Today's news in major cities, regional and local areas hich can include accident reports

Thursday, March 14, 2024

TODAY. AUKUS nuclear pact – a lame duck?

What is AUKUS? It's a weird nuclear pact - loftily described as a trilateral security pact for the Indo-Pacific region. In reality it's an agreement made without the knowledge of the Australian people, without discussion in Parliament , to mak…
Read on blog or Reader
Site logo image Antinuclear Read on blog or Reader

TODAY. AUKUS nuclear pact – a lame duck?

Christina Macpherson

March 14

What is AUKUS? It's a weird nuclear pact - loftily described as a trilateral security pact for the Indo-Pacific region.

In reality it's an agreement made without the knowledge of the Australian people, without discussion in Parliament , to make Australia pay close to $400 billion for second-hand nuclear attack submarines, including their radioactive trash.

How did this agreement come about?

In 2021, Australia's then Prime Minister, Scott Morrison was a Trump-like figure, basically incompetent, but willing to do anything to get his face on the international media. He organised this extraordinary agreement, much to the joy of the nuclear lobby and Western war-hawks in general.

Morrison caused an international incident, in breaking Australia's contract with France for non-nuclear submarines, (which would be much better suited for Australia's coastal security monitoring")

Is there opposition in Australia to this costly boondoggle?

Yes, but not enough. With the media about 70% owned by Murdoch outlets, the Australian public was fed a steady diet of what a threat China is to us, and how the AUKUS nuclear submarine will save us and blah blah.

And then, we got a new Prime Minister - Labor's Anthony Albanese, (who has a history of opposition to nuclear). It was a national sigh of relief to get rid of the narcissistic and unpredictable Morrison. But 'twas too much to hope that Albanese would have the guts to stand up to the USA, or indeed to appear "weak" to the Australian public.

What is the present situation with AUKUS?

Well, apart from the misgivings of Australia's near neighbours, like Indonesia, and the Nuclear-Free Zone, now there's even trouble in the USA camp. On 12 March came the Tuesday release of the Biden administration's 2025 defence budget request,  - with reduced funding, well below the production rate of 2.33 subs a year the US says is necessary to sell any submarines to Australia. They got cold feet about the deal, as the USA is struggling to build the nuclear submarines that it needs for itself.

Meanwhile the American opposition, whatever you think of Donald Trump, is at the moment less keen on the idea of waging war against China. I mean - they probably do want to, - but they don't like spending the money on making military stuff for another country.

There are, of course, other problems with the AUKUS nuclear submarine plan. Like the fact these subs will almost certainly be obsolete before they ever get under the water. China, with its shallow coastal waters, is making lots of small drones , that could detect and destroy these nuclear submarines. The AUKUS sub and its peers are intended for surveillance only. but they could be fitted with nuclear warheads. Perhaps that's the plan. Who knows?

Meanwhile - is there a chance that Australia could avoid this costly boondoggle? And actually have the money to meet some real needs?

Comment
Like
You can also reply to this email to leave a comment.

Antinuclear © 2024. Manage your email settings or unsubscribe.

WordPress.com and Jetpack Logos

Get the Jetpack app

Subscribe, bookmark, and get real-time notifications - all from one app!

Download Jetpack on Google Play Download Jetpack from the App Store
WordPress.com Logo and Wordmark title=

Automattic, Inc. - 60 29th St. #343, San Francisco, CA 94110  

at March 14, 2024
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest

No comments:

Post a Comment

Newer Post Older Post Home
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

JHI Blog: Recent posts

...

  • [New post] Germany Offers Free of Cost Work Visas to Indian IT Workers
    Arooj Fatima posted: " Indian IT professionals can now enjoy Germany's one of the best offers in terms of immigration. ...
  • [New post] Is Chicken In A Biskit Coming Back? We Just Got Word That It Might Be
    trentbartlett posted: "Rumours around this snack's return have been floating around the internet for a little while now...
  • [New post] 6 Apps You Must Add to Your iPhone ASAP | FinanceBuzz
    lhvi3...

Search This Blog

  • Home

About Me

Today's news in major cities, regional and local areas which can include accident reports, police & emergency responses, criminal and court proceedings or live
View my complete profile

Report Abuse

Blog Archive

  • May 2025 (2)
  • April 2025 (10)
  • March 2025 (8)
  • February 2025 (6)
  • January 2025 (4)
  • December 2024 (6)
  • November 2024 (8)
  • October 2024 (9)
  • September 2024 (8)
  • August 2024 (5)
  • July 2024 (10)
  • June 2024 (10)
  • May 2024 (11)
  • April 2024 (4)
  • March 2024 (1462)
  • February 2024 (3037)
  • January 2024 (3253)
  • December 2023 (3238)
  • November 2023 (3122)
  • October 2023 (3010)
  • September 2023 (2524)
  • August 2023 (2299)
  • July 2023 (2223)
  • June 2023 (2164)
  • May 2023 (2229)
  • April 2023 (2135)
  • March 2023 (2236)
  • February 2023 (2171)
  • January 2023 (2326)
  • December 2022 (2500)
  • November 2022 (2470)
  • October 2022 (2648)
  • September 2022 (1909)
  • August 2022 (1839)
  • July 2022 (1856)
  • June 2022 (1969)
  • May 2022 (2411)
  • April 2022 (2354)
  • March 2022 (1867)
  • February 2022 (1013)
  • January 2022 (1050)
  • December 2021 (1620)
  • November 2021 (3122)
  • October 2021 (3276)
  • September 2021 (3145)
  • August 2021 (3259)
  • July 2021 (3084)
Powered by Blogger.