Richard Marles, US Vice President JD Vance, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “met” at the White House on Tuesday. Photo: Kym Smith via ADF.
So did Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles have a meeting with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, or not?
That’s the question on the lips of many in Defence and the media after MINDEF’s whirlwind visit to Washington DC earlier this week.
On 24 August, Mr Marles’ office advised he would travel to the US this week where he would “meet with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and other senior Administration officials”, as well as “participate in several defence industry engagements”.
“I was pleased to speak with Secretary Hegseth at the Shangri La Dialogue in May, and welcome the opportunity in Washington to build on our valuable discussions of shared defence and security matters,” he said in the release.
“Given the shared challenges we face in our region, I look forward to reaffirming our commitment to the Alliance and advancing our strong partnership.”
On Wednesday Defence released a number of images of Mr Marles shaking hands with Mr Hegseth as well as Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
But doubt has been cast as to whether Mr Marles did actually have a meeting with his US counterpart or whether the two crossed paths at the White House on Tuesday.
Despite Mr Marles’ initial release and the release of the images, the Pentagon initially denied the two had a meeting, saying instead it was a happenstance encounter.
“We can confirm there was not a meeting. It was a happenstance encounter,” a Pentagon official stated. This came after a planned press conference with Mr Marles had been cancelled.
When asked about what has been described as a “snub”, Opposition Finance spokesman James Paterson offered a surprisingly pragmatic response.
“It appears, from what I’ve seen in the open-source reporting, that it was a very senior…set of Americans that he met with while he was there,” he said.
“He met the Vice President, he met the Secretary of State, he’s met a senior White House official Stephen Miller, and this had some kind of pull aside with Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“That’s the kind of relationship we aspire to have with the United States. Very senior access in Washington, DC,” he added.
“What I’m far more concerned about is that we’re now 290 odd days on from President Trump being elected, and the Prime Minister still hasn’t had that meeting with him…I think it’s a serious matter of our most important bilateral security relationship.”
Shadow Defence Minister Angus Taylor wasn’t so conciliatory, calling on the government to “come clean” on what happened.
“This raises serious concerns about the transparency and credibility of the Albanese government’s handling of our most important alliance,” he said.
But on Wednesday afternoon US time, the Pentagon walked-back its earlier statement and clarified that Mr Marles and Hegseth had indeed met at the White House.
In a statement, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said: “Secretary Hegseth welcomed the opportunity to meet in person with Deputy Prime Minister Marles for the third time this year.
“Their meeting at the White House on Tuesday was coordinated in advance.”
Mr Marles was no doubt seeking assurances from the US that it will honour its agreement to provide Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia from 2032 under the AUKUS Pillar I construct, despite an ongoing Pentagon review into the deal which many observers suggest is in jeopardy because of ongoing shortfalls in US submarine production.
Mr Paterson said he didn’t want to “overdramatise” the issue,
“The Deputy Prime Minister has had extensive dealings with Secretary Hegseth in the past,” he said.
“And he was in Washington DC, meeting with the Vice President and the Secretary of State. So, yes, of course, we want substantial engagement with the Defence Department, and it is particularly important in the context of the AUKUS review, but I’m not concerned based on these current reports.”
It is understood Australian embassy and defence officials had trouble locking in a time for Mr Marles to meet with Mr Hegseth prior to the visit, with at least one well-placed observer suggesting that was a reflection of the US administration’s indifference towards many of its international relationships, including that with Australia.
Others have suggested Kevin Rudd as Australia’s Ambassador to the US is finding it difficult to gain traction with the Trump administration, perhaps because of his previous damning comments about the controversial US president.
Mr Marles also hosted an industry group comprising senior officials from companies such as RTX, Silentium, Northrop Grumman, L3Harris and others while in Washington DC.
