Australia the US and UK to announce landmark new defence pact

Australia, the United States and Britain will unveil a landmark new security pact to share advanced technologies, including nuclear submarine technology, in a major international announcement on Thursday morning.

As part of the pact, to be known as AUUKUS, the US would help Australia develop a nuclear submarine capability, which could result in Australia dumping its $90 billion submarine deal with France, sources confirmed.

(From L-R) Scott Morrison, Joe Biden and Boris Johnson will unveil a new defence pact on Thursday morning.

The working group will enable the three countries to share information in areas including long-range strike capabilities, artificial intelligence and underwater systems in a thinly veiled bid to counter China, Politico reported, citing a White House official and a congressional staffer.

The announcement will be made at 7am AEST, when the White House said Biden would deliver “brief remarks about a national security initiative”.

In Australia, federal cabinet ministers were called to a top-secret meeting in Canberra on Wednesday ahead of the announcement. Some members of cabinet were granted border exemptions to urgently fly to Canberra for the hastily arranged meeting, sources familiar with the development said.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton and Foreign Minister Marise Payne, who are in Washington for a series of meetings over the next two days, were said to have joined Wednesday's meeting via a secure connection.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton is in Washington for a series of meetings.Credit:Getty

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese and three other senior members of his frontbench were also given the rare opportunity to be briefed on the highly sensitive matter.

Several Coalition MPs told this masthead they had been ordered at short-notice to dial into a rare conference call for 9.30am on Thursday, but none were aware of the reason for the briefing.

Australian and foreign diplomats will also be briefed on the development on Thursday.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will travel to Washington next week for a meeting of the Quad alliance which includes the US, India Japan and Australia. Mr Morrison will have his first in-person one-on-one meeting with Mr Biden during the trip.

Mr Dutton and Senator Payne are to meet face-to-face with their US counterparts Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Measures to counter China’s trade strikes and other “grey zone” attacks, as well as an Australian request to be granted greater access to US missile technology, will be on the agenda in the meetings.

Anthony Galloway is foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via Twitter or email.Rob Harris is the national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based at Parliament House in CanberraConnect via email.

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