Latest news with #AUKUS-class
The Advertiser
24-06-2025
- Business
- The Advertiser
Australia has to stop being so dumb or things will get out of control
Australia now faces four blindingly obvious national pitfalls which, if not met full on, will cause us to tumble into something resembling what Paul Keating called a banana republic. Keating's was a good wake-up call which worked at the time, and we need another one. The four pitfalls that need an urgent recalibration are as follows. Unsustainable international trade; a wobbly defence-security position; public-finance arrangements that fuel massive inequality and intergenerational unfairness; and out-of-control immigration. Let's outline the festering sores first. International trade: At present Australia exports about $140 billion of low-grade iron ore; $80 billion in LNG; $40 billion worth of coal, three-quarters of which is poor brown coal used to generate electricity. Very little tax is paid, and foreign shareholders get most of the benefit. And we import $30 billion plus in refined fossil fuel. Long-term this is disastrous. As the world realises that there is a sun in the sky that delivers energy free, our coal will become worthless. As the world, ever steel-dependent and energy-aware, realises that low-grade iron ore is not worth the transport costs of importing it, we will have to work out a way to refine it here: use it or lose it. Importing $30 billion worth of fuel is silly when we have the technology and the roof and ground space to generate all the power needed to drive vehicles without any fuel. This transition should happen as quickly as possible. Defence-security: Australia has always been on the apron strings of Britain or the US. As Britain withdrew to its own in 1942 after the fall of Singapore, we turned to the US. Now the US is withdrawing to its own. Neither of them gave two hoots about Australia. Give us your bodies and money for our wars is all they wanted. At present, we are committed to a $350-billion-plus program to develop over more than a decade a handful of nuclear-powered submarines and in the meantime to obtain two or three Virginia-class second-hand ones from the US. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, but only for America. We have already paid the US $500 million with no submarine in sight, or ever likely to be. This is because we were dumb enough to sign up to a deal, AUKUS, which allows the US not to deliver any submarines without any penalty through a get-out clause. How many lemons do we have to buy from this used-car salesman (Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq) before we realise that we are being dudded and become more self-reliant. Under AUKUS, the British are supposed to design and jointly build the new AUKUS-class nuclear-powered submarine. But Britain is struggling to maintain and replace its nine Astute and Vanguard class nuclear submarines with the new Dreadnought class. Another new class, AUKUS, is more a pipedream than a pipeline. $350 billion for eight pieces of metal under the sea. is so dumb. Ukraine drove the whole Russian fleet out of the Black Sea with some homemade drones. Worse, the US is pressing us to commit to spending 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence and to commit to join in any war with China over Taiwan. We are paying for submarines we do not need with money we do not have to fight enemies that we need not provoke. This unreliable US president who does not share our values should cause us to rethink the America alliance. What we need is enough weaponry to ensure that a potential invader would get such a bloodied nose as to deter them - a purely defensive posture. Public finance: Australia's tax system is an inequitable quagmire. People using their labour get taxed around 30 per cent. People with capital earnings pay a lot less or next to nothing. Treasurer Jim Chalmers to his credit has convened a productivity summit. He cited the book Abundance by US journalists Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson which described how notionally progressive environmental and social-cause regulation was clogging the provision of affordable housing. Yes, progressives should be concerned that over-regulation can stifle the very ends that want. But the Abundance was more than that. It also argued that we could have abundance (of cheap or free energy) if over-regulation of the construction of renewables and sabotage by the fossil industry were removed. They argued that the broad masses could also have abundance if the ultra-wealthy paid more tax. Chalmers has also flagged tax reform. It is a good start. We do not want capitalists salivating at the thought of deregulation and ignoring tax reform. We have been there before and there has been no abundance or trickle down for those below. Immigration: Australia should drastically reduce its immigration program. The level of immigration has nothing to do with race because Australia has a non-racial immigration program, so whatever way you change the numbers - up or down - race has nothing to do with it. READ MORE: It is about economics, the environment, and quality of life. In the 2023-24 financial year, Australia's net overseas migration was 446,000 people. This is the main reason we have a housing crisis; congestion; and an infrastructure crisis generally. Our universities are less places to educate and train our people than factories to sell overseas students tickets to permanent residency - headed by CEOs on million-dollar salaries. In summary, Australia has to stop being so dumb and stop giving so much away - untaxed resources; money to the US and British military-industrial complex; tax breaks and avoidance schemes for the uber-wealthy; an out-of-control migrant intake; and allowing the