The defence minister, Richard Marles, has rejected suggestions the Biden
administration is “backsliding” on its commitment to provide nuclear submarines
under the Aukus deal.
The US has announced it will halve the number of submarines it will build next year,
throwing the Australia end of the agreement into doubt. The Pentagon budget draft
request includes construction of just one Virginia-class nuclear submarine for 2025.
Marles has been speaking about this to the ABC: