The Pentagon has walked back a statement denying that Richard Marles had a “meeting” with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington after stoking a minor political furore in Canberra.
The deputy prime minister flew to Washington DC earlier this week on a hastily arranged visit to meet senior Trump administration officials, including US Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Mr Marles’s office also flagged that he would meet with the defence secretary to discuss a host of issues, including AUKUS, critical mineral supply chains and America’s expanding military presence in Australia.
Marles open to defence spending hike after meeting Hegseth
But Australian officials then struggled to pin down a time for a meeting with Mr Hegseth amid broader chaos and upheaval within the Pentagon.
Mr Marles eventually did catch up with the defence secretary after his official meeting with the vice-president, with his office posting a photo on social media yesterday showing all three men smiling alongside Australia’s ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd.
The deputy minister’s office never called the engagement with Mr Hegseth a “meeting” but said Mr Marles took the chance to “reaffirm” Australia’s commitment to working with the secretary to further build the US relationship.
In a statement on Wednesday morning, a US defence official seemed to deliberately play down the significance of the exchange.
“We can confirm there was not a meeting. It was a happenstance encounter,” the US defence official said.
Both the Greens and the Coalition pounced on the statement, saying the incident was embarrassing for Mr Marles, with the Greens saying the Trump administration was treating Australia with “contempt”.
The Pentagon responded to follow-up questions from the press with a much warmer statement from chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell.
“Secretary Hegseth welcomed the opportunity to meet in person with Deputy Prime Minister Marles for the third time this year,” he said.
“Their meeting at the White House on Tuesday was coordinated in advance.”
The Greens’ defence spokesperson, David Shoebridge, speaking before the Pentagon’s latest statement, said the Trump administration was making its indifference to Australia clear.
“Our defence minister flies to Washington and can’t even get a meeting in the middle of the US review. That is the clearest indication of how Washington treats Australia under AUKUS,” Mr Shoebridge says.
“We are a source of funds, we are a source of bases for the United States, and they are treating us with contempt.”
Shadow Defence Minister Angus Taylor said Mr Marles had to “come clean” about exactly what happened.
“If no such formal meeting took place, why did his official statement on 24 August suggest that one was scheduled?” he said.
“This raises serious concerns about the transparency and credibility of the Albanese government’s handling of our most important alliance.”
“The US is our number-one investment and security partner. Shouldn’t the deputy prime minister be able to secure more than a handshake and a Facebook photo with his counterpart in the US administration?”
But Coalition frontbencher James Paterson struck a very different tone, saying Mr Marles had clearly met with “very senior” members of the Trump administration such as the vice-president.
“I don’t want to overdramatise this issue, I’ve got to say. The deputy prime minister has had extensive dealings with Secretary Hegseth in the past,” he said.
“And he was in Washington, DC, meeting with the vice-president and the secretary of state.”
“So, yes, of course, we want substantial engagement with the Defence Department, and it is particularly important in the context of the AUKUS review, but I’m not concerned based on these current reports.”