Labor luminary and former NSW premier Bob Carr has told a makeshift AUKUS inquiry that his party should have used its 2022 election victory to back out of the $368bn submarine deal to save “Australian sovereignty”.
The crowd-funded public inquiry chaired by former Labor minister and Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett heard from Mr Carr as well as former prime minister and avowed AUKUS critic Malcolm Turnbull.
Mr Carr said Australia’s north had become a target as a result of military co-operation with the US and Anthony Albanese had had a “clear opening” to ditch the AUKUS pact after taking office.
“Why can’t there be a debate about B52s in Australia’s north, about the militarisation of Australia’s north. We’ve suddenly made it a target if there should be a war between the two dominant powers,” Mr Carr said.
“There was a clear opening for a prime minister elected with such goodwill to have said a couple of days after being sworn in that having looked at the available material and taken advice from senior defence officials, he and his colleagues harbour real doubts about the vulnerability of something struck by the Morrison government.”
Reflecting on conversations with former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser, Mr Carr told the inquiry’s hearing in Sydney that the US alliance presented more of a threat to Australian sovereignty than protection from potential conflict in the Indo-Pacific.
Mr Turnbull, a longstanding critic of the Trump administration, similarly argued that the deal represented an “abdication of Australian sovereignty in matters of national defence” and questioned the basis of Australia’s relationship with the US under President Donald Trump.
“We have effectively ceded control of a West Australian naval base to the US navy. Whether we get any nuclear-powered submarines will depend on political decisions in Washington and industrial developments in the US and the UK,” his submission to the inquiry read.
“It is naive to imagine that the submarines, if ever acquired, could be used other than in accordance with American wishes. Will AUKUS enhance our security or simply draw Australia into a conflict with China whether we like it or not?”
Despite declaring his critique of the submarine deal did not extend to Australia’s broader relationship with Washington, Mr Turnbull said the foundations of the relationship had been uprooted by Mr Trump and required “honest re-examination”.
“American presidents, whatever their failings, whatever the motives or occasional hypocrisy, had always made the case that their actions in international affairs were taken in defence of democracy,” his submission reads. “President Trump does not pretend to share those values. He does not pretend to be interested in them whatsoever. He not only believes might is right, he says he believes it.”
Arrangements around a US rotation of American-operated Virginia-class submarines out of the HMAS Stirling naval base in WA were thrown into contention late last month after Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy put a deadline on the presence of the US navy.
Both Mr Conroy and Defence Minister Richard Marles subsequently clarified the government position that the rotational deployment of US submarines would be “enduring”, in comments backed by the Pentagon.
Despite pledges from the US, British and Australian governments that the deal remains a top priority, Mr Turnbull said Australia could be left with a submarine capability gap due to delays in US delivery. “The prospect of the US doubling its rate of Virginia production in the next six years is highly unlikely,” his submission reads. “So there is a very real risk Australia gets no Virginias at all. This risk is acknowledged everywhere but in Canberra.”
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