The Prime Minister met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
in San Diego today (12 March 2023), ahead of their trilateral
meeting with President Biden to discuss the next phase of
the AUKUS nuclear submarine partnership.
The Prime Minister and Prime Minister 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. The Prime Minister
outlined the conclusions of the UK’s updated national security
and foreign policy strategy, which will be published on Monday.
The Prime Minister updated on his recent meetings with President
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 CPTPP.
They also welcomed the friendly sporting rivalry between our two
nations, and the Prime Minister 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.
