Senator Penny Wong spruiks WA's geographic position as a key benefit in AUKUS pact during Quad trip

West Australian

10 hours ago

Penny Wong has spruiked WA's geographic position as a key benefit in the AUKUS pact, which she described as a 'win, win, win' during discussions with US counterparts in Washington.
The Foreign Affairs Minister said the Quad meeting — a diplomatic dialogue between Australia, the US, Japan and India — had focused on the strategic importance of the deal, which WA would play a central role in.
'The focus yesterday was much more on what we can do together and also on AUKUS — that's a win, win or a win, win, win,' she told Sky on Thursday.
Senator Wong said 'geography and capability' of Australia's defence posture benefited America in the pact.
'That's one of the benefits of AUKUS — the geographic location of Fleet Base West and the additional capability that that will provide,' she said.
'That is more maintenance for American submarines, that translates to more days in the water for US submarines.'
A new defence precinct at Henderson, south of Perth, will be the maintenance home of the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine fleet.
The precinct will be home to a production line churning out army landing craft — first medium then heavy — and general-purpose frigates at new shipbuilding facilities.
It is in the vicinity of The Royal Australian Navy's largest naval base, HMAS Stirling at Garden Island — housing much of Australia's fleet submarines and frigates as a key defence hub.
'One of the great things about the AUKUS arrangements is it increases the capability of all three countries,' Senator Wong said.
'Certainly, in the near and medium term it's a benefit to the US because it increases both the build rates but also maintenance rates. That equals submarine capability in the water.'
In 2023, Australia's defence strategic review stated that WA's north was the first line of defence alongside the Northern Territory.
The high-level talks on Indo-Pacific security in Washington comes amid growing pressure from the Trump administration for Australia to hike its defence spending.
Senator Wong said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hadn't raised defence spending during the Quad meeting or sideline bilateral discussions.
She also said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was 'very flexible' about arrangements to meet with US President Donald Trump and that Secretary Rubio made clear 'they're keen for a meeting'.
'We're obviously very flexible about those arrangements,' Senator Wong said.
'The president is a very, very busy man, but I was pleased that Secretary Rubio made clear that obviously they're keen for a meeting, they want to reschedule it, it was disappointing, as he said, that they had to reschedule because the President had to return as a consequence of what was occurring in the Middle East.'