SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia and Britain will “retaliate” to cyberattacks from China, Russia and Iran, Defense Minister Peter Dutton said ahead of consultations with Britain in Sydney .

Australian defense and foreign ministers will meet UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Friday for the annual Australia-UK Ministerial Consultations (AUKMIN).

Australia and Britain would coordinate cyber sanctions regimes to increase deterrence, increasing the costs of hostile states’ activities in cyberspace, Foreign Secretary Marise Payne said, after signing an agreement with Truss on Thursday. .

“Australia is committed to working with partners such as the UK to challenge malicious actors who use technology to undermine freedom and democracy,” Payne said in a statement.

Dutton said Friday’s meeting will focus on cyber.

“The UK and Australia are under regular attack from Russia and China, Iran and other countries,” he said on the radio, adding that they would “retaliate”.

Discussions will also identify areas where Australia and Britain can work together in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as Australia’s nuclear submarine programme.

The new Aukus defense alliance with Britain and the United States, which prompted Australia last year to cancel a contract for a conventional French submarine in favor of a sustained nuclear submarine program by the United States and Britain, was crucial for Australia, he said.

“They are big countries and they have big military machines and are important allies and friends for us as a small country of only 25 million people if we want to deter countries from aggressive behavior,” he said. he declared.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

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