Secrecy over Pentagon review suggests there’s stuff in there Australia doesn’t want to talk about |
Given President Donald Trump’s clear and emphatic commitment to the AUKUS agreement, now might be the time for an honest and open conversation about how each party believes the pact could be improved.
As observed by US congressman Joe Courtney, a long-time friend of Australia and strong AUKUS supporter, the deal struck under Joe Biden, Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson has survived changes of government in all three countries.
Defence Minister Richard Marles, Foreign Minister Penny Wong, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US War Secretary Pete Hegseth ahead of their meeting.Credit: Bloomberg
It enjoys bipartisan support, and it’s “full steam ahead”, as Trump said. So, why is the Australian government so cagey about it?
Canberra is in possession of the Pentagon’s five-month review of AUKUS, and Defence Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong discussed it with their US counterparts on Tuesday (AEDT) as they met for the 35th AUSMIN dialogue in Washington.
We are constantly showered with babble about how strong the alliance is, and how wonderful and important AUKUS will be – and yet,........