Australia confident in £176bn defence deal with UK and US as Trump-ordered review looms

An Australian minister says he is confident America will remain part of AUKUS as he hailed his country's relationship with Britain. The Trump administration is expected to shortly complete a review into the £176 billion defence pact with the UK and Australia which will see the Royal Navy get 12 new nuclear-powered attack submarines.

The review was launched after Donald Trump's return to the White House but Paul Papalia believes the US will remain part of the landmark deal. The defence minister in the regional Western Australia government told the Express: "It's quite reasonable that the US is doing a review after a change of administration. Australia did that, the Brits did that and we anticipate they'll come to the same conclusion that it is actually a good thing for their nation and they'll commit to it."

Mr Papalia insisted AUKUS is a "really good deal" for Washington, despite the man leading the US review, due in the autumn, previously questioning why it would give away "this crown jewel asset when we most need it".

AUKUS will see Britain and Australia work together to build their own UK-designed SSN-AUKUS submarines, involving technology from all three nations.

This includes America's high-level nuclear propulsion technology, previously only shared with the UK.

Washington is also set to benefit through the sale of three to five second-hand Virginia-class submarines to Canberra.

The three-way AUKUS alliance was announced in 2021 to contend with growing Chinese military might in the Indo-Pacific region.

As part of the pact, both the UK and US will be able to rotate a small number of submarines through a base in Perth, Western Australia, from 2027.

Mr Papalia told the Express it is "distant enough from the area of operations to be a safe haven, but close enough to be good for operations".

He identified his region's ability to build components for submarines and other defence assets, plus future UK and US access to a major shipyard set to undergo a £5.9 billion upgrade, as other reasons AUKUS is a win-win for all parties.

He added: "In Western Australia, we have some of the richest reserves of rare earths in the world and critical minerals. And we're refining them, so that makes it very attractive as an alternative to getting those materials from China.

"All of those reasons make it a really good deal for America."

Britain's biggest warship, HMS Prince of Wales, recently took part in major drills off Australia's coast.

Mr Papalia, a veteran himself, suggested there is a new era of defence relations between the two countries.

"I'd echo the High Commissioner's observation that the Australian-British relationship, particularly in defence matters, is stronger than it's ever been since the Second World War.

"It's a really significant moment in time," he added.