FMT:
Australian subs deal could have ‘deadly’ consequences, says ex-PM
Paul Keating warns the ‘unnecessary’ venture may embroil the country in future conflicts.
PM Anthony Albanese (left) announced Australia would buy up to five US submarines under the Aukus deal to counter China’s rise. (AP pic)
SYDNEY: A former Australian prime minister on Wednesday rubbished the country’s landmark nuclear-powered submarines deal, saying it unnecessarily targeted China and could have “deadly consequences”.
Australia announced on Monday it would buy up to five US submarines in an ambitious effort to bulk up Western muscle in the face of a rising China.
With the help of the US and Britain, Australia will also embark upon a 30-year plan to build its own fleet of nuclear-powered subs.
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said the deal was the country’s biggest-ever military upgrade, while US President Joe Biden said it would ensure the region remained “free and open”.
But former prime minister Paul Keating has derided it as a “great misadventure”.
“History will be the judge of this project in the end, but I want my name clearly recorded among those who say it is a great mistake,” he said in a statement.
The former Labor prime minister – who led the country between 1991 and 1996 – said Australia had blindly followed the US and Britain, and that China posed no tangible military threat.
“What would be the point of China wanting to occupy Sydney and Melbourne? Militarily? And could they ever do it,” he said.
“The question is so dumb, it’s hardly worth an answer.”
Keating said Australia was beginning a “dangerous and unnecessary journey” at the urging of the US, and that this could carry “deadly consequences” if the country became tangled in future conflicts.
“Signing the country up to the foreign proclivities of another country – the US – with the gormless Brits lunging along behind is not a pretty sight,” he said.
Acquiring submarines powered by nuclear reactors puts Australia in an elite club and at the forefront of US-led efforts to push back against Chinese military expansion.
While Australia has ruled out deploying atomic weapons, its submarine plan marks a significant new stage in the confrontation with China, which has been racing to strengthen its own sophisticated naval fleet.
SYDNEY: A former Australian prime minister on Wednesday rubbished the country’s landmark nuclear-powered submarines deal, saying it unnecessarily targeted China and could have “deadly consequences”.
Australia announced on Monday it would buy up to five US submarines in an ambitious effort to bulk up Western muscle in the face of a rising China.
With the help of the US and Britain, Australia will also embark upon a 30-year plan to build its own fleet of nuclear-powered subs.
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said the deal was the country’s biggest-ever military upgrade, while US President Joe Biden said it would ensure the region remained “free and open”.
But former prime minister Paul Keating has derided it as a “great misadventure”.
“History will be the judge of this project in the end, but I want my name clearly recorded among those who say it is a great mistake,” he said in a statement.
The former Labor prime minister – who led the country between 1991 and 1996 – said Australia had blindly followed the US and Britain, and that China posed no tangible military threat.
“What would be the point of China wanting to occupy Sydney and Melbourne? Militarily? And could they ever do it,” he said.
“The question is so dumb, it’s hardly worth an answer.”
Keating said Australia was beginning a “dangerous and unnecessary journey” at the urging of the US, and that this could carry “deadly consequences” if the country became tangled in future conflicts.
“Signing the country up to the foreign proclivities of another country – the US – with the gormless Brits lunging along behind is not a pretty sight,” he said.
Acquiring submarines powered by nuclear reactors puts Australia in an elite club and at the forefront of US-led efforts to push back against Chinese military expansion.
While Australia has ruled out deploying atomic weapons, its submarine plan marks a significant new stage in the confrontation with China, which has been racing to strengthen its own sophisticated naval fleet.
***
The NewDaily:
Paul Keating brands Albanese’s AUKUS move a Labor betrayal
The NewDaily:
Paul Keating brands Albanese’s AUKUS move a Labor betrayal
Paul Keating's comments at the National Press Club
Anthony Albanese’s support for nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS agreement is Labor’s worst decision in government for a century, former prime minister Paul Keating says.
Mr Keating, a long-time critic of Australia’s foreign policy sacred cows, including the American alliance underpinning national security, more delivered his brutal assessment of the current PM at a National Press Club event in Canberra on Wednesday.
The AUKUS deal is a mistake, and Labor’s worst in power since wartime PM Billy Hughes sought to introduce conscription, Mr Keating said in a statement circulated before his appearance.
What’s more, it broke the party’s foreign policy winning streak, he said.
“Every Labor Party branch member will wince when they realise that the party we all fight for is returning to our former colonial master, Britain, to find our security in Asia,” he said.
Mr Albanese joined his US and British counterparts in San Diego on Tuesday to announce a $368-billion plan for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS pact.
“We have been here before: Australia’s international interests subsumed by those of our allies,” Mr Keating said.
“Defence policy substituting for foreign policy. But this time it is a Labor government lining us up
“Anthony Albanese’s government has picked up and has taken ownership of the strategic architecture of the Morrison government – but taken it up in full and with unprecedented gusto.”
Mr Keating said Mr Albanese had not pursued a chance to discuss foreign policy issues with him earlier this year.
Mr Keating has previously mocked the notion that nuclear submarines would deter China as comparable to throwing “toothpicks at a mountain”.
The way Paul Keating speaks up against strengthening of Australia's defence capabilities makes it look confirmed that he has been heavily compromised.
ReplyDeleteBetrayal can wear many faces, even ex-PMs
Mfer, u ignore the question of WHY Australia needs to strengthen its defence capabilities.
DeleteAnyone plotting to overrun the kangaroo land?
Or all the dingos inside Canberra r been paranoiac about China, at the instigation of the Yank.
Compromised?
Yes, those who r following the pipe Piper tune of the Yank - as in the case of Ukraine.
Fighting for the LIKES of an outside administration, far far away from its hone turf, while forgetting about the RIGHT of the common ozzies!
Albanese has played a very smart game over strengthening defence and security policies as well as trying to have business-like relations with China.
ReplyDeleteTo be frank, I half expected the new Labour Government to be a China flunkey, given the servile policies and attitudes of most past Labour PMs.
Early days!
ReplyDeleteThe warnings of the Chinese will rain storms of hail - worst than what Scotty had expected!