Image by Ministry of Defence/BBC

Prime minister Rishi Sunak met Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese in San Diego on 12 March, 2023, ahead of their trilateral meeting with US president Joe Biden to discuss the next phase of the AUKUS nuclear submarine partnership.

PM Sunak and PM Albanese agreed on the great significance of the AUKUS partnership – an unprecedented endeavour which will protect our people and support our defence industrial bases for generations to come. They agreed that with this partnership they are investing in not just our capabilities but our most important relationships.

The leaders welcomed the flourishing bilateral partnership between the UK and Australia which was going from strength to strength. They discussed further cooperation in defence and issues of shared concern, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and security in the Indo- Pacific region. Sunak outlined the conclusions of the UK’s updated national security and foreign policy strategy, which was published on Monday, 13 March.

Sunak also updated on his recent meetings with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and London and the leaders agreed on the importance of keeping up the staunch and unified international support for Ukraine. They agreed on the importance of the Ukraine training mission which UK and Australian troops were delivering with other partners in the UK. Separately, both leaders also agreed on the importance of both Sweden’s and Finland’s accession to NATO.

The leaders noted exciting opportunities to grow trade, investment and cultural links between the UK and Australia even further this year, as the UK ratifies the UK-Australia trade deal and continues to pursue accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

They also welcomed the friendly sporting rivalry between our two nations, and Sunak said he looked forward to hopefully seeing England’s Lionesses lifting the football world cup, being hosted by Australia and New Zealand later this year.