fossil industries to expand and profit as if there is no climate crisis or a cheaper and better renewable alternative. Australia now faces four blindingly obvious national pitfalls which, if not met full on, will cause us to tumble into something resembling what Paul Keating called a banana republic. Keating's was a good wake-up call which worked at the time, and we need another one. The four pitfalls that need an urgent recalibration are as follows. Unsustainable international trade; a wobbly defence-security position; public-finance arrangements that fuel massive inequality and intergenerational unfairness; and out-of-control immigration. Let's outline the festering sores first. International trade: At present Australia exports about $140 billion of low-grade iron ore; $80 billion in LNG; $40 billion worth of coal, three-quarters of which is poor brown coal used to generate electricity. Very little tax is paid, and foreign shareholders get most of the benefit. And we import $30 billion plus in refined fossil fuel. Long-term this is disastrous. As the world realises that there is a sun in the sky that delivers energy free, our coal will become worthless. As the world, ever steel-dependent and energy-aware, realises that low-grade iron ore is not worth the transport costs of importing it, we will have to work out a way to refine it here: use it or lose it. Importing $30 billion worth of fuel is silly when we have the technology and the roof and ground space to generate all the power needed to drive vehicles without any fuel. This transition should happen as quickly as possible. Defence-security: Australia has always been on the apron strings of Britain or the US. As Britain withdrew to its own in 1942 after the fall of Singapore, we turned to the US. Now the US is withdrawing to its own. Neither of them gave two hoots about Australia. Give us your bodies and money for our wars is all they wanted. At present, we are committed to a $350-billion-plus program to develop over more than a decade a handful of nuclear-powered submarines and in the meantime to obtain two or three Virginia-class second-hand ones from the US. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, but only for America. We have already paid the US $500 million with no submarine in sight, or ever likely to be. This is because we were dumb enough to sign up to a deal, AUKUS, which allows the US not to deliver any submarines without any penalty through a get-out clause. How many lemons do we have to buy from this used-car salesman (Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq) before we realise that we are being dudded and become more self-reliant. Under AUKUS, the British are supposed to design and jointly build the new AUKUS-class nuclear-powered submarine. But Britain is struggling to maintain and replace its nine Astute and Vanguard class nuclear submarines with the new Dreadnought class. Another new class, AUKUS, is more a pipedream than a pipeline. $350 billion for eight pieces of metal under the sea. is so dumb. Ukraine drove the whole Russian fleet out of the Black Sea with some homemade drones. Worse, the US is pressing us to commit to spending 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence and to commit to join in any war with China over Taiwan. We are paying for submarines we do not need with money we do not have to fight enemies that we need not provoke. This unreliable US president who does not share our values should cause us to rethink the America alliance. What we need is enough weaponry to ensure that a potential invader would get such a bloodied nose as to deter them - a purely defensive posture. Public finance: Australia's tax system is an inequitable quagmire. People using their labour get taxed around 30 per cent. People with capital earnings pay a lot less or next to nothing. Treasurer Jim Chalmers to his credit has convened a productivity summit. He cited the book Abundance by US journalists Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson which described how notionally progressive environmental and social-cause regulation was clogging the provision of affordable housing. Yes, progressives should be concerned that over-regulation can stifle the very ends that want. But the Abundance was more than that. It also argued that we could have abundance (of cheap or free energy) if over-regulation of the construction of renewables and sabotage by the fossil industry were removed. They argued that the broad masses could also have abundance if the ultra-wealthy paid more tax. Chalmers has also flagged tax reform. It is a good start. We do not want capitalists salivating at the thought of deregulation and ignoring tax reform. We have been there before and there has been no abundance or trickle down for those below. Immigration: Australia should drastically reduce its immigration program. The level of immigration has nothing to do with race because Australia has a non-racial immigration program, so whatever way you change the numbers - up or down - race has nothing to do with it. READ MORE: It is about economics, the environment, and quality of life. In the 2023-24 financial year, Australia's net overseas migration was 446,000 people. This is the main reason we have a housing crisis; congestion; and an infrastructure crisis generally. Our universities are less places to educate and train our people than factories to sell overseas students tickets to permanent residency - headed by CEOs on million-dollar salaries. In summary, Australia has to stop being so dumb and stop giving so much away - untaxed resources; money to the US and British military-industrial complex; tax breaks and avoidance schemes for the uber-wealthy; an out-of-control migrant intake; and allowing the fossil industries to expand and profit as