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AUKUS submarine plan faces cancellation call from Australian public inquiry

A public inquiry led by Peter Garrett and former defence chief Chris Barrie has urged Australia to abandon the nuclear-powered submarine programme. Its recommendations challenge delivery guarantees and oversight, while the government continues to defend the pact as essential to national security. The first secondhand submarine is scheduled for 2032.

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Seen over the shoulder in an Australian courtyard, an anonymous civil-society inquiry representative addresses journalists about the call to cancel AUKUS.

Garrett and Barrie seek an end to the programme

Peter Garrett, a former Australian Labor minister, and retired defence force chief Chris Barrie presented a civil-society inquiry calling for the cancellation of the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine programme on 4 November. The inquiry also sought a royal commission to examine the agreement.[1], [2]

AUKUS is the defence partnership between Australia, the United States and Britain. The inquiry, dominated by critics of the pact, received more than a thousand written submissions and was funded with about 220,000 Australian dollars in public donations. It recommended suspending plans for new bases and reworking the partnership’s technology-sharing pillar.[1]

Submarine deliveries stretch into the next decades

Australia’s acquisition schedule puts the first secondhand Virginia-class submarine in 2032, followed by another every four years. The Australian-built SSN-AUKUS design is scheduled to enter service in 2042. Delays and rising costs in submarine production for the US navy have fuelled doubts about the availability of boats for Australia. Garrett argued that delivery lacked enforceable guarantees.[1]

Canberra maintains its support

Defence Minister Richard Marles’s spokesperson defended AUKUS as central to national security policy, citing the national defence strategy’s call for forces able to project greater power. Labor has maintained the agreement negotiated under the Morrison government. The government also says its defence strategic review considered the pact.[1]

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References

  1. News sourceThe GuardianPublic inquiry urges cancellation of AUKUS submarine plan; government defends it↩1↩2↩3↩4
  2. News sourceSydney Morning HeraldAustralian public inquiry urges an end to AUKUS submarine programme↩
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