Labor members have called on the Albanese government to withdraw from the AUKUS partnership ahead of high-level talks between Australian and US ministers.
Defence Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong will meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin in Brisbane next week.
On the agenda for the AUSMIN meeting will be deepening collaboration on defence and security, climate, clean energy and economic issues.
The meeting comes as grassroots Labor members in Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek's Sydney seat voted on Tuesday night to oppose AUKUS.
They want the government to withdraw from the security pact and abandon acquiring nuclear-powered submarines.
They argue AUKUS fuels a regional arms race, might drag Australia into a devastating war, and undermines the government's credibility as a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
The members claim the submarines, which are slated to cost $368 billion over three decades, do not align with the values of Labor and the trade union movement which prioritise education, health, aged care and housing.
A Labor branch in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's seat of Grayndler in March passed a resolution against AUKUS, branding the decision "an obscene waste of money".
A branch in Port Kembla passed a resolution against the hosting of nuclear vessels in the Illawarra region on the NSW coast.
A number of unions have also come out against the deal.
Following the ministerial meeting, the defence minister and Mr Austin will travel to north Queensland to visit Australian and US military personnel taking part in Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Mr Marles said Australia's defence co-operation with the US is "unprecedented in scale, scope and significance".
Asked about progress made since the previous AUSMIN in December, Mr Marles pointed to the AUKUS announcement and other areas of heightened collaboration including the expansion of Exercise Talisman Sabre.
"What you're going to see over the next few years is a growth in the way in which Australia and the US operates together," he told the ABC on Wednesday.
"That will obviously be a key topic of conversation between myself and Secretary Austin."
Senator Wong said the two governments were broadening the talks to include emerging technologies, the clean energy transition and the role of critical minerals.
"Australia and the United States want to better support our partners in the region, and to promote peace, protect sovereignty and foster prosperity," she said.
Mr Austin will also be the first US defence secretary to visit Papua New Guinea.
The visit will form part of his eighth trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where he will meet with PNG prime minister James Marape among other senior government and military officials.