if there is no climate crisis or a cheaper and better renewable alternative. Australia now faces four blindingly obvious national pitfalls which, if not met full on, will cause us to tumble into something resembling what Paul Keating called a banana republic. Keating's was a good wake-up call which worked at the time, and we need another one. The four pitfalls that need an urgent recalibration are as follows. Unsustainable international trade; a wobbly defence-security position; public-finance arrangements that fuel massive inequality and intergenerational unfairness; and out-of-control immigration. Let's outline the festering sores first. International trade: At present Australia exports about $140 billion of low-grade iron ore; $80 billion in LNG; $40 billion worth of coal, three-quarters of which is poor brown coal used to generate electricity. Very little tax is paid, and foreign shareholders get most of the benefit. And we import $30 billion plus in refined fossil fuel. Long-term this is disastrous. As the world realises that there is a sun in the sky that delivers energy free, our coal will become worthless. As the world, ever steel-dependent and energy-aware, realises that low-grade iron ore is not worth the transport costs of importing it, we will have to work out a way to refine it here: use it or lose it. Importing $30 billion worth of fuel is silly when we have the technology and the roof and ground space to generate all the power needed to drive vehicles without any fuel. This transition should happen as quickly as possible. Defence-security: Australia has always been on the apron strings of Britain or the US. As Britain withdrew to its own in 1942 after the fall of Singapore, we turned to the US. Now the US is withdrawing to its own. Neither of them gave two hoots about Australia. Give us your bodies and money for our wars is all they wanted. At present, we are committed to a $350-billion-plus program to develop over more than a decade a handful of nuclear-powered submarines and in the meantime to obtain two or three Virginia-class second-hand ones from the US. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, but only for America. We have already paid the US $500 million with no submarine in sight, or ever likely to be. This is because we were dumb enough to sign up to a deal, AUKUS, which allows the US not to deliver any submarines without any penalty through a get-out clause. How many lemons do we have to buy from this used-car salesman (Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq) before we realise that we are being dudded and become more self-reliant. Under AUKUS, the British are supposed to design and jointly build the new AUKUS-class nuclear-powered submarine. But Britain is struggling to maintain and replace its nine Astute and Vanguard class nuclear submarines with the new Dreadnought class. Another new class, AUKUS, is more a pipedream than a pipeline. $350 billion for eight pieces of metal under the sea. is so dumb. Ukraine drove the whole Russian fleet out of the Black Sea with some homemade drones. Worse, the US is pressing us to commit to spending 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence and to commit to join in any war with China over Taiwan. We are paying for submarines we do not need with money we do not have to fight enemies that we need not provoke. This unreliable US president who does not share our values should cause us to rethink the America alliance. What we need is enough weaponry to ensure that a potential invader would get such a bloodied nose as to deter them - a purely defensive posture. Public finance: Australia's tax system is an inequitable quagmire. People using their labour get taxed around 30 per cent. People with capital earnings pay a lot less or next to nothing. Treasurer Jim Chalmers to his credit has convened a productivity summit. He cited the book Abundance by US journalists Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson which described how notionally progressive environmental and social-cause regulation was clogging the provision of affordable housing. Yes, progressives should be concerned that over-regulation can stifle the very ends that want. But the Abundance was more than that. It also argued that we could have abundance (of cheap or free energy) if over-regulation of the construction of renewables and sabotage by the fossil industry were removed. They argued that the broad masses could also have abundance if the ultra-wealthy paid more tax. Chalmers has also flagged tax reform. It is a good start. We do not want capitalists salivating at the thought of deregulation and ignoring tax reform. We have been there before and there has been no abundance or trickle down for those below. Immigration: Australia should drastically reduce its immigration program. The level of immigration has nothing to do with race because Australia has a non-racial immigration program, so whatever way you change the numbers - up or down - race has nothing to do with it. READ MORE: It is about economics, the environment, and quality of life. In the 2023-24 financial year, Australia's net overseas migration was 446,000 people. This is the main reason we have a housing crisis; congestion; and an infrastructure crisis generally. Our universities are less places to educate and train our people than factories to sell overseas students tickets to permanent residency - headed by CEOs on million-dollar salaries. In summary, Australia has to stop being so dumb and stop giving so much away - untaxed resources; money to the US and British military-industrial complex; tax breaks and avoidance schemes for the uber-wealthy; an out-of-control migrant intake; and allowing the fossil industries to expand and profit as if there is no climate crisis or a