Amazon.com Inc will partner with the Australian government for a cloud data system to handle top secret information, in a move that Canberra says will improve the nation’s cyber capabilities and deepen security cooperation with the US.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles announced the partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company’s cloud division, at a press conference in Canberra on Thursday morning, saying the government would invest at least A$2 billion over the next decade in the new system. The location of the data centres and the nature of information they will be holding weren’t disclosed.

“This cutting-edge technology will enhance Defence’s resilience,” Marles, who is also defence minister, said in a statement. It will also improve the Australian Defence Force’s war-fighting capacity, strengthen interoperability with key international partners and deliver up to 2,000 Australian jobs, he said.

Under the agreement, Amazon will construct three facilities around Australia “purpose-built” to store top secret information largely from the country’s defence and intelligence agencies.

AWS announced in 2021 that it had signed a NZ$7.5 billion deal to build similar centres in New Zealand, while there were reports in the same year that the UK’s intelligence services had signed up for cloud services to host their top secret data.

  - Bloomberg