Nuclear subs deal afloat as news surfaces of US backing
Zac de Silva and Andrew Brown |
Anthony Albanese is confident there is enough support in the US to save AUKUS, as reports emerge the security pact will be spared from Trump administration cuts.
The US is not set to make changes to the AUKUS agreement as part of a review by the Pentagon, a report from Nikkei Asia says.
A senior US defence official has been investigating the deal to sell nuclear submarines to Australia, to ensure it aligns with President Donald Trump’s “America first” agenda.
The review by Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby sparked speculation Mr Trump could walk away from the deal.
Nikkei Asia reported the review would finish before the prime minister’s much-anticipated visit to the White House on October 20 and no decision had been made to change the submarine agreement.
“AUKUS is safe,” one official from a member country told the media outlet.
Mr Albanese said while the review was still under way, there was backing for the agreement in the US and UK.
“We’ve been participating very constructively with (the review) and AUKUS has been meeting its milestones,” the prime minister told reporters in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.
“In discussions I’ve had with the United Kingdom and with the United States, there has been support for it.”
Mr Albanese faces pressure to secure Mr Trump’s public commitment to AUKUS when he travels to Washington DC in October and the agreement is likely to be high on the agenda when the leaders sit down for talks.
Under “pillar one” of the AUKUS pact, the US has promised to sell at least three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia from the early 2030s.
The prime minister said keeping the multibillion-dollar deal in place was crucial for all three nations.
“AUKUS is in the interests of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States,” he said.
“It is about a partnership which is in the interest of all three nations which will make peace and security in our region so much stronger.”
Australia plans to start construction of its own nuclear submarines in Adelaide by the end of the 2020s.
Defence Minister Richard Marles would not be drawn on the report but said the military deal would go ahead.
“AUKUS is happening, that’s not in question,” he told ABC Radio.
Mr Marles said he would not get ahead of himself because the review was still under way, but was “very confident” about the deal.
Questions remain around US and UK capacity to contribute to the scheme, given both countries struggle to meet their own goals for submarine production.
Concerns about manufacturing capacity were overblown, Australian National University maritime security expert Jennifer Parker said.
“Numbers on paper doesn’t make an operational capability,” she told AAP.
Ms Parker said she wasn’t surprised by reports the White House would continue with AUKUS.
“I don’t believe countries do things for altruistic reasons … each of the three partners has agreed to AUKUS because it is in their strategic interest,” she said.
AAP