cheaper and better renewable alternative. Australia now faces four blindingly obvious national pitfalls which, if not met full on, will cause us to tumble into something resembling what Paul Keating called a banana republic. Keating's was a good wake-up call which worked at the time, and we need another one. The four pitfalls that need an urgent recalibration are as follows. Unsustainable international trade; a wobbly defence-security position; public-finance arrangements that fuel massive inequality and intergenerational unfairness; and out-of-control immigration. Let's outline the festering sores first. International trade: At present Australia exports about $140 billion of low-grade iron ore; $80 billion in LNG; $40 billion worth of coal, three-quarters of which is poor brown coal used to generate electricity. Very little tax is paid, and foreign shareholders get most of the benefit. And we import $30 billion plus in refined fossil fuel. Long-term this is disastrous. As the world realises that there is a sun in the sky that delivers energy free, our coal will become worthless. As the world, ever steel-dependent and energy-aware, realises that low-grade iron ore is not worth the transport costs of importing it, we will have to work out a way to refine it here: use it or lose it. Importing $30 billion worth of fuel is silly when we have the technology and the roof and ground space to generate all the power needed to drive vehicles without any fuel. This transition should happen as quickly as possible. Defence-security: Australia has always been on the apron strings of Britain or the US. As Britain withdrew to its own in 1942 after the fall of Singapore, we turned to the US. Now the US is withdrawing to its own. Neither of them gave two hoots about Australia. Give us your bodies and money for our wars is all they wanted. At present, we are committed to a $350-billion-plus program to develop over more than a decade a handful of nuclear-powered submarines and in the meantime to obtain two or three Virginia-class second-hand ones from the US. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, but only for America. We have already paid the US $500 million with no submarine in sight, or ever likely to be. This is because we were dumb enough to sign up to a deal, AUKUS, which allows the US not to deliver any submarines without any penalty through a get-out clause. How many lemons do we have to buy from this used-car salesman (Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq) before we realise that we are being dudded and become more self-reliant. Under AUKUS, the British are supposed to design and jointly build the new AUKUS-class nuclear-powered submarine. But Britain is struggling to maintain and replace its nine Astute and Vanguard class nuclear submarines with the new Dreadnought class. Another new class, AUKUS, is more a pipedream than a pipeline. $350 billion for eight pieces of metal under the sea. is so dumb. Ukraine drove the whole Russian fleet out of the Black Sea with some homemade drones. Worse, the US is pressing us to commit to spending 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence and to commit to join in any war with China over Taiwan. We are paying for submarines we do not need with money we do not have to fight enemies that we need not provoke. This unreliable US president who does not share our values should cause us to rethink the America alliance. What we need is enough weaponry to ensure that a potential invader would get such a bloodied nose as to deter them - a purely defensive posture. Public finance: Australia's tax system is an inequitable quagmire. People using their labour get taxed around 30 per cent. People with capital earnings pay a lot less or next to nothing. Treasurer Jim Chalmers to his credit has convened a productivity summit. He cited the book Abundance by US journalists Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson which described how notionally progressive environmental and social-cause regulation was clogging the provision of affordable housing. Yes, progressives should be concerned that over-regulation can stifle the very ends that want. But the Abundance was more than that. It also argued that we could have abundance (of cheap or free energy) if over-regulation of the construction of renewables and sabotage by the fossil industry were removed. They argued that the broad masses could also have abundance if the ultra-wealthy paid more tax. Chalmers has also flagged tax reform. It is a good start. We do not want capitalists salivating at the thought of deregulation and ignoring tax reform. We have been there before and there has been no abundance or trickle down for those below. Immigration: Australia should drastically reduce its immigration program. The level of immigration has nothing to do with race because Australia has a non-racial immigration program, so whatever way you change the numbers - up or down - race has nothing to do with it. READ MORE: It is about economics, the environment, and quality of life. In the 2023-24 financial year, Australia's net overseas migration was 446,000 people. This is the main reason we have a housing crisis; congestion; and an infrastructure crisis generally. Our universities are less places to educate and train our people than factories to sell overseas students tickets to permanent residency - headed by CEOs on million-dollar salaries. In summary, Australia has to stop being so dumb and stop giving so much away - untaxed resources; money to the US and British military-industrial complex; tax breaks and avoidance schemes for the uber-wealthy; an out-of-control migrant intake; and allowing the fossil industries to expand and profit as if there is no climate crisis or a cheaper and better renewable alternative.
