00:00One that I've done, as in my time here in the last year, obviously the same is true for
00:04Secretary Hexth, and I want to welcome both the foreign minister and the deputy prime minister
00:10for defense for both joining us here today. This is an incredibly strong alliance.
00:15In fact, as we were discussing a few moments ago, it is our only ally that has fought with us in
00:19every war over the last, certainly over the last four or five decades, and we're very grateful to
00:26them for that, and this is a very strong partnership. It's a strong alliance, and what we want to do is
00:30continue to build on it. We think we have a lot of momentum behind this alliance coming off the visit
00:36with the prime minister here in October, which we also had a chance to participate in and then
00:41follow up events to it, and we felt very strongly after that that we have real momentum. We wanted
00:45to do this here before the end of the year to continue to build on that alliance and to continue
00:50to build on that momentum that came from that meeting and to work together on our shared priorities,
00:55and we have so many. We truly have no better friend. In addition to that strong alliance,
00:59we're also deeply committed to the Quad, the concept of, in conjunction with Japan and India,
01:05the building out of this Quad, which is something you'll see. In fact, it was my first meeting
01:09as Secretary of State. I had been confirmed, sworn in downstairs, and came right up on that elevator
01:15and into this room, and it was in this very room that I did my first event as Secretary of State
01:20with the Quad, and we look forward to, I think we've had at least three meetings this year,
01:25if I recall correctly, and we'll continue to build on that in the year to come. We look to do more of
01:29those. And so we have a lot of things we've worked together on at the direction of the President.
01:37AUKUS is full steam ahead, as he said, and I know the Department of War, Secretary Hexeth will discuss
01:43that further, has conducted a review, which it's a review about how we can expand this relationship,
01:49about how to build on it, so that it can be about many things. And I know we've also signed a landmark
01:55critical mineral framework agreement. This is something we share in common, not just with
01:59Australia, but with many of our allies around the world, the desire to diversify supply chains,
02:05and the belief that in order for us to be able to do anything, whether it's defend our countries,
02:09defend our allies, or defend each other, but also to build our economies and to prosper as economies.
02:15We have to have critical mineral supplies and supply chains that are reliable and that are
02:21diverse, and not overly invested in one place where they can be used as leverage against us or
02:27our partners of the world. And so this is something that you'll find the U.S. and Australia working
02:31very closely on, and it's at the cornerstone of everything we plan to do together in the months
02:36and years to come. So I want to welcome you to Washington. Thank you for joining us and doing
02:40and agreeing to doing it here. At the end of this year, I know you have many other obligations and
02:45places. You're going to be traveling quite extensively in the days to come as well, so we're very grateful
02:49that you were willing to come here and join us, and we look forward to reciprocating in the new year
02:53by visiting you in Australia, as I look forward to. And it's one of my... I actually have never been,
03:00and I need to go. And it's a very efficient trip because I can say I went to a country and a continent
03:06all at once, and so very rarely can you say that. So thank you for joining us here today. We're
03:12grateful and honored by your presence. Thank you very much, Secretary Rubio. Can I thank you,
03:18UN Secretary Higgseth, for hosting us in this extraordinary room, as you said, where we've had
03:24our first Quad meeting after you were sworn in. We're really, Richard and I are so happy to be here,
03:31so honored to participate in another AusMind meeting, and to build on the very successful meeting
03:38between the President and the Prime Minister, and including the historic Critical Minerals deal
03:44that they delivered. AusMind was established, that is the meeting, this meeting was established under
03:51President Ronald Reagan, and Prime Minister Bob Hawke. And in 1985, President Reagan spoke of our
03:58common defense of freedom from the First and Second World Wars, and said, all this has nurtured
04:03the bonds of friendship between our two peoples. Today, the United States and Australia as much
04:09as ever rely on each other. That remains true today, and as Secretary Rubio said, Australian
04:16soldiers have fought beside American troops in every major battle since World War I, and we
04:21continue to rely on each other. Not just our service men and women, whom we thank for their
04:26service, but all our people. And that's because the work we do together is indispensable to a
04:31peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific, and this is something Secretary Rubio has spoken
04:37so eloquently about. The United States is our principal ally and our principal strategic partner,
04:45and together we navigate volatility, we invest in each other, we invest in the region's security,
04:51and we boost each other's prosperity, whether that's through investment in critical minerals,
04:56critical technology, Australian superannuation, or of course AUKUS. Australia's approach to the
05:02Alliance has always been to ensure, work to ensure it delivers concrete benefits for our
05:08security and prosperity, and for that of the United States. And AUKUS is central to that,
05:12a win for Australia, a win for the US, and a win for the United Kingdom. And we welcome President Trump's
05:18statement, we are full steam ahead. We are full steam ahead. So we look forward very much to
05:25these consultations today, very happy to be here in Washington. We'd also, Secretary Rubio,
05:30be very honored to welcome you to Australia when you are next, when you are able to come. So thank
05:35you again for hosting us. We look forward to the discussions.
05:38Secretary Rubio, thank you for hosting us. Deputy Prime Minister Marles, we've seen each other often,
05:47and we will continue to inform Minister Wong. Thank you for being here. It was mentioned,
05:52this is the 40th year of Ausma, 1985, and it's not lost on any of us the depth of the friendship our two countries
05:59have had, and our militaries have had for quite some time. And it was Ronald Reagan who, just like
06:04the Trump administration, put a practical application to that partnership 40 years ago by ensuring that
06:10our leaders are meeting together regularly to stay on track in rowing in the same direction,
06:16because we share the same values, the same neighborhood, both Pacific nations. And our leadership
06:23is coming together on a regular basis as a reflection of that. So on the defense side,
06:26we're working on force posture, we're working on defense industrial cooperation,
06:31first on force posture initiatives. We're upgrading infrastructure on air bases in Queensland
06:36and the Northern Territory that allows for additional U.S. bomber rotations. We're upgrading logistics
06:41and infrastructure in Darwin, so more U.S. Marines can do rotational deployments and pre-positioning
06:48MV-22 Ospreys. This establishes new and resilient logistics networks across Australia.
06:54We're deepening our cooperation on the defense industrial base, cooperation on guided weapons
06:59production and lethal capabilities, two-year roadmaps on Australia's guided weapons and explosive
07:04ordinance enterprise, groundbreaking cooperative actions on things like Gimler's guided missile
07:11launch rocket systems and precision strike missiles. And we're working toward co-production and
07:15co-sustainment of hypersonic attack cruise missiles, co-sustainment air-to-air missiles,
07:22cooperative programs across the board, including Mark 54 torpedoes. We're also building on the
07:28historic framework and critical minerals cooperation that's been mentioned already by President Trump
07:34and Prime Minister Albanese signed in October. Critical minerals and rare earths are a huge part
07:40of ensuring both countries can operate the way we need to in that region around the world. And finally,
07:45as we move, as was mentioned, full steam ahead on AUKUS, we applaud Australia's upcoming delivery of
07:51an additional $1 billion to help expand U.S. submarine production capacity. We're strengthening AUKUS so
07:58that it works for America, for Australia, and for the UK. There's a lot we're going to do together in the months
08:04ahead. This meeting will be, as was laid out by President Trump, as I mentioned at Reagan just a couple days ago,
08:11these are practical, realistic ways that our two countries can come together to ensure that we provide
08:17peace through strength for both of our nations. The stronger we are together, the more we can deter the kinds
08:23of conflicts neither of us want to see, and this is a deepening of that partnership. I'm grateful to be here.
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