Trump, Albanese reaffirm AUKUS in ‘warm’ phone call
Lucinda Garbutt-Young |
Australia has reaffirmed its allegiance with the United States on a controversial, multibillion-dollar submarine deal.
The pact was bolstered when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Donald Trump had a “lengthy and extensive” phone call late on Thursday night AEST.
“We agreed it (AUKUS) was a project that is and will continue to deliver benefits for the United States, for Australia, and for the United Kingdom,” Mr Albanese said.
The pair discussed the second pillar of the program, which includes enabling systems for uncrewed undersea vehicles.
The call came just hours after Pentagon official and former AUKUS sceptic Elbridge Colby confirmed the mega deal was “full steam ahead” to journalists.
Mr Colby, who is the US under secretary of war, originally wrote what was perceived to be a skeptical review of the submarine deal before revising his writing to be more in line with Mr Trump’s view.
The Pentagon recently admitted construction of US Virginia-class nuclear submarines was languishing at about 1.1 to 1.2 boats a year, when 2.33 of them need to be made annually to meet AUKUS requirements.
Despite the “warm” chat, Mr Albanese appeared to make little headway on ridding Australia of US tariffs.
“I always put forward Australia’s national interest during these discussions, and the ask that I made of the president is that he consider full exemption, or at the very least, no increase,” the prime minister told media.
Mr Trump said he would consider the request, according to Mr Albanese.
The US imposes a baseline 12.5 per cent tariff on Australian goods, which came into effect in July.
Mr Albanese has spoken with Mr Trump at least five times since becoming prime minister. They have also met in person.
AAP