/qnotables/ - ===Q Notables===

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18478706 (101049ZMAR23) Notable: Canberra urged not to risk national interests to serve Washington over possible submarine deal - With the latest updates of Australia's possible purchases of five US Virgina class nuclear powered submarines being revealed by Western media in advance of the AUKUS meeting in the US, Chinese observers urged Canberra not to blindly follow Washington's strategy in containing Beijing, and risk its own national interests on economy and security only to serve Washington's interests. - Xu Keyue - globaltimes.cn

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>>42650

Canberra urged not to risk national interests to serve Washington over possible submarine deal

Xu Keyue - Mar 09, 2023

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With the latest updates of Australia's possible purchases of five US Virgina class nuclear powered submarines being revealed by Western media in advance of the AUKUS meeting in the US, Chinese observers urged Canberra not to blindly follow Washington's strategy in containing Beijing, and risk its own national interests on economy and security only to serve Washington's interests.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that Australia is expected to buy up to five US Virginia class nuclear powered submarines in the 2030s as part of a landmark defense agreement between Washington, Canberra and London, citing four US officials, saying this is "in a deal that would present a new challenge to China."

The agreement, known as the AUKUS pact, will have multiple stages with at least one US submarine visiting Australian ports in the coming years and end in the late 2030s with a new class of submarines being built with British designs and American technology, according to the report.

The updates on AUKUS pact were revealed before next Monday's meeting which will be hosted by the US President Joe Biden and attended by leaders of Australia and the UK in San Diego to "chart a way forward for provision of the nuclear-powered submarines and other high-tech weaponry to Australia," Reuters noted.

The AUKUS pact is seeking to target China including on the Taiwan question and the South China Sea issues.

Commenting on the updates, Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a press conference on Thursday that China believes that the trilateral cooperation (AUKUS) poses serious nuclear proliferation risks, impacts the international nuclear non-proliferation regime, stimulates arms race and undermines peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, which is widely questioned and opposed by countries in the region and the international community.

The Chinese spokesperson urged the US, the UK and Australia to abandon the Cold War mentality and zero-sum game, faithfully fulfill their international obligations and do more to contribute to regional peace and stability.

Since the initial AUKUS deal announced in 2021 under the then Australia's Morrison administration of Liberal Party, former Australian prime ministers Paul Keating and Malcolm Turnbull have argued that AUKUS will make Australia too dependent on the US at a time the nation should be becoming more self-reliant, according to the Sydney Morning Herald in February.

Keating, the Australian Labor legend, in September 2021 said that the partnership would produce "a further dramatic loss of Australian sovereignty" and continued his criticism in October, 2022 adding that it would be a "tragedy for Australia" if Labor followed through with the deal.

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18478707 (101050ZMAR23) Notable: Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning’s Regular Press Conference on March 9, 2023 - "China has made clear its strong position on nuclear submarine cooperation between the US, the UK and Australia on multiple occasions. This trilateral cooperation constitutes serious nuclear proliferation risks, undermines the international non-proliferation system, exacerbates arms race and hurts peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific. It has been widely questioned and opposed by regional countries and the wider international community."

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>>42662

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The US is pushing Australia to the forefront in the zero-sum game against China in a bid to serve its own interests, Chen Hong, president of the Chinese Association of Australian Studies and director of the Australian Studies Centre at East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Thursday.

If the purchase of nuclear powered submarines and other new development of the AUKUS pact are officially announced after the next Monday's meeting, Australia would take a dangerous step on the road to nuclear attack possession, which will pose big threat to the peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, Chen warned.

Given that the US-led AUKUS is military adventurist, Chen urged Australia not to be a pawn of the US, investing a lot for the US anti-China strategy, putting itself in a dangerous position, risking its own national interests but in the end very possibly gaining nothing.

The recently improved ties between China and Australia have helped Australia recover its economy in the post-pandemic era. China and Australia trade amounted to 259.7 billion yuan ($37.47 billion) in January and February, with both imports and exports achieving double-digit growth year-on-year, data from China's General Administration of Customs shows on Tuesday.