Indian Express
12-06-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
US launches review of AUKUS submarine deal; Australia confident pact will proceed
The United States has initiated a formal review of the AUKUS submarine agreement with Australia and the United Kingdom to ensure it aligns with the Trump administration's 'America First' priorities, according to a US defence official cited by the BBC. 'The department is reviewing AUKUS as part of ensuring that this initiative of the previous administration is aligned with the President's America First agenda,' the official said. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has talked about the importance of ensuring maximum military readiness and pressing allies to contribute fully to collective defense. The review will be led by Elbridge Colby, a senior Pentagon official and critic of the deal, who had previously questioned why the US would part with what he called the 'crown jewel' of its defense technology at a time of heightened global tensions. Australia has responded with calm, expressing confidence that the pact remains intact. Defence Minister Richard Marles told ABC Radio Melbourne on Thursday that the deal is crucial to Australia's long-term security needs. 'I'm very confident this is going to happen,' Marles said. 'You just need to look at the map to understand that Australia absolutely needs to have a long-range submarine capability.' Marles said that it is not a surprise for a new administration to reassess such a major agreement. 'This is a multi-decade plan. There will be governments that come and go and I think whenever we see a new government, a review of this kind is going to be something which will be undertaken,' he said. Signed in 2021 under then-President Joe Biden, the AUKUS pact is a trilateral security agreement aimed at countering China's growing influence in the Indo-Pacific. Under the deal, Australia will acquire nuclear-powered submarines with technology shared by the US and UK, becoming only the second country after Britain to receive such access from Washington. The plan involves Australia purchasing up to three second-hand Virginia-class submarines from the US starting in the early 2030s, with options for two more. Eventually, Australia and the UK will co-develop a new AUKUS-class submarine, with production shared between the two countries. The deal is valued at $368 billion is Australian dollars (US$239 billion) over three decades and is expected to generate thousands of manufacturing jobs in both nations. In 2025, Australia is scheduled to make a $2 billion payment to help upgrade US submarine shipyards. The first $500 million tranche was paid earlier this year during a visit by Marles to Washington. The US review will also examine the production rate of Virginia-class submarines, which have fallen behind schedule. Colby and other officials have expressed concerns about whether the US can meet its own fleet demands while also supplying submarines to Australia. 'It is important that those production and sustainment rates are improved,' Marles said. Meanwhile, Australia is under pressure from Washington to increase its defense spending from 2% to 3.5% of GDP. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has committed to raising it to 2.3%, citing capability needs rather than percentage targets. He is expected to meet President Donald Trump at the upcoming G7 summit in Canada to discuss both AUKUS and defense burden-sharing. An Australian government spokesperson told the BBC that such reviews are natural for a new administration, noting that the UK had also recently completed its own evaluation of the pact. There is 'clear and consistent' support for the deal across the 'full political spectrum' in the US, they said. The UK Ministry of Defence echoed this sentiment, calling AUKUS a 'landmark security and defence partnership' and 'one of the most strategically important partnerships in decades.' The AUKUS pact has drawn criticism from China, which accuses the trilateral alliance of destabilising the region and stoking an arms race. Analysts warn that any sign of US withdrawal could be seen as a strategic win for Beijing. (With inputs from BBC, Reuters)
Japan Times
09-02-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Trump aware and supportive of AUKUS pact, U.S. defense secretary says
Sydney – U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said President Donald Trump supported the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal, after Australia on Friday confirmed its first $500 million payment under the defense pact. "The president is very aware, supportive of AUKUS, recognizes the importance of the defense industrial base," Hegseth said in opening remarks of a meeting in Washington with his Australian counterpart, Richard Marles, according to a transcript released Saturday. Under AUKUS, Australia will pay the United States $3 billion to boost the capacity of the U.S. submarine industry, and Washington will sell several Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia in the early 2030s, while Britain and Australia will later build a new AUKUS-class submarine. Australia transferred the first $500 