The Albanese government remains “confident” that the $368bn submarine pact with the UK and the US will go ahead regardless of who replaces British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles says.Sir Keir resigned overnight amid fierce pressure within his party despite leading it to a landslide election victory less than two years ago.Speaking to reporters at Parliament House on Tuesday, Mr Marles praised Sir Keir as “a great friend to Australia” and hailed the outgoing British leader’s commitment to AUKUS.“Look, AUKUS will remain unchanged and AUKUS is happening at a pace and I think that’s an important point to make,” Mr Marles said.“I was there the week before last with our foreign minister and AUKUS really is proceeding very well, and we’re very confident about its progress.“We’re very confident about the way we’re working with the UK on this. That’s clearly where our interests are focused, and we’ll continue to pursue that.”Sir Keir is a close ally of Anthony Albanese, who late last year addressed a UK Labour Party conference while paying an official visit.“I consider (Keir Starmer) a friend and I’m thinking of him on what must be a very tough day,” the Prime Minister posted on social media following Sir Keir’s resignation.“Serving in public life is a tremendous privilege but politics can also be a harsh business. “When the time comes for Keir to leave Downing Street, he can be proud of the contribution he has made to the country he loves and to the Labour Party that he led back to government in 2024.”Mr Albanese said he was “grateful for the opportunities we had to work together to strengthen our AUKUS defence and security partnership, support the brave people of Ukraine and keep children safe from the damage that social media can do”.Opposition frontbencher Andrew Hastie also lamented Sir Keir’s resignation but said he had “failed to address” key challenges in the UK.“It was tough to watch a UK prime minister torn down by his own party so soon after a massive landslide victory in 2024, but I do think that Keir Starmer failed to address some of the big issues facing the United Kingdom,” Mr Hastie told Sky News, pointing to “immigration, energy and social cohesion”.He said there were some parallels with Australia, warning that “cost of living is through the roof” and small businesses and heavy industry are “struggling”.