The United Kingdom has fast become one of Australia’s most important defence allies amid turmoil under the Trump administration, a security analyst says.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles will host their UK counterparts David Lammy and John Healey in Sydney for joint talks on Friday.
Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Alex Bristow said ministerial meetings moving to more of a six-monthly cycle rather than their traditional annual timeline highlighted 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 was probably third behind Japan and the US in terms of how strategically significant the defence relationship was to Australia, Dr Bristow said.
The UK’s Carrier Strike Group, led by Royal Navy flagship HMS Prince of Wales, arrived in Darwin on Wednesday as Australia’s largest military exercise Talisman Sabre is underway.
It’s the first UK carrier strike group to visit Australia since 1997.
It is an international task group which includes five core ships, 24 jets, and 17 helicopters, centred around the flagship aircraft carrier.
UK High Commissioner to Australia Sarah MacIntosh said the arrival of the strike group 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 be welcoming carrier strike groups from European countries.
He said NATO had identified China as a threat to its interests as Beijing continues to collaborate with Russia and North Korea.
“It’s entirely in the interests of European allies in NATO to be working with Indo-Pacific allies,” Dr Bristow said.
The US has promised to sell Australia nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS agreement, which has since been put under review by the Trump administration.
The three-nation pact, which includes the UK, will likely be discussed during the high level talks in Sydney.
Defence analysts believe a likely outcome of the review will be a request for more money from Australia towards the US submarine industrial base, rather than the deal being scrapped.
The Australian government has said it remains confident in the nuclear-submarine deal being delivered.
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