war games involve the UK’s Carrier Strike Group, led by the Royal Navy flagship HMS Prince of Wales – the first UK carrier strike group to visit Australia since 1997.
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