Advanced military co-operation could be the next stepping stone for Australia and the United States after a cordial meeting between the leaders of the two nations.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese came out of the White House unscathed as he signed a critical minerals deal with US President Donald Trump, who has ended up in public confrontations while hosting other world-leaders.
The meeting could lay the groundwork for the president to pull additional levers to speed up Australia’s acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines, the first of which it will buy from the US early next decade.
Mr Trump gave his strongest commitment to date to the $368 billion project, ending months of uncertainty over whether he supported the deal.
Asked if the submarines would be delivered to Australia, he replied “oh no, they’re getting them”.
“We’re just going full steam ahead building,” he told reporters in the cabinet room.
Mr Trump suggested the US might fast track delivery of the vessels, but wouldn’t give a timeline.
While Australia wouldn’t get the first submarines until after Mr Trump left office, the president can boost co-operation in other areas of the military agreement, including the sharing of emerging technologies under pillar two of AUKUS, United States Studies Centre director of research Jared Mondschein said.
“If you can get President Trump to want to do AUKUS further or faster or more ambitiously, I think that’s still a pretty big win,” he told AAP.
But other experts question whether the timeline of the AUKUS deal is viable, given the US is struggling to meet its targets for submarine production.
Perth USAsia Centre chief executive Gordon Flake said the Trump administration needed to do more to shore up its defence industrial base, but was optimistic about Australia receiving its submarines on time.
“The United States actually needs to strengthen its own production capability,” he told AAP.
“That’s what the president’s talking about, it needs to go faster.”
Professor Flake said the deal was in the interests of both countries because Australian businesses were helping to speed up American submarine manufacturing.
“They need industrial heft, we need submarines and we need to work together in the process,” he said.
Mr Albanese also inked a multi-billion-dollar critical minerals deal during his meeting with Mr Trump, which Prof Flake said showed a “sense of urgency” as China clamps down on exports of rare earths.
On Tuesday, Mr Albanese and Australian ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd met members of Congress including Democrat House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
While in the US, the prime minister is set to meet with top executives from BHP, alongside business leaders, to celebrate the mining giant’s 140th anniversary and spruik Australia’s resources sector.
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