{"id":837287,"date":"2026-08-01T07:09:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T07:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/837287\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T07:09:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T07:09:14","slug":"aukus-submarine-rotation-pat-conroy-clarifies-us-presence-at-hmas-stirling-is-enduring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/837287\/","title":{"rendered":"AUKUS submarine rotation: Pat Conroy clarifies US presence at HMAS Stirling is enduring"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Michael<\/p>\n

August 1, 2026 \u2014 2:33pm<\/p>\n

Save<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

AAA<\/p>\n

Washington: Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy\u2019s clarification on the future of American submarines at HMAS Stirling has satisfied the Pentagon, which says their presence in Western Australia will be \u201cenduring\u201d.<\/p>\n

Conroy caused a political storm during a visit to Washington this week when he told the ABC\u2019s 7.30 program that the rotation of US submarines at HMAS Stirling in Perth was limited to just five years.<\/p>\n

\"AA Virginia-class submarine, the USS Minnesota, docked at HMAS Stirling in Rockingham, Western Australia, in February 2025.AFP<\/p>\n

That would have \u201ccome as a surprise to American ears\u201d, former Home Affairs department secretary Michael Pezzullo said, while the Coalition\u2019s defence spokesman James Paterson accused Conroy of evicting the Americans before they arrived.<\/p>\n

Conroy then walked back his remarks<\/a> in an interview with this masthead, saying the US was likely to maintain some kind of presence there indefinitely, and issued a statement to clarify his position.<\/p>\n

\u201cSubmarine Rotational Force West is intended to be an enduring element of US force posture in Australia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The issue at hand is whether American-owned nuclear-powered submarines depart HMAS Stirling when Australia\u2019s Virginia-class boats begin arriving from the US, or if they maintain some form of presence there, either through rotations or ongoing visits.<\/p>\n

\"DefenceDefence Industry Minister Pat Conroy.Dominic Lorrimer<\/p>\n

Critics of the AUKUS defence agreement argue that the presence of US submarines in Perth represents a potential target in the event of a regional conflict.<\/p>\n

Following Conroy\u2019s initial remarks, the Pentagon did not respond to inquiries for 48 hours while it sought clarification on the Australian government\u2019s position.<\/p>\n

On Saturday (AEST), it provided a statement attributed to a Department of Defence official: \u201cMinister Conroy released a statement noting that SRF-West is intended to be an enduring element of US force posture in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defence strategists in the US government, including Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, have expressed reservations in the past about losing US-controlled submarines to Australia at a time when the US defence industrial base is not producing enough for the Navy\u2019s own demands.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

But they also view HMAS Stirling near Perth as strategically useful for positioning US forces to deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific. In October, when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited Donald Trump at the White House, the US president declared AUKUS was \u201cfull steam ahead\u201d.<\/p>\n

Paterson also pointed to remarks by Defence Minister Richard Marles using the same language as the Pentagon \u2013 that the US presence in Western Australia would be enduring.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am relieved Richard Marles finally stepped in on Friday to clean up Pat Conroy\u2019s unedifying and unnecessary mess,\u201d he said. \u201cThe last thing AUKUS needs is uncertainty about core elements of the agreement like SRF-West.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Conroy\u2019s trip to the US included high-level meetings with the American navy and army, as well as visits to a shipyard that makes Virginia-class submarines and a missile factory in Tucson, Arizona.<\/p>\n

In an interview in Washington, Conroy said Labor Party members who believed Australia was making a mistake with AUKUS were wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had this debate within the Labor Party for years \u2013 earlier it was about the joint facilities, about Pine Gap,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis national conference, AUKUS wasn\u2019t even debated \u2026 There wasn\u2019t an amendment that had sufficient support to make it to the floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vast majority of the Labor movement support AUKUS and understand it. Not everyone, I\u2019m not pretending everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what\u2019s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Save<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael Koziol<\/a> is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"August 1, 2026 \u2014 2:33pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":837288,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-837287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/837288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}