If approved,the proposal,which was given the green light by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is expected to be debated more broadly next week,will help facilitate the transfer of Virginia-class ships under the AUKUS agreement and strengthen the submarine industrial base of the three nations involved.
Australia’s ambassador to the US,Kevin Rudd,said it would also allow America to share its highly sensitive information and technology secrets by granting Australia a “national exemption” to get through the maze of regulations and export control laws that govern the agreement. Under the current draft,that exemption would last 20 years before it would need to be reviewed by Congress.
“That’s a necessary precondition for our country’s defence,science and technology base to form a seamless partnership with our American and British friends,” the former prime minister said as he toured shipyards in Virginia with local senator Tim Kaine and Navy Under Secretary Erik Raven.
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“The challenges we face today can’t allow us to just do business as usual.”
Unveiled in March by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese,US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak,AUKUS represents the biggest leap in Australia’s defence capability in history.
Under the plan Australia will buy at least three Virginia-class submarines from the US while building capacity to develop its own locally made nuclear-powered subs,sometime in the 2040s.