Doorstop, Washington D.C.

SUBJECT/S: AUKUS; Austal and Hanwha. 

RICHARD MARLES, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: This morning we had the fourth AUKUS Defence Ministers’ Meeting – the first with the Trump administration, the first with Secretary Hegseth. So it was fantastic to be meeting today with Secretary Hegseth and with John Healey, the Minister of State for Defence in the UK. Our focus was very much on delivery. We've now seen reviews in each of our three countries as our governments have come into power. They've been done and the absolute focus in respect of all of our three countries was how to harness our systems, how to deliver AUKUS Pillar one, and to make sure that we are doing everything at full speed ahead, “full steam ahead” as President Trump has given us this motto, in terms of delivering on submarines. And on Pillar two, we also spoke today about how we can make sure that we have all the momentum that we need to see that cooperation around advanced technology. So a really important meeting today. There's a lot of energy and momentum around the delivery of AUKUS. But a very significant meeting, particularly in the context of it being Secretary Hegseth’s first. 

JOURNALIST: Minister Healey mentioned a reboot of AUKUS. What does a reboot mean? And why does it need a reboot?

MARLES: Well, I think really what he's saying is in a context where each of our countries have now done a review. I mean, for us, it was really the Defence Strategic Review back in ’22-’23, but the Lovegrove review that was done by the Starmer government at the end of last year, and now the review which has been undertaken by the Department of War here in the United States. Now that they are all done, the focus has to be on delivery. And, you know, the milestones are being met. AUKUS is on track. But this is a massive, massive task and it's really important that we all have our shoulders to the wheel, all three systems working in a coordinated way to make this occur, and that's what we’ve committed to. 

JOURNALIST: Is this timeline too tight? And is it achievable?

MARLES: It is absolutely achievable. It's challenging, to be clear, but you know, we live in a challenging world. And we face really the most challenging strategic circumstances that we have since the end of the Second World War and so we do need to be moving at a pace, and we should have challenging timelines, but we are really confident that we can meet them. And as I said on Monday, a key immediate milestone is quarter four of 2027 which is the beginning of the Submarine Rotational Force – West. We're on target to achieve that. We've had really important milestones this year with the maintenance package that was done on the USS Vermont, we're doing a lot of infrastructure works at HMAS Stirling now to ready it for the beginning of SRF-West at the end of 2027. It is a key milestone, but it's only one and we really need to be making sure that we have shoulders to the wheel and the full amount of pressure to get this done.

JOURNALIST: Mr Marles, can you give us a little bit of detail about who you met with today? And secondly, on Pillar two, is there an agreement now that the capabilities, the high tech capabilities under Pillar two will get narrowed down, and some progress on Pillar two will begin to be made?

MARLES: So, if I can do the second question first. Actually, I think there has been a lot of progress on Pillar two. I think we don't speak about it enough, and some of it is difficult to speak about in the sense that it's classified, but it is also right that focusing on particular projects is something that we need to be doing. And yes, without going into what they are, that was a focus of our meeting today: about giving a sharpness, if I could put it that way, to what we are seeking to do in relation to Pillar two and I think that that's really important. So in fact, Pillar two was a significant part of today's meeting. In answer your first question, over the course of the last three days, obviously, we've had AUSMIN on Monday and the Defence Ministers’ Meeting today, which was really the key parts of my visit here to D.C. But I've also met a number of Senators, Members of Congress – i'll be going to the Hill after this press conference. I’ve met others in the Pentagon, so in addition to the Secretary of War, I also met with the Secretary of Army, I'll be meeting with the Secretary of Navy later today, and meeting across government. And yesterday, I went to the Huntington's facility at Newport News. This is one of the two facilities which builds the Virginia class submarines for the US. It's the largest shipyard, I think, in the United States. Certainly the largest military shipyard in the United States. And it was a very impressive facility to see. And also gave me a sense of confidence that as we invest into the submarine industrial base here in the United States, and that would be a key place where that money would be spent, that we are actually seeing an increase in the production rates here, which is so important in terms of providing the space for us to acquire our Virginia class submarines. 

JOURNALIST: Just to come back to the AUKUS review for a moment, I understand your reluctance to go into what is a US document, can you clarify, though, whether there are concrete recommendations in it for changes or whether it's more of a raising issues or concerns in terms of how it's phrased? And can you guarantee to the Australian people that they will not be asked to stump up any more money as part of this process. for AUKUS than is already– than the price tag that they've already been given?

MARLES: Well, firstly, what we are doing in acquiring a nuclear‑powered submarine capability is a project that is measured in decades, and it will need to be constantly managed, both in terms of time frame and budget over that period of time. We have talked about the cost of this– that the proper way to think about the cost of this is about .15% of GDP. And I'm really confident that we will be able to manage the project over that period of time, at that level of expenditure. And that's the way in which we have described it. Obviously, in the in the more immediate term, over the forward estimates and over the decade, we have got money in the budget to make sure that we are doing all that needs to be done to progress AUKUS and the submarine component of AUKUS now for us to acquire that capability. In terms of the review, I mean, I am reluctant to talk about it because it is an American review, and it's really– it’s their document. But look, it's specific, it goes into– as I said on Monday, it is very much within the frame of being full steam ahead on delivering AUKUS and how we can do this better. It's very– it is granular, it is specific in terms of how it looks at that. But you know, we will be engaging with the US as we will be with the UK across the board, to make sure that we are doing everything we can to move full steam ahead, but to do this in the best possible way. And we do this in a very self-critical way. We want to make sure that we are learning, and we are improving, and we are getting better each and every day of delivering this. Because to do this at the scale necessary to undertake such a mammoth task requires us to do that in that way

JOURNALIST: Another defence matter, although adjacent to what we're talking about today. We're expecting the decision around Austal and Hanwha soon, and we understand that Japan's raised concerns with the Department of Defence about the potential for Hanwha to lift its stake in Austal. I wonder if you can tell us about the nature of those concerns and whether that's come up in your discussions in the US, and whether you've canvassed views with the Pentagon about this transaction.

MARLES: There's not a lot I can say on that. So all I can really say in respect of it is that it hasn't come up here, I can say that. But I think what's probably what’s– given the way you've asked that question, in terms of Japan, I came here via Japan. I mean, we have a really close working relationship with Japan and I'm confident that as we move forward in respect of all of these matters that we do so in a way where Japan has comfort. 

ENDS