Latest news with #Scott Morrison
ABC News
a day ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Scott Morrison to argue case for AUKUS before US Congress committee on China threats
Former prime minister Scott Morrison is set to appear before a committee of the US Congress as its leaders lobby the White House to support the under-review AUKUS pact. The select committee, which is examining threats posed by China, has written to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to push him to back the trilateral pact as the Pentagon considers its future. The pact with the US and the UK, under which Australia would procure nuclear-powered submarines, is being reviewed to ensure it meets "common sense, America First criteria", according to the White House. The Pentagon official leading the review, Elbridge Colby, has in the past expressed scepticism about AUKUS amid concerns about America's consistent failures to meet its own shipbuilding targets. In their letter, the select committee's Republican chairman, John Moolenaar, and its most senior Democrat, Raja Krishnamoorthi, wrote that China's "rapid expansion of its nuclear, conventional, cyber, and space capabilities pose a grave concern for the United States and our like-minded allies and partners". "AUKUS has received strong bipartisan support from Congress for a reason," they wrote. "We are stronger together under the AUKUS framework." They pointed to the Chinese navy's deployment of aircraft carriers into the western Pacific in June, and its live-fire exercises in the Tasman Sea in February as troubling examples of Beijing "project[ing] blue-water capabilities at increasing distances from its shores". "This attempt to project power as far south as New Zealand's front door highlights the importance of AUKUS in cementing ties to longstanding allies like Australia, as well as advancing vital undersea capabilities that will be central to deterrence," they wrote. Mr Morrison, who announced the AUKUS pact with then-leaders Joe Biden and Boris Johnson in 2021, has previously spoken directly to Donald Trump about AUKUS. In June, he told the ABC he had "never had concerns" about the US president's commitment to the pact. "I mean, there's a review underway, and I think he'll take notice of what Bridge Colby says, and I think we need to engage with that and make the case again," he told the ABC last month. The Australian government has also expressed confidence in the pact's future, framing the review as a standard process for an incoming government and rejecting suggestions a "plan B" is needed. But American concerns about Australia's defence budget remain a possible sticking point. Mr Hegseth has urged Australia to lift defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP, from its current level of about 2 per cent. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pushed back, saying Australia will determine its own defence priorities. The opposition has been pressuring Mr Albanese to prioritise a meeting with Mr Trump to press the case for AUKUS. Plans for a meeting in May fell through. Multiple congressional committee chairs have also recently written to Mr Hegseth in support of AUKUS, pointing to its benefits for the US, including a $4.5 billion Australian investment in America's submarine-building capabilities. The Australian government made an initial payment of almost $800 million earlier this year. In total, the submarine deal is expected to cost Australia up to $368 billion over several decades. Mr Morrison is one of two witnesses set to appear at Wednesday's committee hearing, which is focused on strategies to counter China's "economic coercion against democracies". The other is former US ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel.
South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Ex-Australian PM Morrison to address China's ‘economic coercion' at US House panel hearing
Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will testify at a US House panel hearing on Wednesday about countering China 's 'economic coercion against democracies,' the committee said on Friday. Advertisement Former US ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel will also testify before the House Select Committee on China. Relations with China , already rocky after Australia banned Huawei from its 5G broadband network in 2018, cooled further after Canberra called for an independent investigation into the origins of Covid-19 China responded by imposing tariffs on Australian commodities, including wine and barley, and limited imports of Australian beef, coal and grapes, moves described by the United States as 'economic coercion.' Morrison was defeated in a bid for re-election in 2022. Advertisement
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Scott Morrison to testify before US House panel on China
The former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison will testify at a US House panel hearing next week about countering China's 'economic coercion against democracies,' the committee said on Friday. Rahm Emanuel, the former US ambassador to Japan, will also testify before the House select committee on China. Relations with China, already rocky after Australia banned Huawei from its 5G broadband network in 2018, cooled further in 2020 after the Morrison government called for an independent investigation into the origins of the Covid-19 virus. China responded by imposing tariffs on Australian commodities, including wine and barley and limited imports of Australian beef, coal and grapes, moves described by the United States as 'economic coercion'. Morrison was defeated in a bid for reelection in 2022. His successor, Anthony Albanese, visited China this week, underscoring a warming of ties. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The prime minister spent this week touring the country with stops in Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu amid a period of geopolitical instability and escalating trade hostilities between the US and its trading partners. Albanese also sniped back at the opposition's criticism of his 'indulgent' six-day visit, pointing out the former Coalition government failed to hold a single phone call with the major trading partner for years. Reuters reported this week that Canberra is close to an agreement with Beijing that would allow Australian suppliers to ship five trial canola cargoes to China, sources familiar with the matter said, a move towards ending a years-long freeze in the trade. China imposed 100% tariffs on Canadian canola meal and oil this year amid strained diplomatic ties. Emanuel, who told a Chicago news outlet last month he is considering a run for president in 2028, has been a harsh critic of China, saying last year Beijing constantly uses coercion and pressures other countries, including Japan and the Philippines. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'Economic coercion by China is their most persistent and pernicious tool in their toolbox,' Emanuel said in a separate speech in 2023. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.
