This week in Australian foreign affairs: Albanese reaffirms Australia’s support for Ukraine; Farrel appoints Paul Grimes as CEO of Austrade; Marles announces Australia’s AUKUS Submarine Industry Strategy and Submarine Supplier Qualification Pilot; and more. 

On 3 March, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reaffirmed Australia’s commitment to support Ukraine, calling it the right choice in national interest. “The brave people of Ukraine, led so extraordinarily by President Zelenskyy, are fighting not just for their national sovereignty and for their democracy. They are fighting for the international rule of law. And it is an easy choice that Australia has made.” Albanese also highlighted Australia’s $1.3 billion contribution to military support to Ukraine. 

Minister for Trade and Tourism and Special Minister of State, Don Farrell, has appointed Paul Grimes as incoming Chief Executive Officer at the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade). Currently serving as Chair of the NSW Net Zero Commission and Chair of the National Archives of Australia Advisory Council, Grimes has previously held senior positions across state, federal and territory governments.  

On March 4, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles addressed the presence of Chinese naval vessels near Perth’s coastlines, stating that Australia is closely watching their movement. “I think there is the broad comment that I make about an assertiveness of China […] Right now, we have two assets, HMAS Warramunga and HMAS Stuart, who are tailing it. And we’ve also using P-8s to overfly the task group. The point, I mean, obviously we want to watch very carefully to make sure they’re complying with international law, which, to be fair, they are. But we’re also watching because we want to understand exactly what this mission is doing, the kind of exercises they’re undertaking, what their configurations are actually getting into the detail of this.”

In a media release, Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong announced the Asian Australian Voices pilot program. According to Wong, by harnessing the diverse perspectives and expertise of Asian Australians, the program ensures all Australians are included in the national conversations on economic, security and diplomatic issues. “It will also ensure we are using our strengths to Australia’s advantage, building Australia’s Asia literacy and creating a pipeline of senior Asian-Australian representation in civic life.”

On 5 March, Marles announced the launch of Australia’s AUKUS Submarine Industry Strategy, aimed at strengthening Australia’s defence industry as part of the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine program announced earlier this year. The strategy is regarded as “an opportunity to build a future made in Australia, by Australians, delivering world‑leading maritime capability, advanced manufacturing, industry growth, well-paid and highly skilled jobs, and infrastructure for decades to come.”

Following this announcement, on 6 March, Marles launched the Australian Submarine Supplier Qualification Pilot. The program is expected to accelerate the integration of Australian suppliers and products into the United States submarine industrial base. “HII will identify and work with Australian small and medium-sized enterprises, including those not currently part of Australia’s submarine industrial base, which is critical to growing our sovereign defence industrial capability over the years and decades ahead. “

On the same day, Albanese emphasized Australia’s strong security relationship with the United States, as well as Australia’s independence on foreign policy. In response to the impending United States tariff on steel and aluminum exports, Albanese stated: “We’re continuing to engage with the US Administration. We think that tariffs are not in Australia’s interest or not in the United States’ interests.” When asked whether the shift in US security relationship with Ukraine has led to any re-evaluation of US as a reliable ally, Albanese reaffirmed that the US remains an important ally of Australia while emphasizing Australia’s independent foreign policy and its unchanged position on Russia: “Vladimir Putin as an authoritarian leader who leads a regime that has imperialistic designs not just on Ukraine, but on the region[…]They’re an authoritarian regime. The way that this war should stop tomorrow is for Russia to withdraw and to back off from its illegal and immoral invasion.” Regarding US’ call for Australia to increase defence spending to 3% of GDP, Albanese stated: “We determine our policy. And our defence policy is to increase our defence expenditure, that’s what we’re doing.”

Hebe Ren is the National Office Assisant at the Australian Institute of International Affairs and a Graduate of International Relations from the Australian National Univeristy. As a scholarship recipient to conduct labour market research during an exchange semester at the University of Zürich, her research interests extend to migration, refugee and forced migrations, and humanitarian issues.

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