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The United States’ latest top diplomat in Western Australia already feels at home.
In her first media interview since arriving for her three-year posting, new US Consul General for WA Colleen Altstock said her family were bemused to see American brands lining the road – including the latest US franchise on the block, Chuck-E-Cheese.
US Consul-General Colleen Altstock has arrived in Perth. Credit: Hamish Hastie/WAtoday
“When we first arrived as we were driving in from the airport we’re like, ‘Ph, look, a Kentucky Fried Chicken, oh, McDonald’s, oh, they have Hungry Jack’s – and it says home of the Whopper’,” she said.
“Of course, right next to the airport we saw Costco. We knew that Costco was here and my husband and I were very excited about that because being from Seattle we’re big fans of Kirkland Signature products from Costco.”
Chuck-E-Cheese, an iconic children’s entertainment and food retailer in the states, chose the northern Perth suburb of Joondalup for its entry to Australia, which was welcomed as a novelty by Perth families.
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But Altstock – the Shanghai US Consulate’s economic and political section chief before heading to Perth – was not shocked to see it expand to WA, noting it was just another example of the close commercial, social and political ties the US has with Australia.
“In more than two decades of working in the foreign service, I’ve never worked in a place where the relationship is as close and as broad and as deep,” she said.
“Nowhere else in the world are we talking about having another country acquire the capability to purchase and then maintain nuclear-powered submarines.”
On Trump and Albo
Altstock played down recent questions about Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s relationship with US President Donald Trump after the PM was only able to secure a selfie during his recent visit to New York.
“President Trump has been very clear in his priorities, as has, frankly, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth. I would say they have been very positive about what they see as the opportunities to continue working with Australia,” she said.
“We have everything from the selfie on the margins of the UN General Assembly to President Trump saying he looks forward to meeting Prime Minister Albanese soon, and calling Prime Minister Albanese a good man.
“There seems to be a very positive relationship between our leaders.”
On AUKUS
Thanks to the AUKUS nuclear submarine pact, Altstock’s arrival comes at one of the most high stakes times in the US-Australia relationship and WA is in the centre of that.
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AUKUS is driving billions in investment in the state’s naval and shipbuilding facilities with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last month announcing $12 billion would be spent on upgrading the Henderson shipbuilding area south of Perth to make it ready for the pact and other naval shipbuilding projects.
The total upgrade of the precinct would cost $25 billion, Albanese confirmed at the time.
AUKUS has bipartisan support, but Altstock will find increasing opposition to the AUKUS pact in Western Australia from groups like the Greens, who question its value to Australian taxpayers.
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“I acknowledge that maybe there’s a small number of people who are very vocal in their views. One thing that’s very important to both the United States and Australia is allowing people to air their views,” she said.
On critical minerals
Altstock’s new office overlooking Adelaide Terrace and the Swan River is dotted with flyers about critical minerals projects in WA, also a focus for her as the US tries to shore up supply chains for the materials used in advanced manufacturing across defence and energy.
“When you take a step back, what do you recognise is Australia has large deposits in 41 out of the 50 critical minerals that the US Geological Survey has designated as particularly crucial,” she said.
Altstock flagged the potential for more US involvement in critical minerals deals, pointing to the recent decision by the US Export-Import Bank to finance a rare earths project on the East Coast.
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