US President Donald Trump's pick for ambassador to Australia has pledged to focus on AUKUS, critical minerals and China's growing influence in the region if confirmed for the role.
Republican former House representative from Virginia David Brat was urged to push for Australia's cooperation on all three topics, along with the fight against antisemitism, in a relatively gentle Senate grilling in a nomination hearing on Wednesday morning (early Thursday AEST).
Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Jim Risch said if confirmed Brat would be overseeing a "historic transformation" in a relationship that had been "reinvigorated" by the defence partnership with the US and UK and a new $US8.5 billion ($13 billion) critical minerals and rare earths deal signed by Trump and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in October.
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"That's [the rare earths deal] something that is really necessary for us, for the free world, really, and again, that has helped reinvigorate our relationship," Risch said.
"I know Australia's got some – we think we have a China problem here, they got a real China problem there."
Brat named critical minerals and commercial diplomacy, defence cooperation and partnership in the Indo-Pacific region as his three key focus areas.
He also pledged to work on getting more US companies into Australia and encourage the $1 trillion superannuation industry to invest more in the US.
"If confirmed, I would also continue to strengthen defence cooperation, including working with Congress to further streamline defence trade controls amidst China's unprecedented military buildup," he said.
"The US-Australia alliance is an essential pillar of regional stability and deterrence.
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"As the President has instructed, I would ensure the mission moves "full steam ahead", including on AUKUS and other alliance priorities."
Brat was broadly praised by both Republicans and Democrats in a hearing that focused more attention on some of the other nominees being confirmed at the same time.
But committee ranking member Senator Jeanne Shaheen did criticise the 15-month delay in finding someone to fill the post in Canberra.
"The administration's prolonged review of AUKUS has created uncertainty that I think has merely been unnecessary at a critical time in the region," she said.
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"It took more than a year for the administration to nominate someone to this post, and I'm glad that they finally have.
"I'm delighted because it's delays like that that weaken American credibility with our allies."
Australia has already spent billions of dollars on AUKUS infrastructure in a deal that includes the purchase of eight nuclear-propelled submarines from the US and UK and is estimated to cost more than $360 billion in the coming decades.
Democrat Senator Tim Kaine said on a recent trip to Australia he'd seen some "anxiety" that Australian firms would be cut out of the work in favour of US companies.
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He asked Brat to "make sure the Australian firms know that they're also really welcome" and push for joint-venture partnerships.
Brat, the senior vice president of business relations at Liberty University, was a somewhat unexpected pick described by former White House staffer Cory Alpert as a "bargain-bin ambassador".
"It's because the role of ambassador has become redundant under Trump," he wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald.
"The US no longer has significant diplomatic infrastructure. Likewise, Trump has hollowed out the National Security Council, normally responsible for coordinating foreign policy across the administration.
"When other countries engage with the United States now, it's not through the broad apparatus of the State Department or the aid programs that were gutted under Elon Musk's watch.
"Instead, Trump expects world leaders to react to his Truth Social posts, or to show up to the White House, hat in hand."
Further dates to vote on Brat's confirmation in the committee and in the Senate itself have yet to be scheduled.
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