million payment after a call between Marles and Hegseth on Jan. 29, Marles said Friday. When asked, at the meeting with Marles, if the U.S. would deliver the nuclear submarines to Australia on time, Hegseth said: "We sure hope so." "Part of what President Trump is committed to doing is cutting red tape, investing in the defense industrial base, ensuring that we stand by our allies and partners," he said. Marles said Australia was "pleased with the progress that we're seeing in terms of the rate of production, both in terms of construction and sustainment," referring to the Virginia-class submarines. Marles is the first foreign counterpart hosted by Hegseth since his confirmation in the role. The pair was expected to discuss security in the Indo-Pacific region and the growing U.S. military presence in Australia in addition to talks on AUKUS. Formed in 2021, AUKUS is aimed at addressing shared worries about China's growing power and designed to allow Australia to acquire the nuclear-powered attack submarines and other advanced weapons such as hypersonic missiles.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump aware, supportive of AUKUS pact, US defense secretary says
SYDNEY (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said President Donald Trump supported the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal, after Australia on Friday confirmed its first $500 million payment under the defense pact. "The President is very aware, supportive of AUKUS, recognises the importance of the defense industrial base," Hegseth said in opening remarks of a meeting in Washington with his Australian counterpart Richard Marles, according to a transcript on Saturday. Under AUKUS, Australia will pay the United States $3 billion to boost the capacity of the U.S. submarine industry, and Washington will sell several Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia in the early 2030s, while Britain and Australia will later build a new AUKUS-class submarine. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Australia transferred the first $500 million payment after a call between Marles and Hegseth on January 29, Marles said on Friday. When asked, at the meeting with Marles, if the U.S. would deliver the nuclear submarines to Australia on time, Hegseth said: "We sure hope so". "Part of what President Trump is committed to doing is cutting red tape, investing in the defence industrial base, ensuring that we stand by our allies and partners," he said. Marles said Australia was "pleased with the progress that we're seeing in terms of the rate of production, both in terms of construction and sustainment," referring to the Virginia-class submarines. Marles is the first foreign counterpart hosted by Hegseth since his confirmation in the role. The pair is expected to discuss security in the Indo-Pacific region and the growing U.S. military presence in Australia in addition to talks on AUKUS. Formed in 2021, AUKUS is aimed at addressing shared worries about China's growing power and designed to allow Australia to acquire the nuclear-powered attack submarines and other advanced weapons such as hypersonic missiles.
Reuters
08-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Trump aware, supportive of AUKUS pact, US defense secretary says
SYDNEY, Feb 8 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said President Donald Trump supported the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal, after Australia on Friday confirmed its first $500 million payment under the defense pact. "The President is very aware, supportive of AUKUS, recognises the importance of the defense industrial base," Hegseth said in opening remarks of a meeting in Washington with his Australian counterpart Richard Marles, according to a transcript on Saturday. Under AUKUS, Australia will pay the United States $3 billion to boost the capacity of the U.S. submarine industry, and Washington will sell several Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia in the early 2030s, while Britain and Australia will later build a new AUKUS-class submarine. Australia transferred the first $500 million payment after a call between Marles and Hegseth on January 29, Marles said on Friday. When asked, at the meeting with Marles, if the U.S. would deliver the nuclear submarines to Australia on time, Hegseth said: "We sure hope so". "Part of what President Trump is committed to doing is cutting red tape, investing in the defence industrial base, ensuring that we stand by our allies and partners," he said. Marles said Australia was "pleased with the progress that we're seeing in terms of the rate of production, both in terms of construction and sustainment," referring to the Virginia-class submarines. Marles is the first foreign counterpart hosted by Hegseth since his confirmation in the role. The pair is expected to discuss security in the Indo-Pacific region and the growing U.S. military presence in Australia in addition to talks on AUKUS. Formed in 2021, AUKUS is aimed at addressing shared worries about China's growing power and designed to allow Australia to acquire the nuclear-powered attack submarines and other advanced weapons such as hypersonic missiles.
