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Former prime minister Scott Morrison has assured the Australian public that the US is “well within its remit” to review the conditions of the AUKUS trilateral agreement.
The comments were made in response to recent confirmation that the US administration is reviewing the AUKUS trilateral agreement between Australia, the US and the United Kingdom.
“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,” according to US defence official comments reported by 9News.
Under the 2021 AUKUS submarine deal, Australia and Britain are expected to produce SSN-AUKUS attack submarines for service in the early 2040s. In addition, the US would sell up to five Virginia Class submarines to Australia from 2032.
“The current US Department of Defense review of AUKUS is well within its remit and not unlike the strategic assessment recently conducted by the new UK government following the election of Prime Minister Starmer. This is a departmental review, not a policy decision, and should not be over-interpreted,” said Morrison, the 30th prime minister of Australia.
“The focus of the review is not new and rightly centres on US submarine production rates. This is a known and genuine challenge for the US industrial base. This goes directly to the maintenance and expansion of the US submarine fleet, and it’s an area where Australia is already uniquely contributing under AUKUS Pillar I. Importantly, this is also a challenge the Trump administration is committed to addressing.
“AUKUS is fundamentally about strengthening collective deterrence, particularly in the Indo-Pacific against potential adversaries. Pillar I is about more submarines, not fewer, across all three partners. Pillar II, and the development of the trilaterally-produced AUKUS Class submarine with the UK, continues to move forward with strategic purpose.
“The case for AUKUS was first built on convincing the US and UK defence institutions during the period of the first Trump administration and the Johnson government about the technical merit, sovereign capability and shared security interests. It has enjoyed bipartisan and institutional support in both Washington and London from the outset. That foundation matters and was important to secure.
“As the Pentagon leads this review, the depth of US–Australia engagement, the professionalism of our collaboration and the consistent backing from Secretary Hegseth, as reaffirmed in his discussions with Minister Marles, remain reasons for continued confidence.
“Now is the time for Australia to make the case again. We have a good case to make in both our own interests and those of our AUKUS partners, especially in the US.”
The call for calm was echoed by retired naval officer and expert associate at the National Security College - Australian National University, Jennifer Parker.
“What do we know of the AUKUS review right now; not much … While many in Australia will take this immediately to mean the deal is in doubt, that would be an extremely alarmist interpretation. There is a lot in this deal for the US; that would be a significant strategic error for them to undermine it,” Parker said.
“Key benefits to the US include shorter transit time to primary theatre from Western Australia for a submarine, reduction of submarine maintenance backlog through maintenance facilities in Australia, ability to conduct submarine maintenance closer to the fight, support to a key ally to develop their own SSN program independent of the submarine industrial base in the 2040s, a greater force of SSN under allies in the 2040s, injection of US$3 billion into the US submarine industrial base, key communication to China and the region that the US is serious about competing, shoring up UK nuclear deterrent which makes NATO less dependent on US.
“A US review does not (mean) AUKUS has been canned or fundamentally changed. Reviews are prudent, there is a lot of support for AUKUS in the current US administration because it's a good deal for them.”
