- by Denis Doherty
- The Guardian
- Issue #2194
Sydney participants in the Anti-AUKUS and Anti Bases day 21 February.
The AUKUS pact is in the news now. Three items have made it prominent: the Budget, the Shangri-la Conference in Singapore, and the announcement of the AUKUS Public Inquiry. The government is still feeling the repercussions of the US announcement that Australia will be getting 3 second hand Virginia class submarines.
EXORBITANT
The budget revealed that Australian taxpayers would be paying a massive $17 billion over the next 4 years without seeing a single submarine. That is on top of $10 billion paid to both the US and UK submarine producers. A short time later it was revealed that the exorbitant spend on submarines would result in second hand boats rather than bright shiny new boats. This put the government on the back foot in Parliament trying to explain what was happening.
Defence Minister Richard Marles tried to put the best spin on the situation by saying this move would make maintenance “simpler.” The Greens, “teals” and independent MPs have renewed their call for a saner approach to Australia’s defence rather than putting all our trust in the US and UK. The US is a declining empire while the UK is a shell of its former self. Trusting these powers to be part of our security is not dealing with the changed reality in the world today.
INQUIRY
The AUKUS Public Inquiry has cleverly put together a great team of prominent Australians from key sections of the population to judge the relevance of AUKUS. The Inquiry is headed by former ALP Minister Peter Garrett, Karina Lester, an important First Nations rep whose father was blinded by the UK nuclear bombs tests near Woomera SA, former Chief of the ADF and now Professor Admiral Chris Barrie, former Labor Premier of WA and Federal Parliamentary rep Carmen Lawrence, and Leanne Minshull of the Australia Institute. The Inquiry is holding its first sessions in Melbourne.
The first submission will be from Gareth Evans, well known as a former Australian Foreign Affairs Minister.
The Prime Minister has said bluntly, “AUKUS is going ahead.” The government has shown no hesitation about AUKUS, but Ed Husic, former minister, and now ALP member for Chifley in Western Sydney has spoken out about AUKUS suggesting the issue be revisited. Instead, the government has sent out five Ministers to reject any suggestion that they are wavering on AUKUS. The Parliamentary party may be mostly rock solid but a lot of the union movement and many ordinary members of the ALP are more cautious.
AGGRESSION
AUKUS represents a dramatic turn in Australia’s attitude and stance towards the region. Instead of cooperation, the approach is one of dominance of the region. A nuclear-powered submarine can sail to another country thousands of kilometres away and remain on station for 6 months without moving or being detected. Having this facility means that Australia is about attacking. Or at least in coalition with US or UK forces it will be in an aggressive stance towards others.
Submarines with a range of 300kms would be defensive, suitable for protecting this country. The AUKUS submarines are designed to be far away and offensive. The AUKUS submarines are much too big for our needs, like buying a semi-trailer when all you need is a utility.
The expense of the submarines is off the scale, at a time when Australians are desperate for housing, health, and cost-of-living measures.
What’s wrong with second hand Virginia submarines? The boats have a propulsion system that cannot removed, the reactor is loaded with fuel that will last 33 years and cannot be renewed. The core has only a restricted number of Effective Full Power Hours (EFPH), it acts as a finite, non-refillable tank of fuel.
The available models have had between 11 to 15 years’ service already out of their 33 year life. These second-hand submarines will require a lot of time in dry dock for refurbishment. The submarines will not be able to be used for long periods.
US industry is in such a desultory state that repairs and maintenance on the 2nd hand boats will be difficult and expensive, with spare parts difficult to acquire.
In 2021 an Indonesian submarine, a second-hand buy from Germany, had catastrophically sunk, killing all of its 53 crew. The submarine was found split in three parts on the ocean floor. If a Virginia Class sub sank in deep water with a crew of 134, very few would survive.
Richard Marles’ defence of the AUKUS subs is that they can protect sea lanes thousands of kilometres from our shore. He hinted at the closure of the Strait of Hormuz being a reason to have such submarines. He didn’t point out that the US has not even tried to use Virginia class subs to open the Strait.
SHAMBOLIC
The other part of AUKUS includes the proposed manufacture of SSN AUKUS by the British Submarine Manufacturing Industry. Insiders have described British submarine manufacture as ‘shambolic.’ The design plans being worked up would make their way to Adelaide where they will be made. Even if we needed the submarines, news from Britain does not inspire confidence.
While Australia gets a very poor deal at great expense the US and UK get nuclear submarine bases in Australia for no charge. The deal is we take their old subs at huge prices, we dispose of the waste they generate (how, Marles can’t say), and they get bases in WA and later the East Coast of Australia.
The US/Israel war on Iran has taught us real lessons on how to defend ourselves in the event of a war against a major power(s) invading force. The use of a combination of geography, low-cost drone and high quality missiles in some numbers and good surveillance has seen Iran keep the US Navy hundreds of kilometres away from their coastline. We need to consider that we now live in a multipolar world.
INDEPENDENCE
The Communist Party of Australia’s position on AUKUS is consistent with a long-standing policy demanding an independent foreign policy for Australia. What we have now is not independence, but an expensive and dangerous position as a vassal state of the US. AUKUS is the latest and most expensive manifestation of that status. It doesn’t have to be that way.
