Secretary of War Pete Hegseth hosted Australia’s deputy prime minister and defense minister, Richard Marles, at the Pentagon on Sept. 2 to mark the 75th anniversary of the ANZUS alliance and discuss deterrence in the Pacific.
The ANZUS Treaty, signed Sept. 1, 1951, is a security pact among Australia, New Zealand and the United States. For the past four decades it has functioned mainly as bilateral cooperation between the United States and Australia, and separately between Australia and New Zealand.
Hegseth noted that he and Marles have met in person several times over the past year. “I think [it’s] a reflection of the fitting partnership at a personal level between our administrations, between our countries, between our militaries [and] between our defense industrial bases that goes … all the way back 75 years,” Hegseth told Marles.
“It’s great to be here again. … We’re meeting [near] the 75th anniversary of the formal alliance between Australia and the United States, and that’s been an alliance which has been the cornerstone of our foreign policy [and] our strategic policy over that period of time,” Marles told Hegseth.
Secretary of State Dean Acheson signs the Tripartite Security Treaty between the U.S., Australia and New Zealand in San Francisco, Sept. 1, 1951. © Harry S. Truman Library and Museum
Hegseth stressed that capable allies should invest in their own defense and that U.S. and Australian strategies are closely aligned. “We share a common [understanding] of the complex threat picture in the world today and the need for allies to, both plan together but also ensure our capabilities match and are complementary — if, and when, [military conflict] was to have to take place,” Hegseth said.
Marles said the strategic threat is growing rather than receding. “And, in that context, the alliance that we have and the partnership that we have — [not just] at a personal level, but very much between our two defense forces, our two countries — is as important and relevant today as it has ever been,” he added.
The two countries have a long record of combined training. In July, U.S. and Australian air forces joined Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force for Exercise Southern Cross in Australia’s Northern Territory. In June, U.S. Marines took part with Australian and Japanese forces in Exercise Southern Jackaroo. In 2025, both militaries joined Exercise Talisman Sabre, which drew more than 35,000 personnel from 19 nations across Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Hegseth and Marles also pointed to the recent arrival of U.S. Navy sailors in Western Australia to support Submarine Rotational Force – West, a plan to station U.S. and U.K. nuclear-powered submarines there ahead of operations in 2027.
