AUKUS Anti-climax
AUKUS Debate Loss for Albanese, Keating at War with Washington
AUKUS Debate Loss for Albanese
The government is prioritising platitudes over substance as critics question the AUS$368 billion nuclear submarine project.
The Albanese government is at serious risk of losing the public debate over AUKUS.
This situation arises from a persistent failure in communication, an unwillingness to take the public into their confidence and the inability to explain the basic strategic purpose of why Australia seeks to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.
The latest manifestation of this public relations debacle was the announcement last week that US President Joe Biden had informed Congress that a new AUKUS agreement had been struck, one which included undisclosed "political commitments".
That left the Cabinet scrambling to reassure voters that Australian sovereignty and agency remains uncompromised. Nothing sinister was involved, they insisted, including no automatic Australian agreement to join the US in a war over Taiwan.
But opposition leader Peter Dutton said, "It's certainly an unusual statement, and I think the prime minister should provide an explanation of what Australia has signed up to". Both the prime minister and defence minister offered little more than their usual windbaggery. They insist all is well with AUKUS.
Keating at War with Washington
EXCLUSIVE. In the Australian Financial Review this week, new and previously unseen documents reveal that White House officials in the early 1990s thought Australia was abandoning America for Asia. Documents show testy exchange between Aus and U.S. officials over trade, with much broader implications: then and now.
