Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles and Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong will today welcome the UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs the Rt Hon David Lammy MP and Secretary of State for Defence the Rt Hon John Healey MP to Sydney for Australia-United Kingdom Ministerial Consultations (AUKMIN).
Australia and the United Kingdom have a deep and enduring partnership, grounded in our shared history, values and interests.
This will be the second AUKMIN since the election of the Starmer Government and an important opportunity to deepen our cooperation in key areas of our partnership.
AUKMIN 2025 will bring renewed ambition to our diplomatic and defence cooperation to address emerging challenges and to shape our shared future together, including in the Indo-Pacific.
On Sunday, the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister will join their counterparts in Darwin to see this cooperation firsthand, with the deployment of a United Kingdom Carrier Strike Group to Australia as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025.
Quotes attributable to Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles MP:
"The United Kingdom is a critical partner for Australia. We continue to work closely together, including through the AUKUS partnership, to address shared strategic challenges in an increasingly complex and uncertain world.
"We are seeing a very real example of how this works, with the first visit by a United Kingdom Carrier Strike Group to Australia since 1997.
"I look forward to discussions in the coming days to advance our enduring relationship."
Quotes attributable to Minister for Foreign Affairs Senator Penny Wong:
"Australia and the United Kingdom are longstanding friends and partners. In these uncertain times, we are strengthening and modernising our relationship to advance our shared interests.
"We take the world as it is - but together, we are working to shape it for the better.
"From building defence capability and boosting economic resilience, to standing up for human rights, advancing gender equality, and defending the international rules and institutions that protect us all."
