Anthony Albanese has issued yet another assurance Australia's nuclear submarine deal with the US and Britain will move forward after meeting his UK counterpart in London.
The touring prime minister said his Downing Street chat with Sir Keir Starmer was a chance to discuss the "strongly building" support for AUKUS between the two allies.
He refused to be drawn on the position of US President Donald Trump on the pact, which aims to provide Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines from the 2030s to counter Chinese ambitions in the Pacific.
Senior Pentagon policy official and AUKUS critic Elbridge Colby is currently undertaking a review of the agreement.
Asked if his meeting with Sir Keir gave him further confidence AUKUS would proceed, Mr Albanese said he had always been confident it would go ahead.
"Every meeting I've had and discussions I've had with people in the US administration have always been positive about AUKUS and about the role that it plays," he said.
Australia and Britain signed a treaty in July to bolster co-operation on the submarine pact over the next half-century.
Mr Albanese also told reporters he and Sir Keir had agreed to further advance dealings on critical minerals.
He praised the UK-Australia free trade agreement that came into effect in May 2023, saying "we're seeing exports to the United Kingdom increase across a range of products, particularly in food areas and agriculture".
The prime minister will spend his Saturday visiting with King Charles at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
It will be his fourth audience with the British monarch and follows Charles' visit to Australia in October.
Mr Albanese will then head to Liverpool on Sunday local time to address a Labour Party conference, underscoring his close relationship with the progressive movement in the UK.
At the gathering, the party decides its approach and settles policy disputes.
Meanwhile, a senior political analyst has told AAP progressive leaders met by Mr Albanese on his trip would do well to take their cues from his success in charting a course through uncertain political times.
The prime minister on Friday met with international leaders at the Global Progress Action summit, a gathering of progressive leaders and policy experts from more than 20 countries.
He was joined by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Iceland's Kristrun Frostadottir, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Sir Keir, whose plummeting political favourability starkly contrasts with the ascendant Australian leader.
Mr Albanese's emphatic election victory in May could be a path other leaders such as Sir Keir follow in the face of a rising tide of far-right movements and growing US isolationism, Monash University head of politics and international relations Zareh Ghazarian said.
"Issues such as service delivery, the state of the economy, seeking to address cost of living issues in the Australian context worked really effectively and I think they may provide a hint to the (UK) Labour Party about what sorts of issues they can focus on," he said.
"What are often seen to be more traditional policy areas still resonate with voters, so I think it's going to be a test over the coming months to see whether that continues or whether there is a genuine shift occurring in the appetites of voters in democratic systems."
with Reuters