Australia Deputy PM Seeks Progress on Submarine Pact in US Visit

Ben Westcott
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles will head to the US and the UK in the coming week to push for faster progress on the AUKUS security partnership, which would lead to Canberra buying nuclear-powered submarines from the US within a decade.

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Marles, also Australia’s defense minister, will meet with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the secretary of the navy, and US lawmakers, according to a statement. While in the UK, he also plans to meet with new British Secretary of State for Defence, Grant Shapps, and Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden.

“This is a valuable opportunity to meet with my counterparts in the US and the UK and to build on the strong progress we have made on Australia’s acquisition of conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines,” Marles said in the statement.

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The trip comes less than a week after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited the US and urged lawmakers to pass legislation needed for the deal to proceed. In the past year concerns have been raised in the US Congress about how the deal could impact that country’s military readiness, slowing progress on legislation to smooth technology sharing between Australia and the US.

The AUKUS agreement, a wide-reaching security and technology pact signed between Australia, the UK and the US in September 2021, could allow Canberra to operate its own a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines by the 2030s. It’s also designed to boost technology and research sharing in critical areas including quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

An independent congressional report published Oct. 26 said selling Australia US-made Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines could leave the American navy with fewer vessels.

It “would be very difficult and expensive for the US submarine industry to increase production of attack submarines” to compensate for those sold to Australia, according to the report. Australia would control its own submarines, so participation in any particular conflict by the close ally could not be guaranteed, the report said.

Two high-profile senators raised similar concerns in a leaked letter to the White House from December 2022, according to local media. The letter reportedly urged US President Joe Biden to avoid a shortfall in vessels for the US Navy.

Albanese and Biden said last week that they were confident the legislation to further AUKUS would pass through the Congress soon. Australia is planning to introduce its own similar legislation before the end of 2023.

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