Opening Remarks, AUKUS Defence Ministers' Meeting

WASHINGTON D.C.
WEDNESDAY, 10 DECEMBER 2025

SUBJECT/S: AUKUS. 

PETE HEGSETH, US SECRETARY OF WAR: Good afternoon everybody, welcome to the Pentagon. Richard, John thank you so much. I can’t count how many meetings we’ve had at this point – and I say that only out of goodness because of the strength of our alliances, our bilateral relationships and our trilateral relationships are as strong as they’ve ever been. And as President Trump has laid out from the beginning, the President loves supporting countries that step up. And whether it’s in the Indo-Pacific or on the continent, the discussions we’ve had are a reflection of both Australia and the UK stepping up. You see through AUKUS and the review that we conducted, a continued commitment to a pragmatic, practical application of hard power between our countries, that reflect peace through strength and also hard power – real capabilities – that demonstrate a deterrent effect that we all want. We may lead our departments of war or ministries of defence, but our goal is peace – on behalf of the American people, the Australian people and the UK – and we pursue that together on behalf of our leadership. So it’s a privilege to have you at the Pentagon. Look forward to talking more in depth about AUKUS and our partnerships. And I would be remiss also, John if I didn’t mention the passing of your paratrooper in Ukraine. We’re certainly– our thoughts and prayers go out to you, and to him, and his family. And it’s a reflection of the sacrifice and commitment that so many make around the world. So thank you both for being here. Welcome to the Pentagon. Look forward to our discussion. Richard– 

RICHARD MARLES, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Let me also start there and pass on my condolences, John to George Hooley’s family. We are all very much thinking of you in this moment. Pete and John, it is fantastic to be here and to be here with both of you at what is the fourth AUKUS Defence Ministers’ Meeting. And we are both very excited about the progress that we’re making in relation to AUKUS and what we will be talking about today. It’s only six weeks since the President and the Prime Minister of Australia met, where the President invoked us all to move ahead on AUKUS “full steam ahead”. And that really has been something of a motto for the way in which we have been going about our work. This is the first AUKUS Defence Ministers’ Meeting where we’ve been meeting with you, Pete, so it’s great to be doing this with you. And I just also say, we had a fantastic AUSMIN – our 2+2 meeting with the US on Monday, and thank you very much for that. The last 12 months has seen a lot of progress in relation to AUKUS. In the last six weeks, we’ve had the USS Vermont in HMAS Stirling south of Perth in Australia undertake the most extensive maintenance of an American nuclear‑powered submarine outside of America ever. And it is an example of what we are doing together. But this is a massive project, and there is so much more to do. And it's really important that we are looking at the ways in which we can now get on with this and deliver it. I think delivery is very much the focus of the conversation that we will be having today. I'm very excited about what we can do together, the progress that we're making, but the challenges that we both need– or all of us need, to grab hold on as we move forward and again. Thank you for having this meeting today.

JOHN HEALEY, UK SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE: Thank you both for your remarks about Lance Corporal George Hooley. I will pass those on to his family. I know they will appreciate your sentiments and it's a reminder for us all the risks that our service men and women put themselves at in order to keep the rest of us safe. Pete, thank you in particular, for welcoming us to the Pentagon, bringing us together in this way here in Washington. But thank you also for the spirit of cooperation which guided your Department's work during their recent review of AUKUS. For the UK, AUKUS is quite simply the most important military collaboration for the last 70 years: since the US and the UK first agreed in this great city in 1958 to share nuclear technology. And just as it was back then, this partnership will be a foundation for these shared security for generations to come. So this a big moment. This big moment for AUKUS. It's a big moment for three nations together. It is, as President Trump has said, the moment of full steam ahead for AUKUS. And it's right that all three governments, as newly elected governments, have carried out a review of AUKUS. Those reviews are now done, and all three of us are now determined to reboot AUKUS with a new commitment and a new determination, in particular, to deliver. So the reviews are done, it's time to deliver. And when we talk about delivery, we talk about the most powerful, most feared attack submarine the world has ever seen – the apex predator of the seas. And we talk about delivering the technologies of the future, putting our war fighters one step ahead of our adversaries, reinforcing our deterrence in the face of adversaries, and we talk about putting our industries at the leading edge of new export markets. Pete, you said your mission and the mission of AUKUS is peace, and you've often argued it's peace through strength. And AUKUS embodies the way that a nation can secure strength through alliances. And in the face of this new era, we need those alliances more than ever. We need more subs in the Indo‑Pacific and in the Euro Atlantic. We need more burden sharing by America's closest allies in Australia and the UK. And as the UK steps up on European security, we know that each of the three nations have a role to play to protect our people, to keep our citizens safe, and to reinforce that global deterrence. But we are clear as well, this isn't just about strengthening our shared security, AUKUS is also about an engine for growth that will lead to new jobs, new skills, thriving businesses in all three nations. And in the UK alone, since our government was elected last year, we've created over 3,000 new jobs in the nuclear sites. We've committed 6 billion pounds – $8 billion investment – new investment to boost production in our shipyards and to deliver up to 12 of the most advanced attack submarines ever to sail under the Royal Navy ensign. Pete, I say to you, Richard, I say to you the UK is all on AUKUS. And as our three nations which share a long friendship work together on AUKUS, we extend that friendship long into the future. The generations ahead of us will share its strength. They will inherit its security and in the jobs that we create, in the technologies that we develop, and in the peace that we preserve. I look forward to working with you both in the months and the years ahead to deliver this most important program.

ENDS