Richard Marles says Australia is "working through" the AUKUS review. (Reuters: Nathan Howard)
In short:
Richard Marles says the government has received the Pentagon's much-anticipated review into the $368 billion AUKUS submarine pact, declaring Washington is "fully supportive" of the deal.
Initial fears the probe would be sharply critical were eased during the US President Donald Trump's first face-to-face meeting with Anthony Albanese in October.
However, the Trump administration has also foreshadowed possible refinements to the pact.
Richard Marles says the government has received the Pentagon's much-anticipated review into the $368 billion AUKUS submarine pact, declaring Washington is "fully supportive" of the deal.
It is understood the review, led by senior US defence official and previous critic of the pact Elbridge Colby, was handed to the government in recent days.
Its handover comes ahead of crucial talks between Mr Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong and their counterparts Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio in Washington next week for the first annual Australia-US Ministerial (AUSMIN) meeting since Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Speaking on Thursday, Mr Marles declined to detail the contents of the review or to confirm when it would be made public by Washington, saying Canberra was still working through its findings.
But the defence minister and acting prime minister moved to quell concerns the assessment might derail the ambitious nuclear-powered submarine program.
"We are in receipt of the AUKUS review. We're working through the AUKUS review and we very much thank the United States for providing it to us … what's important here is the United States is completely supportive of AUKUS as the president of the United States made clear," he said.
Refinements foreshadowed
Initial fears the probe would be sharply critical were eased during the US president's first face-to-face meeting with Anthony Albanese in October, when he declared the project was moving "full steam ahead."
However, the Trump administration has also foreshadowed possible refinements to the pact.
US Navy Secretary John Phelan was at the same meeting and signalled the Pentagon review could recommend adjustments to clarify elements of the original agreement.
"What we're really trying to do take this framework and improve it for all three parties, clarify some of the ambiguity that was in the prior agreement," he said.
Mr Colby has previously warned the United States faces significant constraints in submarine production, describing nuclear-powered boats as a scarce and critical commodity at a time when US shipyards are struggling to meet domestic demand.
Shadow Home Affairs Minister Jonno Duniam told Afternoon Briefing the deal was an important one.
"If it's got the green light from the US, that's a good thing. We want to see the detail and make sure things are being handled in the right way and again in the national interest," he said.
The report's delivery comes after Australia announced on Monday that it would reorganise its defence bureaucracy, forming a Defence Delivery Agency that reports directly to ministers, to improve defence spending and speed up delivery of projects.