US President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for the next secretary of state has voiced the incoming administration’s strongest backing yet for the Aukus security pact, likely reassuring Australian officials who have been privately concerned at its commitment to the deal.

Rubio is seen as a steady foreign policy hand who has the confidence of Trump and Senate colleagues from both parties.

Marco Rubio’s confirmation hearing begins a new chapter in the political career of the 53-year-old Florida Republican, whose relationship with Trump has evolved over the last decade. Once rivals trading schoolyard insults as they campaigned for president in 2016,