Opening remarks, meeting with UK Secretary of State for Defence John Healey, Sheffield, UK

Subject/s: UK-Australia defence ties; AUKUS. 

UK SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE, THE RT HON JOHN HEALEY: Deputy Prime Minister, Richard, I’m delighted you could join us in our constituency, my constituency of Wentworth. You've seen some of the operational aspects of our nuclear-powered submarines. We saw together the industrial side at Forgemasters. For me, this signifies a part of what is now a deeper, closer relationship between our two countries on defence; something that isn't just the operations we do together, the industry that is increasingly closer, but this is a very important strategic partnership that has deep roots and a very strong future. So I'm delighted to welcome you. It's been a really important opportunity for us to be able to discuss the details of our AUKUS relationship; Australia, the UK and the US. It's something that as a new government we are totally committed, that we will deliver and do that with you. 

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, RICHARD MARLES: Well, John, personally it is a thrill to actually be meeting with you as the new defence secretary. And congratulations. We were very keen to get here as soon as possible after the election of the new government, which says something about the significance to us of Britain and our relationship with Britain. It's great to be here, I’ve come to meet the local member and so thank you for hosting us here in your constituency. As a local member myself, I know how significant that is. But it feels particularly– I feel particularly honoured to be right here, in this beautiful setting. You're right in that we are seeing with AUKUS a contemporary strategic dimension being applied to what is the oldest relationship that Australia has. And our relationship with the United Kingdom today is as important as it has ever been, and that is a big thing to say given the history, the length and the closeness of the relationship that our two countries have had. We really look forward to working with you on delivering AUKUS, but not just that, on working with you as partners in the world. And you know, we have respected the role of British leadership, particularly, for example, in the war in Ukraine. We'll continue to look to you to seek guidance about how we can support that. And we look with excitement about your growing role in the Indo-Pacific and our neck of the woods, because there's a very significant role for you to play there. But this is the beginning, not the beginning of our relationship, because we've known each other for a while and one of the things is that, whilst you've been in the job for a week, you've been on the case of British national security and AUKUS for a long time, and we know that. But I'm really looking forward to our partnership as defence ministers.

UK SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE: Well, Richard, you and I both come here from the NATO Summit in Washington. That was a summit, which I think demonstrated how Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security are increasingly intertwined. And it was a summit also which the 32 nations and you, and others have stepped up our support for the Ukrainians in their battle to regain their country and force back Vladimir Putin. And I thank you on behalf of Britain and the Ukrainians for the support that you've given to our training, to their fight and their weaponry and we look forward to working more closely with you on that as well. So thank you.