Donald Trump’s pick for next US ambassador to Canberra has praised Australia’s mining prowess saying he wants to use this country’s expertise on rare earths processing and refining to help break Beijing’s stranglehold on the sector.

At a senate confirmation hearing former Republican congressman David Brat also revealed a common love of tennis shared with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and confirmed he would be a champion for the AUKUS partnership, as first reported by The Nightly last month.

Under questioning on Wednesday, the 61-year-old declared that if appointed ambassador his three priorities would be critical minerals, defence co-operation and partnership in the Indo-Pacific “amidst China’s unprecedented military build-up”.

“Few countries are as integral to US interests as Australia, as evidenced by the broad bipartisan support for the Alliance,” Mr Brat told members of the Senate Foreign Relations committee.

“A longstanding treaty ally, Five Eye partner, AUKUS, and Quad member, our partnership with Australia makes America ‘safer, stronger, and more prosperous’.”

He also pledged to expand the US partnership with Australia across the Indo-Pacific, especially critical infrastructure in the Pacific Islands, to “bolster the resilience of our regional partners to help to fight against the malign influence of our adversaries”.

“The United States is a Pacific nation, and our partnership with Australia maintains our edge in this vast strategic region,” he told Senators.

In April Donald Trump nominated Mr Brat, who came to prominence as a member of Republicans’ conservative Tea Party faction, for the position of ambassador to Australia after leaving the role vacant for almost 18 months.

Addressing the Australian people directly in his opening remarks, Mr Brat proclaimed he loved “everything about your country” and noted: “we share the same values of life, liberty and happiness.”

“I am a tennis fanatic and follow your pros, the Open, and of course, the game of PM Albanese! I’m looking forward to sports diplomacy across the board.”

“I love the Australian people I have met in life and appreciate their decency, wit, and sense of humour above all.”

Mr Brat also confirmed his support for AUKUS, as revealed by The Nightly last month, when questioned over whether a review of the defence partnership had created unnecessary uncertainty in the alliance.

“The President said, ‘full speed ahead’. I think Bridge (Elbridge Colby, the defence official who reviewed AUKUS) said, ‘I work for the President, it’s full speed ahead.’ And so, I’m full speed ahead,” Mr Brat told senators, referring to the outcome of that review.

While discussing AUKUS Pillar 2, Mr Brat noted that “Australia has a comparative advantage in quantum computing, they do cyber work and they’re big on artificial intelligence” and was urged by Republican Senator Bill Hagerty to help South Korea and Japan to join future collaborations.

Committee Chair and Republican Senator James Risch noted Australia and the US had recently signed a “critical minerals” agreement and then asked Mr Brat whether he believed the country also had a “China problem”.

In response, President Trump’s nominee for ambassador outlined how rare earths were “vital to every aspect of our economy” and that it was important to convey to the American people “how important Australia is to us” in the critical minerals sector.

“They’re mining experts, they’re processing experts, they’re refining experts, they have engineers. We need to get that skill base going over here”.

The former economics professor said it was crucial for the US to invest more in engineering and processing of rare earths given China now controlled 90 percent of the activity around the world.

Senator Risch also urged Mr Brat to help the Albanese Government “counter the rise of anti-Semitism that we’ve seen in Australia”.

“If confirmed, you will oversee a historic transformation of our alliance with Australia as we step up our diplomatic, economic, and security cooperation through AUKUS and other initiatives,” Senator Risch said.

“I hope you will also push our friends to fully implement their new investment screening and foreign influence laws to counter malign Chinese influence,” the committee chair said.

Jeanne Shaheen, the committee’s top Democrat, questioned Mr Brat on his past opposition to funding for Ukraine’s defence and asked whether he would ensure Australia’s financial support would be used to supply US-made weapons to fight Russia.

“Yes, of course. Australia is a sovereign country, they will be our partner, they’ve been our best partner for 100 years … and I will get security clearances that might help educate me beyond what I know now,” Mr Brat responded.