UK and Australia boost growth and defence partnership at summit in London

Press release

UK and Australia boost growth and defence partnership at summit in London

The UK and Australia will reinforce their economic and defence partnership and bolster co-operation on shared global challenges at this year's AUKMIN meeting

• Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary host Australian counterparts in London to address shared security challenges and deliver growth and put more money in people's pockets
• Ministers will reaffirm steadfast commitment to AUKUS, one of the most strategically important collaborations for decades.
• Government sets out a range of major initiatives set out to boost security at home and around the world

The UK and Australia will reinforce their economic and defence partnership and bolster co-operation on shared global challenges at an annual ministerial meeting - known as AUKMIN - today (16th December).

The Foreign Secretary and the Defence Secretary will host Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles in London. They will discuss cooperation on issues including Ukraine, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific. They are expected to announce a series of major initiatives:

• The deployment of the UK Carrier Strike Group to Australia in 2025
• Extended Australian support for training Ukrainian Armed Forces
• New submarine programme office in Bristol

In a turbulent world, the UK-Australia friendship matters even more. Both countries must work together on shared security in Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic, boosting our security at home and abroad.

Foreign Secretary, David Lammy said:

The UK and Australia have a long and enduring friendship underpinned by close trade ties that are benefiting Brits and Aussies alike.

The growth mission is the central mission of the government. We want to go further to deepen our cooperation with countries like Australia to boost economic growth, build supply chain resilience and transition to net zero.

Together, we are modernising our partnership, working to tackle the biggest challenges around the world and furthering our co-operation on defence, security and foreign policy matters."

Defence Secretary, John Healey said:

Our unique and historic partnership with Australia is more important than ever in the face of increasing global threats.

Today's announcements demonstrate how our two nations, working in lockstep, can help drive jobs and growth while reinforcing our collective security.

Through our joint support to Ukraine, AUKUS partnership and high-end military exercises, we are proving the value of cooperation in delivering security and prosperity in the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific."

A key pillar of AUKMIN is cooperation with Australia on defence, working together to make the UK and Australia more secure. The UK is committed to AUKUS, our defence and security partnership with Australia, and the US, and the jobs and growth it can deliver for Britain. AUKUS will transform UK-Australia defence industrial cooperation. The Ministers are determined to make it the floor, not the ceiling, of the security partnership, using it to ensure strategic stability as well as driving growth and jobs.

The AUKUS submarine programme is set to generate 7,000 additional British jobs and at its peak, there will be over 21,000 people working on the SSN-AUKUS programmes in the UK supply chain. This will support the government's plan to kickstart economic growth, and drive forward economic stability and investment.

Today, Ministers will announce the creation of a new office in Bristol - 'Programme Interface Office' - to coordinate and integrate the UK and Australian AUKUS programmes and supply chains. Through the growth mission, the government is restoring economic stability, increasing investment and reforming the economy to drive up prosperity and living standards across the UK.

The UK and Australia are also developing strategic undersea warfare cooperation. Australia will equip its Hunter Class frigates with Thales' world-leading 2087 sonar. This will see both the UK and Australia working together to develop underwater capability and share information. This will contribute around £45 million to the UK economy, supporting economic growth.

The UK Carrier Strike Group will also sail to Australia in 2025, in a further demonstration of the UK's commitment Indo-Pacific security. HMS Prince of Wales will be the first Queen Elizabeth-class carrier to conduct a port visit to Australia. She will also participate in Exercise Talisman Sabre, a multinational exercise hosted by Australia involving nineteen nations.

Together, the UK and Australia are putting pressure on countries around the world to deter military cooperation with Russia. This includes the deployment of troops by North Korea to Russia and their supply of munitions, arms and other materiel. Both countries recognise Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security are indivisible. As one of the biggest financial supporters of Ukraine, the UK is pleased Australia will extend their training contribution to Operation Interflex to the end of 2025. The UK-led training scheme has now prepared more than 50,000 Ukrainian recruits for combat.

The UK supports Australia's bid to host COP31 in partnership with the Pacific with climate change being one of the most pressing challenges of our time. This Government is committed to making Britain a clean energy super-power, and Australia shares the same ambition to lead the world on clean energy. Both the UK and Australia will commit to further enhanced co-operation to ensure climate finance reaches those on the frontline of the climate crisis, particularly Pacific Island Countries.

Australia recently joined the Global Clean Power Alliance Finance Mission, which will help to unlock clean energy finance at scale. At CHOGM, the Prime Minister and Prime Minister Albanese agreed to a new UK-Australia Climate and Energy Partnership, which will focus on the accelerated deployment of renewable energy technologies, such as green hydrogen and offshore wind, to support the economic resilience and decarbonisation goals of both countries. 

Notes to editors: 

• AUKMIN is a set-piece meeting which has taken place since 2006. It is an important moment for the UK and Australia in agreeing collaboration in defence, security and foreign policy matters. It is also an opportunity to highlight joint work in maintaining geo-political stability, which is key to underpinning growth and prosperity in the UK and beyond, including through the joint work between both countries' defence industries.   
• During AUKMIN, the UK and Australia will commit to a consolidated hydrography partnership which will include greater cooperation to improve Pacific Islands hydrography capability, including launching a programme funded by FCDO which will see a new Hydrography Leaders Programme for the South West Pacific and a UKHO secondee to Fiji.

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Published 15 December 2024