Marles refuses 12 times to say what the Americans want in AUKUS review

Washington: Defence Minister Richard Marles has refused 12 times to say what changes the US wants to the $368 billion-plus AUKUS agreement, despite acknowledging the Pentagon’s recent review of the pact is seeking ways to “do AUKUS better”.

Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong met their American counterparts Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio in Washington for annual talks amid what Rubio called “real momentum” in the alliance following Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s October meeting with President Donald Trump.

Before the meeting, Hegseth applauded Australia for its next $US1 billion ($1.5 billion) cheque to stimulate American shipbuilding, which will be deposited into a US bank account shortly.

But Australians are no closer to learning what changes Hegseth’s department is seeking to AUKUS, despite it agreeing in broad terms with Trump’s declaration that the pact is “full steam ahead”.

At a press conference with Australian reporters after the meeting, Marles refused 12 times to explain the contents of the Pentagon’s AUKUS review, which was handed to the Australian government last week.

“The review is essentially looking at ways in which AUKUS can be done better,” Marles said.

Pressed to expand on that, he said he respected the fact that it was the US’s review. “We’re really clear about what America is asking of us, and what we’re asking of America, and what both of us are asking of the UK,” he said.

When pressed again, Marles said: “The thrust of the review was about how we can do AUKUS better … I don’t think it’s appropriate that I go into it more than that.”

Marles also refused to say whether the US had pushed Australia to spend more on defence or narrow down the defence capabilities on which the countries will share sensitive technology under AUKUS pillar II.

The Pentagon has said it does not intend to make the review public, and Marles declined to give a view on that. Neither would he say whether the Australian government agreed with the review’s recommendations.

Later in Sydney, when asked whether Australian taxpayers should expect more transparency about such a major project, Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy told reporters that questions about whether Trump administration officials release the review is “a matter for them”.

Conroy described the Pentagon review as “a living, breathing document”, suggesting its recommendations could be amended or not implemented.

“We’re always looking at ways of improving AUKUS. If there’s recommendations that come out of the review that improve AUKUS, then of course we’re going to engage with that.”

Greens defence spokesman David Shoebridge criticised the government for not releasing details of the review.

“The US has found the world’s biggest sucker in Australia,” he said. “It gets billions in public funds from Australia, it gets to use Australia as free real estate for its military and, in exchange, it owes Australia nothing but the vague idea that one day, second-hand nuclear submarines might have an Australian flag painted on them.”

Several interested members of the US Congress have read a version of the review. One of them, Democrat Joe Courtney, said it endorsed AUKUS but stressed there were “critical deadlines” that all three countries must meet.

Marles said the next critical deadline was for US and UK nuclear-powered submarines to begin regular rotations at HMAS Stirling, south of Perth, in the fourth quarter of 2027.

This masthead reported at the weekend that the Pentagon’s AUKUS review, led by sceptical undersecretary Elbridge Colby, had to be significantly rewritten to conform to Trump’s enthusiasm for the deal.

On the current timeline, Australia is to purchase three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the US starting in 2032, and then produce new AUKUS-class submarines with the UK in the 2040s.

But the US defence industrial base has struggled for years to produce enough boats for its own needs, let alone to divert some to Australia. Hence, under the agreement, Australia will inject $US3 billion of cash ($4.5 billion) into US shipbuilding.

The first $US1 billion was delivered in two separate payments this year, following an agreed timeline – despite earlier uncertainty about AUKUS under the Trump administration.

‘We feel very confident’

Marles said the next $US1 billion would be paid shortly, and he was happy with how the money was being used. “We do get a sense of how that money was spent and the contribution it is making to increase those production rates, and we feel very confident about the way that is having an impact,” he said.

Hegseth applauded the extra funds in a brief joint statement ahead of the meeting. “We’re strengthening AUKUS so it works for America, for Australia and for the UK,” he said.

In a fact sheet distributed by the US State Department after the bilateral meeting, the US and Australia confirmed the US Marine Corps’ famed MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, which are capable of vertical take-off and landing and high-speed flight, will be pre-positioned in Darwin, deepening the rapidly expanding American presence in northern Australia.

Hegseth also touted increased defence co-operation between the US and Australia, including additional rotations of US Air Force bombers through bases in Queensland and the Northern Territory, more rotational deployments of US Marines and deeper co-operation on producing guided missiles, including hypersonic attack cruise missiles.

Meanwhile, Rubio emphasised the importance of the critical minerals deal framework agreed by Trump and Albanese at the White House in October.

“We truly have no better friend,” he said of Australia.

He also affirmed the US stood by the Quad – a diplomatic partnership comprising the US, Australia, Japan and India – despite a planned leaders’ summit this year being abandoned amid friction between Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Rubio added that he had never been to Australia and would like to visit.

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