Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and UK Defence Secretary sign 50-year AUKUS treaty

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and UK Defence Secretary John Healey have signed a 50-year treaty to cement the AUKUS submarine pact. The agreement bolsters shipbuilding in both countries and comes as the Trump administration continues to scrutinise the ambitious technology-sharing deal.

Transcript

01:00This treaty is an important demonstration of our commitment to implement the AUKUS optimal

01:05pathway and to deliver SSN AUKUS.

01:09Today, this treaty will be signed by Deputy Klein-Pilster, a Minister for Defence, the

01:15Occidental Bridge of Miles, on behalf of the Commonwealth of Australia, and Secretary

01:20of State for Defence, the Right Council, John Hill, on behalf of the United Kingdom, of

01:27Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

01:29I am now delighted to provide the Deputy Klein Minister and Secretary of State to make some

01:34remarks and then sign the treaty.

01:37Look, I will just make some brief remarks and speak about this more at greater length as

01:44we do a press conference later.

01:46But can I just say welcome, gentlemen, to Geelong.

01:51It is an enormous honour to be signing the Geelong Treaty with you today.

01:57The Geelong Treaty represents one of the most significant treaties between Australia and

02:04the United Kingdom that has been signed since Federation.

02:07What this treaty will do is underpin the way in which both our countries develop a class of

02:16submarine that we will jointly operate.

02:19It is a treaty which will last for 50 years.

02:22It is a bilateral treaty which sits under the trilateral AUKUS framework itself, embodied

02:28in a trilateral treaty that I signed in Washington, D.C. in August of last year.

02:36And in doing this, AUKUS will see 20,000 jobs in Australia.

02:42It will see, in building a submarine in this country, the biggest industrial endeavour in

02:48our nation's history, bigger even than the Snowy Hydro Scheme.

02:53And in military terms, what it will deliver is the biggest leap in Australia's military

02:57capability, really, since the formation of the Navy back in 1913.

03:01It is John and my honour to sign this treaty today, but I'm really mindful that to get

03:07here has involved a power of work from officials from both countries, both the United Kingdom

03:14and Australia owe all of them a debt of gratitude.

03:16And I'm sure on behalf of John and I, we are deeply thankful to them for their work, which

03:20has brought us to this day.

03:21Indeed, Richard, thank you.

03:25With the cold and wet outside and the Sheffield darts on the walls inside, I'm almost feeling

03:30at home here.

03:32But I was honoured last year to welcome you to my constituency in South Yorkshire, and it's

03:40a really proud moment for me to be here with you in your Corio constituency now, and together

03:48with you to sign this new AUKUS Treaty, the Geelong Treaty.

03:53It is a treaty for 50 years.

03:56It is a treaty that will support tens of thousands of jobs in both Australia and the UK.

04:03It is a treaty to build the most advanced, most powerful attack submarines either of our nations

04:12have ever had.

04:14It is a treaty that will fortify the Indo-Pacific.

04:17It will strengthen NATO.

04:20And we're the politicians signing it today, but this is a treaty that will define the relationship

04:26between our two nations and safeguard the securities of our country for our children and our children's

04:33to come.

04:34So this is an historic day, and Richard, it's a pleasure and a pride for me to do this with

04:40you.

04:41Thanks, John.

04:41Thank you all.

04:43All right.

04:44Now write your sign for the meeting.

04:45Okay.

04:48Better get a front.

04:48Yes.

04:53Thanks.

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