From War Powers Reform
Zero Transparency – New Report investigates the AUKUS Pact
“AUKUS and the surrender of transparency, accountability and sovereignty”
A new report on the massive AUKUS military pact has found the agreement has been plagued by an almost complete lack of transparency and accountability.
Produced by the civil society group Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR), the report investigates how AUKUS came about and how the public and the parliament have been shut out of the decision making process surrounding the multi-billion dollar plan.
In the three years since AUKUS and the $368 billion submarine plan were announced there has been no meaningful community consultation and no proper parliamentary discussion of the scheme. Almost all MPs and Senators have had no say, no input and no vote on AUKUS.
“From earlier on I came to the view that AUKUS was not in the national interest and most certainly entails a loss of sovereignty for Australia,” said former Minister for Foreign Affairs Bob Carr.
“Given the lack of consultation the Australian public are rightly very sceptical about AUKUS. And given that we now have a very erratic US President who is upending international norms, it is clear that the AUKUS project is under a cloud,” he said.
Mr Carr is supporting the launch of this new report which highlights multiple issues raised by AUKUS, including Australia’s strategic outlook, nuclear waste from submarines and the increasing US militarisation of Australia.
Former Prime Minister Paul Keating has also previously launched a swinging attack on the Labor government over the AUKUS submarine agreement, accusing Anthony Albanese of relying on “two seriously unwise ministers”, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles, both unpopular ministers.
Keating described AUKUS as “the worst deal in all history”, lashing the deal for a tripartite build of nuclear-powered submarines as “the worst international decision by an Australian Labor government since the former Labor leader, Billy Hughes, sought to introduce conscription” in the first world war.
It is also the subject of scathing critique in distinguished journalist Andrew Fowler’s Nuked: The Submarine Fiasco that Sank Australia’s Sovereignty.
As academic Mark Beeson wrote in his review of the book: “The plan for Australia to acquire eight nuclear-powered submarines, built locally in partnership with the United Stated and the United Kingdom, is projected to cost up to A$368 billion. But it is not just the cost of the AUKUS project that is astounding.
“While many people should hang their heads in shame, the principal architect of this monumental folly is Scott Morrison, whose reputation will be deservedly further diminished by the revelations contained in Fowler’s carefully researched volume. One question the book does not address in detail is the abysmal quality of political leadership in this country.”
Australians for War Power Reform spokesperson and human rights lawyer Kellie Tranter says both the Morrison and Albanese governments have treated the Australian public as if they have no stake in AUKUS.
“At every step, the public have been shut out of the process despite the fact that this is a multi-decade project with enormous costs for taxpayers,” she said.
“This report raises many serious questions that should alarm the community. AUKUS in its current form should not proceed. At the very least AUKUS should be subjected to a rigorous inquiry before more billions are spent on it,” said Ms Tranter.
The full AUKUS report is available HERE
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