Albanese has also repeatedly stressed the importance of ties with China, but the US anti-China strategy has always be a timebomb to the China-Australia ties, observers noted.

It is time for the Albanese administration to adopt its political wisdom and avoid being coerced by the domestic anti-China forces, blindly following the US and confronting China, Chen said.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1286993.shtml

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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning’s Regular Press Conference on March 9, 2023

Bloomberg: Just a question on Australia’s nuclear submarines. It’s reported that they will use both British design as well as American parts and upgrades. Does the foreign ministry have any position or view on this?

Mao Ning: China has made clear its strong position on nuclear submarine cooperation between the US, the UK and Australia on multiple occasions. This trilateral cooperation constitutes serious nuclear proliferation risks, undermines the international non-proliferation system, exacerbates arms race and hurts peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific. It has been widely questioned and opposed by regional countries and the wider international community.

We urge the US, the UK and Australia to abandon the Cold War mentality and zero-sum games, honor international obligations in good faith and do more things that are conducive to regional peace and stability.

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Reuters: The Australian government lifted COVID testing restrictions on travelers from China on Thursday local time. What’s your comment? Will China take reciprocal measures?

Mao Ning: We have noted relevant reports. China believes that for all countries, COVID response measures need to be science-based and proportionate. We hope countries concerned will work with China to do more to facilitate cross-border travel.

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/202303/t20230309_11038507.html

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18478740 (101105ZMAR23) Notable: True Multilateralism is the Answer to Maintaining the NPT Regime - Remarks by the H.E. Ambassador LI Song at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting under agenda item 8: Transfer of the nuclear materials in the context of AUKUS and its safeguards in all aspects under the NPT - 2023-03-09

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>>42650

China's atomic agency envoy slams AUKUS

HEIDI HAN - 10 March 2023

A Chinese envoy at the UN’s atomic energy agency, IAEA, slammed the AUKUS submarine deal as a "textbook case of nuclear proliferation" and an "unprecedented" transfer of "weapon-grade uranium".

Li Song, Permanent Representative of China to UN and other International Organisations in Vienna delivered the harshest critics against the AUKUS deal at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting yesterday.

"The essence of the AUKUS nuclear submarine cooperation is the transfer of tons of weapon-grade highly enriched uranium by the United States and the United Kingdom, which are nuclear-weapon states and also the depository states of the NPT, to Australia, their military ally and a non-nuclear-weapon state, out of geopolitical and strategic security considerations, "Mr Li said in a speech, published by the Chinese UN mission in Vienna.

"Such an act is a textbook case of nuclear proliferation, runs against the object and purpose of the NPT and poses grave challenges to the existing IAEA safeguards system and the NPT regime, having numerous negative implications for the years to come.

The response came before the AUKUS partners are set to announce detailed plans for Australia's nuclear submarine next week.

The Chinese ambassador also called for the deal to be reviewed among the IAEA member states in an "independent, impartial, transparent and professional manner".

"The attempt of the AUKUS partners to impose upon all the member states a privately concluded safeguards arrangement through separate consultations with the IAEA Secretariat is an attempt to slip thing through.

"This cannot be accepted by the broad member states. "

The IAEA has 176 member states as of March 2023. According to a US Congress report, the United States was the largest financial source to the IAEA in 2021, contributing 25.3 per cent of the regular IAEA budget.

It was followed by China (11.6 per cent), Japan (8.2 per cent), Germany (5.9 per cent), France (4.3 per cent), United Kingdom (4.4 per cent), Brazil (2.8 per cent), Canada (2.6 per cent), the Russian Federation (2.4 per cent), and Spain (2 per cent).

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politicsnow-india-a-top-tier-security-partner-anthony-albanese/live-coverage/096461343de8f35f2dd8fd26ed87a804#93832

http://vienna.china-mission.gov.cn/eng/hyyfy/202303/t20230310_11038635.htm

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18478778 (101131ZMAR23) Notable: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declares India 'top tier' security partner during aircraft carrier visit - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has used a landmark visit to India's flagship carrier INS Vikrant to declare that India is a "top tier" defence partner and announce Indian forces will join the massive Talisman Sabre war games in Australia this year.

