Australia ‘Working Through’ Finalised Pentagon Review of AUKUS

The government says it’s ‘full steam ahead’ on initiatives including nuclear subs.

The sun rises over a Royal Australian Navy submarine berthed at HMAS Stirling in Garden Island, Australia, on Jan. 21, 2021. POIS Yuri Ramsey/Australian Defence Force via Getty Images

Australia’s government says it is “working through” the Pentagon’s recently completed review of the tri-nation AUKUS security agreement.

The Trump administration first announced its review into the pact in June, leading to ongoing speculation about its future.

Australia’s Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said U.S. President Donald Trump viewed the agreement positively and said AUKUS was moving “full steam ahead.”

“We’re hitting all the major milestones, including the docking of USS Vermont in [Western Australia] only last month, and things are going well,” he said.

“But as for the contents of the review, that’s a matter for the U.S. government.”

Conroy said the Labor government also briefed the United States on its merging of three defence armament entities into the Defence Delivery Agency.

The AUKUS deal is a security partnership between Australia, the U.S. and the UK, with part of the deal involving Australia’s acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines.

In October, U.S. President Trump backed AUKUS saying it could even be streamlined, while also stating that the sheer might of the U.S. military should be enough to deter Chinese aggression.

“I don’t think we’re going to need it,” he said. “I think we'll be just fine with China. China doesn’t want to do that.”

The Australian government estimates the cost of acquiring new submarines will be between $268-368 billion.

The reassurance of AUKUS from the U.S. government has led to criticism from the Australian political left, however.

AUKUS critic Greens Senator David Shoebridge claimed the deal was one-sided and favoured the United States over Australia.

“For the next eight years AUKUS gives the U.S. Australian dollars, Australian bases, Australian submariners and Australian obedience, and Washington doesn’t have to give us a thing,” he said on X.

Former Labor Senator Doug Cameron also weighed in on the deal.

“We abandon our sovereignty, sign a one-sided dud deal, subsidise the U.S. and UK military industrial establishments, build public housing for U.S. troops, antagonise China. What a deal for Trump,” he said on X.