‘Time to wake up’: Turnbull, opposition seize on Trump’s AUKUS review

The review was first reported on Wednesday (Thursday AEST) by The Financial Times, which said it would be headed by defence undersecretary Elbridge Colby and take about 30 days.

“The department is reviewing AUKUS as part of ensuring that this initiative of the previous administration is aligned with the president’s America First agenda,” a US defence official confirmed to this masthead.

“As [Defence] Secretary [Pete] Hegseth has made clear, this means ensuring the highest readiness of our service members, that allies step up fully to do their part for collective defence, and that the defence industrial base is meeting our needs.”

A separate US government official said: “The Trump administration is regularly reviewing foreign agreements to ensure they align with the American people’s interests, especially those initiated under the failed Biden foreign policy agenda.”

Taylor warned that Australia would “pay a heavy price” if AUKUS fell over as he pushed the Albanese government to escalate its defence spending to be closer in line with American asks.

“The Coalition stands ready to work with Labor to make sure that AUKUS is a success. It needs to be strong and it needs to be effective, but bipartisanship will not be a shield for inaction,” he said.

Critics made the opposite case. Keating said the review gave Australia an opportunity to forge a new path on national security and accused the Labor government of avoiding its own review “for fear of being seen as dodgy on the alliance”.

“AUKUS will be shown for it always has been: a deal hurriedly scribbled on the back of an envelope by Scott Morrison, along with the vacuous British blowhard Boris Johnson and the confused president, Joe Biden,” he said in a statement.

“The usual American apologists are already out in the press today insisting that the prime minister leaves his meeting with Trump on the weekend with a guarantee that AUKUS survives. It is an impossible ask.”

Turnbull also questioned why Australia had not reviewed the scheme. “The UK is conducting a review of AUKUS. The US … is conducting a review of AUKUS,” he said on X. “But Australia, which has the most at stake, has no review. Our parliament to date has been the least curious and least informed. Time to wake up?”

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Marles said that Labor’s broad defence strategic review, commissioned when it came to government, had sufficiently probed the AUKUS deal as he told critics “to take a deep breath”.

Morrison said the original case for AUKUS had been built on convincing the US and UK defence institutions – including in the first Trump administration – of the pact’s technical merit, sovereign capability and shared security interests.

“It has enjoyed bipartisan and institutional support in both Washington and London from the outset. That foundation matters and was important to secure,” he said. “Now is the time for Australia to make the case again. We have a good case to make in both our own interests and those of our AUKUS partners, especially in the US.”

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer last month declared the AUKUS defence pact the centrepiece of his government’s national security strategy, and a UK government spokesperson on Thursday said AUKUS was “one of the most strategically important partnerships in decades”.

“It is understandable that a new administration would want to review its approach to such a major partnership, just as the UK did last year,” they said. “The UK will continue to work closely with the US and Australia at all levels to maximise the benefits and opportunities which AUKUS presents for our three nations.”

Australian government sources, who downplayed the news, said the government learnt about the review before Marles met US defence secretary Pete Hegseth at the Shangri-La Dialogue at the end of last month.

One MP pointed out the US review was instigated by Colby, who has been heavily focused on AUKUS, but said others high up in the administration did not share his scepticism.

Colby has previously called himself an AUKUS sceptic and last year said it would be “crazy” if the arrangement resulted in nuclear-powered submarines going to the wrong places at the wrong time. Of particular concern is the US’ lagging rate of submarine production and failure to meet its own needs. As part of the AUKUS deal, the president of the day can refuse to release a boat to Australia if it is required for American defence priorities.

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However, Colby expressed more optimism about AUKUS at his confirmation hearing earlier this year, saying he wanted to remove red tape and barriers to submarine production so that the partnership could be expedited.

Under the first pillar of the pact, Australia would purchase three to five nuclear-powered submarines from the US, starting in the 2030s, and build more through a joint initiative with the US and UK. Under the second pillar, the three nations would collaborate on advanced defence technologies.