Australia lists critical technologies, discloses future AUKUS and Quad co-operation

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has disclosed further details of future cooperation to be undertaken by the AUKUS partnership and the Quad, while releasing a blueprint for critical technologies with the capacity to enhance or pose risk to Australia's national interest.

Speaking online on 16 November to a security conference organised by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute thinktank, Morrison said AUKUS is about much more than its role in assisting Australia to acquire nuclear submarines.

AUKUS will see the three partners – Australia, the UK, and US promote “deeper information sharing; foster greater integration of security and defence-related science, technology, industrial bases and supply chains; and strengthen our cooperation in advanced and critical technologies and capabilities” said Morrison.

He said trilateral efforts will enhance joint capabilities and interoperability, with an initial focus on cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence (AI), quantum technologies, and additional undersea capabilities.

AUKUS officials are to report with a work plan within 90 days of the partnership's mid-September launch. The plan will involve exchanges of information, personnel, and capabilities; collaboration on capability development, acquisitions, and technology; and developing complementary defence science and industrial bases.

Australia is also deepening its technological relationships with its Quad partners India, Japan, and the US to enhance the resilience of Indo-Pacific supply chains and foster an accessible and secure technology ecosystem, said Morrison.

He said efforts will be strengthened across technical standards, with attention on communications and AI; 5G deployment and diversification; and detailed horizonscanning and mapping, with a focus on supply-chain security for semiconductors and their components.

Opportunities for cooperation in biotechnologies and cyber are also being explored, said Morrison.