THE FACTS ON THE AUKUS PACT
What is AUKUS?
AUKUS is a trilateral security pact between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
It was announced by former PM Scott Morrison on 15th September, 2021 without any parliamentary discussion
and no prior public knowledge. Anthony Albanese declared Labor’s full support immediately and reaffirmed
that support in March 2023.
Under the pact Australia would become just the secondly after Britain to get access to U.S. nuclear-powered
submarine technology. Only six nations currently have nuclear-powered subs, all of which have nuclear power
stations and nuclear weapons.
AUKUS also includes co-operation on military capabilities such as long-range missiles, hypersonics, artificial
intelligence, quantum technologies and cyber. AUKUS will increase the likelihood of war in the
region and place Australia on the front-line of any U.S. led war on China. It will direct immense public funds
into the military, result in the militarisation of the Australian continent, encourage nuclear proliferation and
uranium mining and produce dangerous nuclear waste. It will also imperil communities, Indigenous land and
derail the transition to renewable energy.
The key aspects of AUKUS are:
• The purchase and re-badging of 3 to 5 Virginia class nuclear subs from the U.S. Navy in the early 2030’s;
and construction of 8 new AUKUS class subs from the 2040’s. Work has begun to expand the Osborne Naval
Shipyard in Adelaide to deliver the first Australian built AUKUS submarine in the 2040s. The The current esti-
mated cost is $368 billion by 2055.
• The increased rotation of U.S. and U.K nuclear-powered, nuclear weapons capable submarines through
Australian ports, beginning with increased visits by U.S submarines in 2023. US and UK nuclear submarines
will routinely begin accessing Australian ports from 2027.
• The construction of a $10 billion nuclear submarine base on the East coast of Australia. Port Kembla is
widely considered the government’s preferred location. Other sites under consideration include Newcastle and
Brisbane.
• AUKUS will build on existing plans for increased U.S. ground force deployments in the NT, massively
increased space surveillance and war-fighting plans and the permanent deployment of six US Air Force B52
bombers at RAAF Tindal Air Base in the NT.
Why should we oppose the AUKUS Pact?
AUKUS puts Australia on the front-line of a potential
war between nuclear powers- the U.S. and China- and
escalates tensions in the region.
The nuclear submarines are designed for hunter-killer
operation in distant waters such as the South China Sea.
Unlike conventional subs they can operate for months
without refuelling. They will act as aggressive instru-
ments of war on China.
The government’s own Defence Strategic Review
(DSR) released in 2023 formalises this aggressive pos-
ture. It overturns the previous “Defence of Australia”
doctrine in favour of “National Defence”, with greater
capacity for “impactful projection” of military power in
the region.
Australia’s participation in U.S. led wars in Vietnam,
Iraq and Afghanistan has been disastrous. A U.S. led
war on China would put Australia on the front line of a
devastating conflict between nuclear armed states.
Other leaders in the region are acutely aware of the
stakes. Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown has
joined a growing list of Pacific leaders who object to the
AUKUS pact. In March 2023 he said “We’ve already
seen it will lead to an escalation of tension, and we’re
not happy with that as a region.”
Massive cost
$368 billion dollars for nuclear subs and the immense
military spending associated with AUKUS is a gross
misuse of money. Our hospitals and schools are critically understaffed, our welfare payments below the poverty
line and there is a desperate need to transition from
fossil fuels to renewable energy.
The money being spent on the military and going
straight into the pockets of weapons manufacturers
could be used to deal with all of this. $368 billion could
build over 100 metropolitan hospitals and thousands of
new schools.
According to the CSIRO it would cost around $500
billion to convert Australia to renewable energy. The
current predicted cost of the nuclear subs could cover
the majority of this.
AUKUS and the nuclear submarines not only represent
a threat to peace but are a declaration of war on the
poor, the environment and working people.
Nuclear proliferation, weapons and waste
Under AUKUS, Australia will be responsible for storing
the nuclear waste from the decommissioned submarine
reactors.
However, Australia has not found a permanent site to
store low-level nuclear waste, let alone highly radioac-
tive waste.
When the first three subs are at the end of their lives – in
about 30 years according to Defence Minister Richard
Marles – about 600kg of highly enriched uranium will
have to be stored. Because the fuel is weapons-grade, it
will need military-scale security.
Every site suggested so far has been on indigenous land
and opposed by its Traditional Owners.
Australia will be the only non-nuclear weapon state to
have access to nuclear submarines. There is consider-
able regional and wider concern over the copycat aspect
with other nations already expressing a desire to access
nuclear submarines.
The increased rotation of U.S. nuclear submarines and
B52 bombers through Australia makes the country a
base for potential nuclear attacks. Minister for Foreign
Affairs Penny Wong says the Albanese government
“respects” the U.S. policy of “neither confirming nor de-
nying” the presence of nuclear weapons on B52 bomb-
ers and nuclear subs rotating through Australian ports
and airfields.
Nuclear materials pose serious safety risks to workers
and communities, Aboriginal land and the general envi-
ronment through extraction and use of highly-enriched
uranium, reactor leaks or incidents, and handling of
deadly waste. As Greens leader Adam Bandt has pointed
out AUKUS will put “floating Chernobyls” at the heart
of major cities in the form of nuclear submarines.
Impact on communities and jobs
The Defence Strategic Review acknowledged the
danger of a devastating conflict which AUKUS is only
making more likely- and the way it will put communi-
ties in the crosshairs.
For example, it says an additional East Coast submarine
base will “provide redundancy” in the case of long-
range missile attack on other facilities. This is a terri-
fying prospect for communities such as Port Kembla,
slated as potential sites for a base.
The South Coast Labour Council, which represents
unions in and around Wollongong, is opposing the
submarine base as a threat to alternative jobs in Port
Kembla. Port Kembla has been assessed as an ideal spot
for offshore wind developments, due to wind conditions,
grid connections and the working harbour. The area is
one of the NSW government priority Renewable Ener-
gy Zones, with at least two companies already carrying
out scoping work for multi-billion dollar offshore wind
projects.
Even NSW Ports and the Port Kembla Chamber of
Commerce have warned that the Outer Harbour site is
needed for wind turbine assembly as well as a new con-
tainer port, and should not be taken by defence.
Is China a threat?
Morrison’s announcement made clear AUKUS was a
pact for war on China. He declared that we were enter-
ing a “new era” where the “relatively benign environ-
ment we have enjoyed in many decades in our region is
behind us.”
The government has argued that AUKUS is a defensive
response to an increasingly aggressive China, for main-
taining ‘peace and stability’ in the region.
But it’s the US and its allies like Australia who are the
aggressors and biggest threats to peace in Asia and the
world. The Defence Strategic Review even says an
invasion of the Australia continent is only a “remote
possibility”.
The US has over 750 military bases spanning the globe
with bases in South Korea, Japan, Guam, and the Philip-
pines directed against China. Two US bases in Australia
at Pine Gap and Exmouth currently play an integral part
in the US military machine. China has only one foreign
base in the entire world, in Djibouti.
With the help of Australia the U.S. has led devastating
invasions of Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Australia also plays the role of bully in the region, using
Pacific nations like Nauru and Papua New Guinea as a
dumping ground for refugees and exploiting East Timor
for its oil.
The best way for Australia and the U.S. to encourage
peace and stability is to start to practice what they
preach- this should begin with abandoning AUKUS and
the drive to war.
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© 2023 Sydney Anti-AUKUS Colaition
