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Rubio and Hegseth Deliver AUSMIN Opening Statements with Australia, Dec. 8, 2025

December 8, 2025 · U.S. Department of State · 0:13:01

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivered the U.S. opening statements at the Australia–U.S. Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) at the Department of State on December 8, 2025, hosting Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong, according to the State Department broadcast. Rubio called Australia “our only ally that has fought with us in every war” of the last four or five decades: “We truly have no better friend.” He said the meeting was scheduled before year’s end to build on the momentum of the October presidential visit, reaffirmed commitment to the Quad — noting the first Quad meeting of his tenure was held in the same room on his first day as Secretary — and stated, “AUKUS is full steam ahead, as he said,” with the Department of War’s review aimed at expanding the relationship.

Rubio tied the alliance to supply chains: “we’ve also signed a landmark critical mineral framework agreement,” and diversifying critical mineral supplies — “not overly invested in one place where they could be used as leverage against us or our partners or the world” — is “at the cornerstone of everything we plan to do together in the months and years to come.” Wong recalled that AUSMIN was established under President Reagan and Prime Minister Hawke in 1985, and that Australian soldiers “have fought beside American troops in every major battle since World War I”; the United States, she said, “is our principal ally and our principal strategic partner,” with AUKUS “a win for Australia” at its center.

Why it matters

The AUSMIN opening is the Indo-Pacific alliance record in one sitting — AUKUS affirmed, the Quad recommitted, and the critical minerals framework placed at the center of the U.S.–Australia agenda by both governments on the record.

Sources: U.S. Department of State, “Rubio and Hegseth Deliver AUSMIN Opening Statements with Australia” (official upload, embedded above); remarks as delivered 2025-12-08; transcript via state.gov as linked in the upload description and reviewed in the site’s private research store.