Trump, Anthony Albanese to meet in Washington; Barnaby Joyce praises One Nation, reveals call with Pauline Hanson; Israel, Hamas clash in southern Gaza despite peace deal
Australia is “confident” AUKUS will be preserved, Deputy Foreign Minister Matt Thistlethwaite said ahead of the first bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Donald Trump scheduled for tomorrow.
“We are very confident that AUKUS will be sustained in my conversations with both Republican and Democratic congressional representatives; their strong commitment to AUKUS remains.
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“That goes for the UK as well. It’s a tripartite relationship, but I think we have to respect the fact that the US is going through a review, as is Australia and the UK, so we can’t expect too much because they need to complete that review and that’s the normal course of their discussions there. But we’re confident that AUKUS will be maintained,” Thistlethwaite told Sky News this morning. Thistlethwaite.
Thistlethwaite did not answer whether Australia expected to reach an agreement with the US on rare earth minerals, but said Australia welcomed any investment from the country.
“I think Australia is in a good position because we have so many rare earth resources. And importantly, our government has a policy to extract and process these rare earths. Here in Australia, we are investing in these businesses and welcome capital investment from the United States.”
The rare earth minerals deal is expected to be a key part of talks between Albanese and Trump tomorrow.
