US, Australia Pave Way to Security Partnership

(MENAFN) U.S. Secretaries of State and Defense, Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth, convened with their Australian counterparts on Monday for high-level discussions that are broadly anticipated to center on China.

The gathering with Rubio, Hegseth, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Defense Minister Richard Marles commemorates four decades of Australia–United States Foreign Affairs and Defense Ministerial consultations.

Rubio praised what he described as the "incredibly strong alliance" between Washington and Canberra, highlighting that Australia "is our only ally that has fought with us in every war" over the last half-century.

He emphasized the depth of the relationship, stating, "This is a very strong partnership. It's a strong alliance, and what we want to do is continue to build on it. We think we have a lot of momentum behind this alliance," adding, "We truly have no better friend."

The senior U.S. diplomat also commended the trilateral security arrangement involving the UK, noting that AUKUS "is full steam ahead," and referenced a "landmark" pact on critical minerals finalized in October.

Rubio stressed that "to build our economies and to prosper as economies, we have to have critical mineral supplies and supply chains that are reliable and that are diverse, and not overly invested in one place where they can be used as leverage against us or our partners of the world."

Marles underscored that Australia's "most important relationship" is with the U.S., portraying it as the "cornerstone of Australian strategic and foreign policy," according to an official transcript.

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