Albanese to spruik AUKUS benefits in high-stakes G7 talks with Trump

Anthony Albanese is expected to spruik the benefits of the AUKUS pact and ‘put forward Australia’s interests respectfully’ in high-stakes talks with Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Canada.

The PM confirmed he and the US President had a “scheduled” meeting on Tuesday local time, adding he hoped it would be a “constructive discussion”.

The face-to-face comes after fear over the future of the $370bn defence pact following the Pentagon launched a review into the tri-lateral agreement formed in 2021.

After touching down in Seattle on Sunday morning, Mr Albanese said he looked forward to meeting Mr Trump for the first time as PM after only phone conversations during his first term.

“Obviously, there are issues that the US President is dealing with at the moment, but I expect that we will be able to have a constructive engagement,” he said, speaking from The Spheres, Amazon’s Seattle headquarters.

“I look forward to building on the very constructive phone conversations that we’ve had on the three occasions that we’ve had the opportunity to talk.

“I obviously will raise tariffs. We’ll raise, as well, AUKUS, and we will have a discussion, as two friends should.”

While he wouldn’t “make declarations” on negotiations, Mr Albanese said he would “put forward Australia’s interests respectfully”.

Although Mr Albanese has previously said he was “very confident” the AUKUS pact would continue following the Pentagon review, he added that he would spruik its “range of benefits” to the US when he meets with Mr Trump.

These included allowing the US to access fuel reserves in the Northern Territory, and the Henderson Defence Precinct in Perth, which will also allow US and UK submarines to be in the water for longer and support maintenance stops.

Opposition leader Sussan Ley on Sunday said the Coalition welcomed the confirmation that the PM had secured a meeting, one which she previously described as a “team Australia moment”.

“It’s in the interest of every Australian this meeting is a success and we want the Prime Minister to do well,” Ms Ley said.

“It’s important the PM gains a reassurance on AUKUS and protects Australia from tariffs.”

Mr Albanese also noted that Australia had already invested $500m in the first phase of AUKUS Pillar One, which will allow us to acquire a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.

His Foreign Minister Penny Wong also reiterated the benefit AUKUS is to the US on Sunday through Australia’s industrial base and submarine capacity.

“It is a partnership that benefits all three countries. It certainly does benefit Australia in terms of submarine capability, our industrial base, and jobs, but it also benefits the United States,” she told ABC Insiders.

“It benefits the United States through our investment. They can build more submarines and we can continue to maintain submarines. There are near-term and medium-term benefits to the United States as well.

“I’m sure the Prime Minister will be putting that if he has the opportunity to President Trump.”

The United States’ ongoing push for Australia to substantially increase its defence spending is likely to be a central topic discussed.

Pressure mounted at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore late last month when US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth urged Defence Minister Richard Marles to lift spending from 2 per cent to 3.5 per cent of GDP.

“There are a range of ways in which Australia’s contribution to the United States … particularly in AUKUS Pillar One, is very much in Australia’s national interest,” he said.

Speaking to the greater economic relationship between Australia and the US, Mr Albanese said it was “important to recognise” that Australia has a trade surplus with the US both in terms of goods and services.

As it stands, Australia has been slugged with a baseline tariff of 10 per cent, plus a 25 per cent levy on aluminium and 50 per cent tariff on steel imports.

“It is also in the interests of the United States for Australia to be treated appropriately. Tariffs across the board, of course, impose an increased cost on the purchases of those goods and services,” Mr Albanese said.

“I will enter into those discussions constructively - the discussions that I’ve previously had with President Trump were constructive, but those 10 per cent tariff supports have been the minimum … that have been applied across the board.”

Mr Albanese is also set to speak to business leaders from BHP Ventures, quantum computing leader Diraq, Trellis Health, Airwallex and Anthropic, where he will highlight the importance of “free and fair trade” arrangements between the two countries.

“We want to grow the economic relationship between our two countries, and I’m sure that when I have the opportunity to have discussions with President Trump, we will speak about the important economic relationship between our two countries, which is in the interests of both Australia and the United States,” he said on Saturday morning, local time.”