AUSTRALIA – FOREIGN RELATIONS – UNITED STATES

Trump to back vital AUKUS, says Bannon

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 2 : 7-Feb-24

Steve Bannon headed the 2016 election campaign of former US president Donald Trump, and subsequently served as the White House’s chief strategist. Bannon says Trump regards Australia as a vital ally of the US, and he is likely to support the AUKUS deal to sell nuclear-powered submarines to Australia if he wins the 2024 election. Nikki Haley, the other remaining contender for the Republican nomination, also intends to support AUKUS and the transfer of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia if she becomes president.

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REPUBLICAN PARTY (UNITED STATES)

Australia to streamline information sharing with US to seal subs deal

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Original article by Farrah Tomazin
The Age – Page: Online : 25-Oct-23

The federal government will legislate changes to the nation’s export control laws as part of its deal to acquire nuclear-powered submarines via the AUKUS alliance. The proposed reforms will make it easier for Australia to share sensitive information and technology with its partners in the alliance; it is also hoped that they will help ease the concerns of some US Congress members about providing Australia with classified information regarding the US nuclear program. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says US politicians from all sides understand the value of AUKUS and want "to get it right".

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

PM to back Biden on AUKUS, Israel and Ukraine

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 23-Oct-23

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese flew to Washington on Sunday for an official state visit and dinner at the White House with US President Joe Biden. Albanese says he will lobby the US Congress to pass Biden’s $105 billion military aid bill, which includes $3.4 billion to boost US submarine production to help promised sales to Australia as part of the AUKUS treaty; the bill also will provide aid for Israel and Ukraine. Albanese has also confirmed that he will visit China to meet President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang in Beijing and attend the Shanghai International Import Expo in early November.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

US pursuit of Assange may damage alliance

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 5 : 22-Sep-23

Greens senators David Shoebridge and Peter Whish-Wilson are part of a group of Australian politicians in Washington trying to persuade the US government to drop its espionage charges against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Shoebridge claims that an "an overwhelming part of the Australian public" want Assange to be allowed to return to Australia from the UK, where he has been in prison since being removed from the Ecuadorean embassy in London in April 2019, with Shoebridge saying the alliance between Australia and the US will be "damaged" if the US does not drop the charges against Assange.

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WIKILEAKS, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

US has ‘no closer ally than Australia’, says Biden after AUKUS pact

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Original article by Patrick Wintour
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 22-Sep-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and US President Joe Biden have held their first official in-person meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Biden praised Australia ahead of the meeting, stating that the US has no "closer or more reliable ally". Biden had earlier addressed the general assembly, but his speech did not directly mention the new AUKUS security alliance between Australia, the UK and the US. Meanwhile, former prime minister Kevin Rudd has criticised Morrison’s handling of the cancelled submarines contract, particularly his failure to inform the French government that the deal would be dropped in favour of nuclear-powered subs under the new alliance.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, UNITED NATIONS. GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Australia warned it could be isolated over climate inaction after Joe Biden victory

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Original article by Adam Morton
The Guardian – Page: Online : 9-Nov-20

President-elect Joe Biden has set a net zero emissions for the US of no later than 2050, while he has committed to rejoining the Paris climate agreement. Howard Bamsey, Australia’s former special envoy on climate change, suspects the topic will come up in Biden’s first or second conversation with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, while former Australian diplomat to the UN Dean Bialek says Australia risks being further isolated as a "climate laggard" if it adheres to its current inaction.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Scott Morrison congratulates Joe Biden on US election win and flags Australian visit in 2021

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Original article by Katharine Murphy
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 9-Nov-20

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison says his government looks forward to working with president-elect Joe Biden and his administration in addressing issues such as COVID-19 and climate change. Morrison adds that his government will continue to work with the Trump administration until Biden’s inauguration on 20 January, noting that the Australia-US alliance has become stronger under Trump. Morrison also says that he will invite Biden to visit Australia to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the ANZUS treaty in 2021.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Joint strategy with US on rare earths

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 7 : 11-Oct-19

Resources Minister Matt Canavan has indicated that a joint strategy with the US regarding critical minerals such as rare earths will be finalised in coming weeks. He has stressed the need for co-operation between governments to ensure that new rare earths projects go ahead. US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who is visiting Australia, has emphasised the importance of processing rather than merely mining rare earths. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham says the federal government wants processing of critical minerals to be undertaken in Australia.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF COMMERCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LYNAS CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX LYC

Canavan seeks US funds to help develop rare earths resources

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 10-Oct-19

Resources Minister Matt Canavan has held talks with US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross regarding co-operation in the development of critical minerals projects, including rare earths. Amongst other things, the federal government is looking at options such as providing funding for early-stage projects via Export Finance Australia and the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility. China is the world’s major producer of rare earths, accounting for about 80 per cent of global supply.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF COMMERCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, LYNAS CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX LYC, ARAFURA RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX ARU, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY. UNITED STATES STUDIES CENTRE

US can have Downer but not the cables: Morrison

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 3-Oct-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison say the federal government will co-operate with any request from the US to interview Alexander Downer as part of an investigation into the Mueller probe into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election campaign. Downer was Australia’s high commissioner to the UK in 2016, when he was told by a former Trump adviser that Russia had access to emails that could damage rival presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. However, Morrison has ruled out giving the US access to classified diplomatic cables associated with the meeting.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT