US heavy hitters land in Australia for high-level talks

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (pictured) and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are in Brisbane. (Russell Freeman/AAP PHOTOS)

American senior ministers have touched down in Australia for foreign affairs and security talks.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Brisbane on Thursday evening.

The men are preparing to meet Defence Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong over the next few days.

Mr Marles will host his US counterpart at the Women’s World Cup on Thursday night where Australia will play Nigeria.

On Friday, he and Senator Wong will meet their American allies for bilateral talks before an official meeting on Saturday.

They are expected to discuss defence and security ties, climate change and economic issues.

Also on the agenda are emerging technologies, the clean energy transition and the role of critical minerals.

Following the ministerial meeting on Saturday, the defence minister and Mr Austin will travel to north Queensland to visit Australian and US troops taking part in multinational war games.

Mr Austin arrived from Papua New Guinea, where he became the first US defence secretary to visit the Pacific nation.

He met with defence leaders to discuss bolstering co-operation on regional security in the Indo-Pacific.

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