The Future of AUKUS Under a Labour Government

AUKUS is a pioneering trilateral technology sharing partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Earlier this month, Defence Secretary, John Healey, referred to AUKUS as a “groundbreaking strategic defence and security partnership”, and the priority the Labour Government affords AUKUS as evidence of its “long-term commitment to support the security and stability of the Indo-pacific region and beyond”. The new Government has already finalised landmark export control reforms, enabling greater sharing of defence technology between the three countries, a move that will underpin £500 million in UK defence exports each year. The panel will examine next steps in the AUKUS partnership, looking at both ‘Pillar 1’ (submarine development), and ‘Pillar 2’ (advanced technologies), and focus on the role AUKUS will play in the Labour Government’s wider defence policy following the completion of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR). The panel will hear ministerial, diplomatic, and industrial perspectives, and identify AUKUS-related benefits for trade unions, business, academia, and other relevant stakeholders.

Panellists include Lord Coaker, Minister of State for Defence; The Hon Stephen Smith, Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom; Katherine Williams, Head of Government Relations UK & International Defence at Rolls Royce; the session will be chaired by Louise Jones MP.