Opening Remarks, UK-Australia Defence Ministers' Meeting, London

SUBJECTS: UK-Australia Defence Relationship.

WES STREETING, UK SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE: Deputy Prime Minister, it's a great pleasure for me to welcome you back to Horse Guards. It is not your first visit here, but it's my first time hosting you as the Secretary of State for Defence here in the UK, and we've got a lot to get through. There's a lot of great work we're doing together, a lot for me to build on in terms of the work of my predecessors, John Healey and Dan Jarvis. But at the center of the whole conversation that we're having are the deepest and strongest bonds of friendship and family. We see the world in the same way. We share the same values, and we've got the same strategic shared interests and concerns about what the next century looks like in the contest between tyranny and freedom, and we know which side of that divide we're on. I mean, you know, we’re not going to be bystanders in that. So through AUKUS, which is a hugely important partnership we have together with the United States, but with the other bilateral work we’re going to do together, I'm really looking forward to working with you and having spoken to you, it’s great to see you in person and good to welcome you back to London.

RICHARD MARLES, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you, Mr Secretary. Great to see you, Wes. I think describing us as family is exactly the right word to use in terms of the relationship. This is obviously the oldest relationship that Australia has, and what we've seen evolve over the last few years is, really, a strategic dimension to that relationship, which very much builds on the complete sense of trust that has always been there and the very strong people‑to‑people links. But in a pretty challenging world, we are now finding that this relationship is just so important in terms of helping us to navigate it. We do have a really substantive agenda. AUKUS is obviously at the heart of that and it is going really well. I've just come from the United States and met with our counterpart, Secretary Hegseth, there, and I think there is a sense across the three countries that this really groundbreaking agreement and project is happening at a pace, and we're actually delivering it. But we very much have shared values, and we are about upholding the rules-based order. And I just can't overstate how grateful we are for this relationship in terms of how we do navigate the challenging world. And from my perspective, the moment that you were appointed to this role — and congratulations on it, it is a great job to have — but it was a real priority for me to be here as quickly as I can so that we can meet in person and get to work. 

STREETING: And on that note, let's get to work. And thanks to those who've joined us with cameras, we’re going to politely ask you to bid us farewell, and we're going to get down to business.

ENDS