SYDNEY
\nAustralia and the UK have signed a 50-year treaty to cement the Aukus pact to design and build a new class of nuclear-powered submarine.
\nAustralia\u2019s defence minister, Richard Marles, and the UK\u2019s defence secretary, John Healey, signed the deal \u2013 dubbed the \u201cGeelong Treaty\u201d \u2013 in Geelong on Saturday, with Marles saying it was among the most significant treaties between the two nations.
\nIt came as the US, which is not a party to the treaty, wavers on its own role in the trilateral Aukus agreement, after the Trump administration launched a review to examine whether it aligns with his \u201cAmerica first\u201d agenda.
\nA joint statement released by the UK and Australia said the treaty would enable cooperation on the SSN-Aukus submarine\u2019s design, build, operation, sustainment, and disposal, as well as workforce, infrastructure and regulatory systems.
\nThe SSN-Aukus is intended to incorporate technology from all three Aukus nations. It will be built in northern England for the UK Royal Navy, and Australia plans to build its own in South Australia for delivery to the Australian navy in the 2040s.
\nThe treaty is yet to be released publicly and will be tabled in parliament next week.
\nMarles told reporters the treaty will underpin how the UK and Australia work together to deliver the submarines.
\nHe said there were three parts to the treaty, including training in the UK for Australian submariners and other required roles, and \u201cfacilitating the development\u201d of infrastructure at the Osborne Naval Shipyard in Adelaide.
\n\u201cAnd finally, what the treaty does is create a seamless defence industrial base between the United Kingdom and Australia. This project is going to see Australian companies supplying into Great Britain for the building of submarines,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cIt will see British companies supplying to Australia for the building of our own submarines here in Adelaide.
\nHealey said the treaty would support tens of thousands of jobs in both Australia and the UK.
\n\u201cIt is a treaty that will fortify the Indo-Pacific. It will strengthen Nato and we\u2019re the politicians signing it today. But this is a treaty that will define the relationship between our two nations and safeguard the security of our country for our children and our children\u2019s children to come,\u201d he said.
\nMarles said the deal was \u201canother demonstration of the fact that Aukus is happening, and it is happening on time, and we are delivering it\u201d.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a treaty which will last for 50 years. It is a bilateral treaty which sits under the trilateral Aukus framework.\u201d
\nAs part of the existing Aukus agreement, Australia will pay about $4.6bn to support British industry to design and produce nuclear reactors to power the future Aukus-class submarines.
\nIt will pay a similar amount to the US to support America\u2019s shipbuilding industry. Under the $368bn Aukus program, Australia is scheduled to buy at least three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the US from the early 2030s.
\nEarlier on Saturday, the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, appeared at an event in Sydney run by the Lowy Institute.
\nAsked by the presenter if the UK was \u201ccoming to the rescue because America is losing interest in Aukus\u201d, he said that wasn\u2019t the case, and that the deal was about \u201c20,000 jobs between our two countries\u201d and a secure partnership well into the future.
\nLammy dismissed concerns over the Trump administration\u2019s Aukus review, saying it would \u201cflush out any issues for them\u201d. He said both the UK and Australian governments had also undertaken a review of the pact.
\n\u201cAll governments do reviews, and should do reviews, particularly when they involve big aspects of procurement and defence,\u201d he said.
\nLammy said the world had entered a \u201cnew era\u201d of instability and that \u201cinvesting in defence is an investment in peace\u201d because opponents \u201crealise that you are armed and capable\u201d.
\nThe Trump administration\u2019s review is being headed by the Pentagon\u2019s undersecretary of defence policy, Elbridge Colby, who has previously declared himself \u201csceptical\u201d about the deal, fearing it could leave US sailors exposed and underresourced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SYDNEY Australia and the UK have signed a 50-year treaty to cement the Aukus pact to design and build a new class of nuclear-powered submarine. Australia\u2019s defence minister, Richard Marles, and the UK\u2019s defence secretary, John Healey, signed the deal \u2013 dubbed the \u201cGeelong Treaty\u201d \u2013 in Geelong on Saturday, with Marles saying it was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":492885,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-492877","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n