Independent AUKUS Inquiry ramps up pressure on Labor

An independent AUKUS investigation has raised new questions about the cost of the project, its purpose and Labour’s reluctance to discuss it, writes Dr John Jiggens.

THE AUKUS NUCLEAR submarine project is the most expensive government project ever undertaken by an Australian government; It is a very costly project that will seriously impact the Australian economy for decades to come.

AUKUS is “estimated” to cost around $370 billion, but this mind-boggling estimate is itself an illusion: AUKUS is a godsend, wasteful, hugely expensive project whose cost will continue to rise as it is royally fed from Australian government funds for decades to come.

AUKUS is highly controversial: described by former prime minister Paul Keating like “worst deal ever”. Former submariner and Senator Rex Patrick guess HE, “AUKUS nuclear submarine project will shed the blood of the Australian Defense Force”.

Despite the astronomical debt that the AUKUS nuclear submarine project would impose on Australia, and despite deep public unease about the desirability of nuclear submarines, there was never a parliamentary inquiry into AUKUS.

Our parliament’s ignoble abdication of financial responsibility for this potentially huge boon has motivated a coalition of former MPs, retired military and naval officers, strategists, academics, human rights lawyers and union leaders to form an independent organisation. AUKUS Public InquiryUnder the auspices of the Australian Peace and Security Forum (APSF).

The investigation secretariat is headed by retired Major General michael smith and retired Labor Party politician Doug Cameron.

Five commissioners were appointed to the inquiry: chief commissioner Peter GarrettFormer Minister of Labor and frontman Midnight Oil; retired admiral Chris BarrieFormer chief of the Australian Defense Force; CarmenLawrenceformer Prime Minister of Western Australia; Leanne Minshullco-CEO Australian Institute; And Karina LesterIndigenous leader and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) ambassador whose family was affected by British Nuclear testing in the South Australian outback in the 1950s.

AUKUS Public Inquiry It was launched on June 2. The inquiry invited submissions on alternative defense strategies and held public hearings on AUKUS in Melbourne and Fremantle. The next public hearing will be held in Adelaide on July 16.

Annette BrownlieOrganizer of the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN), assisting with the investigation.

He explained the rationale behind the Public Inquiry:

“AUKUS is the result of a secret agreement. Scott Morrison The government was shrouded in secrecy. That’s why we need transparency and this Inquiry. The purpose of an investigation is to ask questions: questions that have never been asked, never answered, of the government or the public. That’s why we’re looking for transparency.”

As the US-Iran war demonstrated, hosting US bases could expose Australia to attack. Former Liberal Defense Minister at Fremantle hearing of inquiry Linda Reynolds admitted that Stirling Naval Base Garden Island, just south of Fremantle, has been a target in the event of a conflict with China.

Brownlie said:

“Look at what’s happening in the Middle East, where US bases in countries surrounding Iran have fallen victim to targeting in response to America and Israel bombing Iran. So the bases here in Australia and the facilities we provide them are actually making us more at risk, more vulnerable and less safe.”

The Public Inquiry received a flood of applications from across the country, around 450 in the first month.

According to Annette Brownlie, the theme that emerges in many applications is that AUKUS is about offense, not defense. AUKUS was seen as Australia’s involvement in a US war against China and providing a forward base for the US to wage war.

Against this, Submarine of the Future The project that AUKUS replaced was based on Australia’s policy of self-reliance in defense and protecting the Australian continent from invasion. He called for the construction of 12 conventional submarines for $20 billion.

The deal signed by Scott Morrison was for eight nuclear submarines worth about $370 billion; It’s a major shift from the goal of an affordable and self-sufficient force defending Australia to an auxiliary role for the US Navy in an offensive war against China, Australia’s main trading partner.

Dr. aspect Michael GilliganThe hugely expensive Virginia-class submarines that Scott Morrison signed up to buy were designed specifically for the US war with China, not for the defense of Australia, the former Head of Force Development and Analysis at Australian Defense told the Inquiry in Fremantle.

Dr Gilligan said:

“The Virginia Class submarine is not a general-purpose submarine like our Collins class. It is designed to provide superior acoustic invisibility for a specific purpose: to find and doggedly track underwater for months and to destroy submarines that pose a nuclear threat to the U.S. mainland.”

IPAN’s Annette Brownlie noted that many Inquiry submissions were about creating a self-sufficient defense force for Australia:

“This question will be at the heart of the next IPAN conference, ‘Time to Get Rid of the United States’, to be held in Adelaide from 24 to 26 July.”

The IPAN conference in Adelaide will be held at the same time as the triennial Labor Party conference.

Brownlie said:

The investigation aims to put pressure on the government of the period. There will be a side event at the Labor Party conference where AUKUS will be a featured topic.

We hope this will put pressure on the current Labor Government, given that they have been so uncompromising in questioning the AUKUS agreement that it has actually curtailed debate within their own party.

IPAN’s hope is to put pressure on leadership not to impede discussion on AUKUS at the ALP conference and to encourage a debate to welcome free discussion among members on this vital issue.