Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. Last Monday the Prime Minister had a three-hour meeting with President Trump in the White House. The meeting was warm. It was engaging and it was constructive. The two leaders spoke about our longstanding and extensive defence relationship. They spoke about the increasing investments by Australian superannuation funds in the United States in the context of a much broader economic relationship between our two nations. And they signed a landmark critical minerals framework agreement which commits our two countries not only to extracting and mining critical minerals and rare earths but also to their downstream processing so that we are actually creating refined product in America and Australia. That is so important to giving choice and competition to the global market.

This is an $8.5 billion agreement. To get things rolling, there is an immediate $200 million investment in the Alcoa-Sojitz gallium recovery project in Western Australia and a $100 million investment in the Arafura Nolans rare earths project in the Northern Territory. These are just two examples of the kind of sector we can build here in Australia, which is great for our industry and also so important for our national security. President Trump reaffirmed America's ongoing commitment to our AUKUS partnership, which matters to us and is very much in the strategic interests of the United States, and he acknowledged the government's investment in the Henderson Defence Precinct. Specifically, he committed to the provision of Virginia class submarines in the early 2030s.

From speaking with the Prime Minister, I know that he very much enjoyed the time he spent with President Trump. There was a connection and a warm rapport, which was evident for all to see. That is a very good thing, because to have that kind of personal relationship at the very highest level is something that is very much in Australia's national interest.