PRESS RELEASE : Rishi Sunak meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese [March 2023]
The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 13 March 2023.
The Prime Minister met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in San Diego today (12 March 2023), ahead of their trilateral meeting with President Biden to discuss the next phase of the AUKUS nuclear submarine partnership.
The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Albanese agreed on the great significance of the AUKUS partnership – an unprecedented endeavour which will protect our people and support our defence industrial bases for generations to come. They agreed that with this partnership they are investing in not just our capabilities but our most important relationships.
The leaders welcomed the flourishing bilateral partnership between the UK and Australia which was going from strength to strength. They discussed further cooperation in defence and issues of shared concern, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and security in the Indo-Pacific region. The Prime Minister outlined the conclusions of the UK’s updated national security and foreign policy strategy, which will be published on Monday.
The Prime Minister updated on his recent meetings with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv and London and the leaders agreed on the importance of keeping up the staunch and unified international support for Ukraine. They agreed on the importance of the Ukraine training mission which UK and Australian troops were delivering with other partners in the UK. Separately, both leaders also agreed on the importance of both Sweden’s and Finland’s accession to NATO.
The leaders noted exciting opportunities to grow trade, investment and cultural links between the UK and Australia even further this year, as the UK ratifies the UK-Australia trade deal and continues to pursue accession to the CPTPP.
They also welcomed the friendly sporting rivalry between our two nations, and the Prime Minister said he looked forward to hopefully seeing England’s Lionesses lifting the football world cup, being hosted by Australia and New Zealand later this year.
