Caroline Kennedy

The newly minted United States ambassador to Australia has hinted further announcements on the trilateral AUKUS security alliance are imminent.

"The US needs to do more. Ms Kennedy also pre-empted further announcements on the AUKUS alliance between Australia, the US and the UK when asked about what message she would be bringing to the prime minister. "The United States and Australia are the closest allies," she told reporters after the ceremony.

Caroline Kennedy is sworn in as the new United States ambassador to Australia in Canberra. She will travel to the Solomon Islands next week to mark the ...

Caroline Kennedy would not be drawn on the details of her trip to Solomon Islands when asked about the visit during a press conference in Canberra, but suggested the United States would continue to expand its footprint. She is expected to fly to Solomon Islands late next week — along with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman — to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal. Caroline Kennedy has confirmed she will travel to Solomon Islands next week after being sworn in as the new United States ambassador to Australia.

Washington's new representative in Canberra has outlined her top priority after presenting her credentials to the Governor-General.

“Well, I’m really looking forward to meeting the Prime Minister. I haven’t met him yet. I know he had a great meeting with President Biden. So I’m looking to follow up on that and see what best I can do to advance our shared goals,” she said. “To become officially the United States Ambassador to Australia and to be here on this Ngunnawal land, and to mark this moment with a ceremony that carries so much significance makes me feel a great deal of responsibility and strengthens my commitment to work to strengthen the bonds between our nations and our people,” she told reporters.

The new US ambassador to Australia said her first official day in the job was “one of the most important days of my life”.

Matthew Knottis national correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald, focusing on race, culture and identity. Defence Minister Richard Marles has said he expects to decide by March whether Australia will purchase the British Astute-class or American Virginia-class nuclear submarines. After arriving in Australia on Friday Kennedy said: “I know there’s a lot of work to do in the Pacific. I am excited the Peace Corps is coming back into the Pacific Islands after an absence of many years in terms of the US engagement.”

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy plan next month to visit the Solomon Islands, where their ...

In February, Antony Blinken became the first U.S secretary of state to visit Fiji in 40 years. China has been seeking to boost economic, military and police links with Pacific island nations hungry for foreign investment. “These events will recognize the service and sacrifice of those who fought in the Battle of Guadalcanal, including U.S. and Allied forces, the people of Solomon Islands, and the people of Japan,” the official said. Sherman and her delegation will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal during her Aug. 6-8 visit, and meet with senior officials “to highlight the enduring relationship between the United States and Solomon Islands” and the opening of a U.S. embassy in the capital Honiara, a senior State Department official told Reuters on Sunday. In Honiara, Sherman will deliver remarks at a U.S.-organized ceremony on Skyline Ridge, site of the U.S. Guadalcanal Memorial, as well as at a Solomon Islands-hosted memorial at Bloody Ridge. She also will attend additional memorial events organized by Solomon Islands and Japan, now a close U.S. ally. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy plan next month to visit the Solomon Islands, where their fathers fought in World War Two and the United States is now in a modern-day battle for influence with strategic rival China.

A high-level visit to the Solomon Islands led by US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and newly appointed US ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy ...

Chen also noted that the US nuclear tests previously conducted in the South Pacific caused great harm to the region, and that many residents are still negatively affected today. "This is the usual US ploy to create political pressure within other countries." Caroline Kennedy, daughter of former US president John F. Kennedy, was sworn in as US ambassador to Australia on June 10 and arrived in the country to take up her post on Friday, ending an 18-month vacancy for a US ambassador to one of its closest allies.