TRANSCRIPT
The confirmation of a new Speaker of the House in the United States Congress has sparked hopes a landmark deal to sell U-S nuclear-powered submarines to Australia can finally be approved.
As US President Joe Biden and visiting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese were holding a press conference from the White House Rose, Republican senator Mike Johnson was voted in as Speaker.
It ended a weeks-long stalemate in Congress, freezing US government decision-making and triggering concerns the submarine deal may be delayed or opposed.
President Biden says he's confident about the deal.
"Australia is making a significant, significant investment in the United States and its ability to produce submarines as part of this deal. And more importantly, it's important that Congress move quickly. And the fact is that I'm confident that we can get this done. ... So the question is not if, but when. And I and Jojo told us that I think if we got a new speaker, likely have a new speaker. I hope that's true because we have to get moving. We have to get moving. So I'm I am confident that we're going to be able to get the money for AUKUS because it's overwhelmingly in our interest."
US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy has told SBS News she is also confident the legislation will pass.
["There's strong bipartisan support in Congress for this legislation for the AUKUS arrangement. So I am talking to people I'm answering any questions that I can, but this is something that people have been working on hard and for a long time, and certainly, the administration just put forward a substantial amount of money to invest in our industrial base. And so their legislation proposals are on The Hill, so hopefully, Congress will act and put this through. And I think there's a lot of confidence that they will."
Mr Albanese's state visit is intended to deepen an alliance that's increasingly viewed as a critical counterweight to China's influence in the Pacific.
"That is a fact we are living with, the relationship with China is one where the principle I bring to it is we cooperate where we can, disagree where we must but engage in our national interest. It is in Australia's interest, and China's interest, in fact it is a global interest for us to have a relationship where there is dialogue."
To that end Mr Albanese is shortly heading to China where he will meet President Xi Jinping.
"Through dialogue comes understanding and comes a diffusion of tension. We want a peaceful and secure region, but we want one as well that is based upon the rule of law and where national sovereignty, including issues such as the South China Sea and the right of passage in that important waterway there, the East China Sea, the Taiwan Straits is respected, and that is Australia's position. We cooperate very much with the with the United States on those matters and on others."
The Prime Minister's visit is the ninth and most high-profile meeting between the two leaders, reflecting their work toward closer ties on climate change, technology and national security.
The two leaders say they will work together on supporting economic development among Pacific island nations, a key arena as the US seeks the upper hand in the region.
They plan to invest in building maritime infrastructure and laying undersea cables to strengthen internet connectivity, something Ambassador Kennedy touched on.
"Well, I think one of the big themes of this entire visit is really the shared innovation of the United States and Australia. So a couple of days ago, the Prime Minister announced a huge AI initiative. And today by Microsoft in Australia and today the Google subsea cable, which is going to provide, as you said, digital connectivity to many of the Pacific island nations."
Ms Kennedy explains the project's significance.
"So it will allow them to have the same kind of communications and speed and ease that we all have in in larger countries and I think we'll connect to them, connect us, connect them with us and with each other, much faster, much more reliably and resilient so that they won't be cut off if there's a natural disaster or other kind of event that that they now are quite vulnerable to. So it's really significant partnership between the US and Australia."
President Biden and Prime Minister Albanese also want to have U-S companies launch space missions from Australia, and Microsoft has announced it would spend A$4.7 billion [[$US3 billion]] on cybersecurity, cloud computing and artificial intelligence there.
The Australian visit to the White House began with a military band playing and several thousand guests watching from the South Lawn.
Both leaders welcomed the strength of the relationship between the two countries, and looked to the future.
"The friendship between Australia and the United States was forged in hard times. We have served and sacrificed together in the cause of peace. We've helped each other through natural disasters. Australians and Americans share a rich history. But we always have our eye on the future. We're united by our determination to overcome the challenges that we face. And we share an ambition to seize those opportunities which lie ahead of us."
