Outgoing British High Commissioner Vicki Treadell warns against alternative pathway to AUKUS

The longest serving British High Commissioner to Australia has warned against pursuing an alternative pathway to AUKUS, saying it would sacrifice four years of momentum.

Australian former defence force chief Chris Barrie and retired rear admiral Peter Briggs have joined a growing chorus of senior military voices calling on Australia to look at other options — including French submarines — amid fears the US is now an unreliable ally under Donald Trump.

Those fears were heightened when Mr Trump did not exempt Australia from steel and aluminium tariffs and as experts worry the US will keep its promised Virginia-class submarines for itself as the US shipbuilding industry struggles with domestic demand.

The AUKUS deal would see Australia receive three Virginia-class subs from the US in the early 2030s, before the UK delivers submarines later in the decade.

In an interview with The West Australian this week, commissioner Vicki Treadell rejected the view of the AUKUS pessimists.

“You can be assured there are always people who will talk things down,” said Ms Treadell, who took up the posting in 2019 and is retiring next month.

The commissioner insisted the AUKUS agreement would not “fall apart” even if the US reneged on its Virginia-class commitment.

“Britain will have its next generation nuclear hard submarine, regardless of Virginia, and Australia is going to have the same submarine as us, so it doesn’t fall apart with that,” she said.

“We’re doing it as a co-build. Manufacturing will transfer to Australia, and that will create jobs, a new industrial base for this country.

“We are preparing to expand our production capability. We have Australians on our platforms, already in our submarines, learning how we run them.

“Of course, these huge defence projects are complicated. A nuclear-powered submarine is a more complex design than a space rocket.

“Were there to be another global pandemic, there might be a slowdown. But absent of that, we have a critical path towards 2040, with the milestones. It’s incumbent on all of us to hit those milestones in the time-frame that we need to.”

Ms Treadell said turning to the French would mean Australia would “have to start all over again”.

“You would lose the momentum of three, four years of AUKUS work,” she said.

Ms Treadell insisted that the relationship between the UK and Australia was “has never been stronger” — including the recent reestablishment of a British consulate in Perth.

And with the UK’s attention on Ukraine and Europe, the outgoing diplomat insisted the Indo Pacific was an “equal priority”.

“European security is as much about making sure that there is security in the Indo Pacific as well. The reason being, if Ukraine fails, what lesson does it teach other large powers?”

Former British ambassador to NATO Sarah MacIntosh is set to succeed Ms Treadell.