{"id":1763,"date":"2025-12-08T20:06:39","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T20:06:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=1763"},"modified":"2025-12-08T20:06:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T20:06:39","slug":"australia-news-live-full-steam-ahead-for-aukus-deal-as-wong-and-marles-meet-rubio-and-hegseth-in-washington-australia-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=1763","title":{"rendered":"Australia news live: \u2018full steam ahead\u2019 for Aukus deal as Wong and Marles meet Rubio and Hegseth in Washington | Australia news"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u2018Full steam ahead\u2019 for Aukus deal as Wong and Marles meet Rubio and Hegseth in Washington<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n

The Aukus<\/a> submarine deal is going \u201cfull steam ahead\u201d, Australia and the US have confirmed after a high-level meeting in Washington.<\/p>\n

Associated Press reports US secretary of state, Marco Rubio,<\/strong> and defense secretary, Pete Hegseth,<\/strong> met their Australian counterparts on Monday local time for annual talks expected to focus on Indo-Pacific security and countering China\u2019s increasing assertiveness in the region, including in the South China Sea and directed at Taiwan.<\/p>\n

Rubio, Hegseth, Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong<\/strong>, and defence minister Richard Marles<\/strong> gathered at the State Department but in remarks before the meeting none mentioned China by name.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very strong partnership, it\u2019s a strong alliance, and what we want to do is continue to build on it. We think we have a lot of momentum behind this alliance,\u201d Rubio said, hailing cooperation between Washington and Canberra on critical minerals, defence production and troop deployments.<\/p>\n

The US president, Donald Trump,<\/strong> and Australian PM, Anthony Albanese<\/strong>, signed a critical minerals deal at the White House in October after China imposed tougher rules on exporting its own critical minerals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to have critical mineral supplies and supply chains that are reliable, and that are diverse, and not overly invested in one place where they can be used as leverage against us or our partners of the world,\u201d Rubio said on Monday.<\/p>\n

Wong said the alliance \u201chas always been to ensure it delivers concrete benefits for our security and prosperity and for that of the United States. And Aukus is central to that: a win for Australia, a win for the US and a win for the United Kingdom,\u201d Wong said. \u201cWe are full steam ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hegseth echoed her comments, saying that \u201cas we move full steam ahead on Aukus, we applaud Australia\u2019s upcoming delivery of an additional $1bn to help expand US submarine production capacity. We\u2019re strengthening Aukus so that it works for America, for Australia and for the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marles said they were \u201cliving in a much more contested world, where it really matters to be doubling down with friends and allies and, obviously, America is front and centre and foremost for Australia in that respect\u201d.<\/p>\n

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<\/svg><\/span>(L-R) Richard Marles, Penny Wong, Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth meet for bilateral talks at the State Department in Washington DC on Monday.<\/span> Photograph: Anadolu\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n