Australia Confident US Will Proceed With Submarine Pact After Review

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles on June 12 said he was confident the Aukus submarine pact with the US and Britain would proceed, and his government would work closely with the United States while the Trump administration conducted a formal review.

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In an Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio interview, Mr Marles said Aukus was in the strategic interests of all three countries and the new review of the deal signed in 2021 when Mr Joe Biden was the US president was not a surprise.

"I am very confident this is going to happen," he said of Aukus, which would give Australia nuclear-powered submarines.

"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," Mr Marles told the ABC.

Australia in 2023 committed to spend A$368 billion (S$305.9 billion) over three decades on Aukus, the country's biggest ever defence project with the US and Britain, to acquire and build nuclear-powered submarines.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to meet US President Donald Trump for the first time next week on the sidelines of the Group of Seven meeting in Canada, where the security allies will discuss tariffs and a US request for Australia to increase defence spending from 2 per cent to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product.