Published:
Mar 22, 2023 23:59 GMT
Jordon Steele-John called the deal “one of the most catastrophic foreign policy decisions” and added that it undermines Canberra’s ability to be an “independent player”.
Australian Senator Jordon Steele-John it was pronounced this Tuesday against the purchase of US nuclear submarines in the framework of the AUKUS agreement.
“$368 billion to buy eight nuclear-powered submarines that won’t be delivered until I’m in my 60s. And for this the Australian people will get the privilege of becoming a dumping ground for nuclear waste,” he claimed the legislator, 28 years old.
“It is a waste of public funds. It puts us in danger. It is one of the most catastrophic foreign policy decisions the Australian government has ever made, and it fundamentally undermines our ability to be considered as independent players in our region,” he said. He added that Australia is “chained” to the US forever because of AUKUS and that, as a consequence, other countries in the region are not going to doubt that “when the US tells us to ‘jump’, we respond: ‘? At what height?’ and ‘would you prefer a backflip, sir?'”
In addition, the senator described as “outrageous” criticism by Australian lawmakers against former Prime Minister Paul Keating, who criticized his country’s current government for joining AUKUS, describing the submarine acquisition as the “worst international decision by a Labor government “in over a hundred years.
- After the creation of AUKUS, Australia terminated in September 2021 a contract with the French company Naval Group that provided for the construction of 12 conventional submersibles. Instead, Canberra set out to acquire a fleet of nuclear powered submarines under the new alliance. In June, the Australian Government decided to pay US$585 million in compensation to the Naval Group.
- In June last year, former Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton revealed secret plans to acquire two Virginia-class submarines of the USA in 2030, which generated criticism from the current Executive.
- In early March, the Australian ambassador to Washington, Arthur Sinodinos, noted that Australia guarantees that US nuclear propulsion technology will be safe and it is “safe in terms of third-party leaks And everything else”.
- Last week Jake Sullivan, US National Security adviser, announced that “over the course of the 2030s” Canberra will acquire three nuclear-powered Virginia-class ships and conventionally armedwith the “possibility to go up to five if necessary”.