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declares India 'top tier' security partner during aircraft carrier visit

Stephen Dziedzic and Avani Dias - 10 March 2023

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has used a landmark visit to India's flagship carrier INS Vikrant to declare that India is a "top tier" defence partner and announce Indian forces will join the massive Talisman Sabre war games in Australia this year.

Mr Albanese also confirmed that Australia would this year host the Operation Malabar naval exercises with the United States, India and Japan as all four nations remain intent on boosting interoperability.

Australia and India have rapidly expanded their defence relationship since 2014, when the two nations held their first ever joint naval exercises.

But Australian officials say Mr Albanese's visit to India's first domestically built aircraft carrier — the first such visit by a foreign leader — is a powerful symbol of New Delhi's willingness to further entrench strategic ties with Canberra.

Mr Albanese climbed into the cockpit of an Indian light fighter jet on the deck of INS Vikrant before meeting with Indian naval personnel on deck.

In a brief speech he called India a "top-tier security partner" for Australia, telling the gathering that the Indian Ocean was "central to both countries' security and prosperity."

"There has never been a point in both of our countries' histories where we've had such a strong strategic alignment," the prime minister said.

Mr Albanese also said there had "never been a busier or more productive time in our defence and security partnership" and that the two nations last year "conducted more exercises, operations and dialogues than ever before."

This year, that will include Talisman Sabre, which is held every two years and conducted at designated ADF training facilities primarily throughout Queensland and in areas of the Coral Sea.

Thousands of personnel from multiple nations – including the US, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and the United Kingdom – participated in the war games in 2021.

It's not yet clear how many Indian personnel will take part in 2023, but Australia has been pushing for India to participate since at least 2021, when then defence minister Peter Dutton pressed his counterpart to join.

Australia's hosting of Exercise Malabar this year also shows how far attitudes have shifted in New Delhi – for several years India resisted Australia's push to participate in the exercise at all, effectively restricting it to an observer role.

India intent on strengthening ties

Former Indian Navy Commodore and vice president of the Indian Maritime Foundation, Anil Jai Singh, told the ABC that India's decision to invite Mr Albanese to the Vikrant was "significant."

"The Australia India relationship over the last decade or so, has even surprised many in India, the speed at which the strategic partnership has developed over the last eight to 10 years," he said.

"It signifies a larger cooperation between India and Australia… in maritime and naval connectivity and cooperation, perhaps in export of technologies between our two countries, and co-development and co-production of military hardware.

"I think defence cooperation, particularly in the maritime domain … is a convergence that India and Australia will seek to build upon in the years to come."

But analysts also say while India is intent on strengthening ties with Western nations like Australia and the US, Russia remains a key supplier of weapons and military equipment.

INS Vikrant was built in India but is partly based on a Russian design.

When Mr Albanese visited the carrier – which is still being tested ahead of becoming fully operational by the end of this year – he walked past three Russian MiG fighter aircraft on board.

But Anil Jai Singh told the ABC that India was intent on building its own defence industry.

"The defence sector is considered key to promoting self reliance because we consider our dependence on defence imports as a major strategic vulnerability," he said.

"Therefore, Vikrant as the first indigenously built aircraft carrier is a great showpiece of our naval capability, technological and industrial skills and the ability to deliver on these large platforms within a specified time frame towards bolstering our naval capability in the Indo Pacific."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-10/albanese-declares-india-as-top-tier-security-partner/102077116

https://twitter.com/AlboMP/status/1633811787043815424

https://twitter.com/IN_R11Vikrant/status/1633818280870940682

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18478825 (101208ZMAR23) Notable: ‘Bullied and undermined’: Thorpe says she quit Greens over treatment by MPs - Independent senator Lidia Thorpe has alleged that she quit the Greens because she was bullied and undermined by several of her party room colleagues, saying she lodged a written complaint about her treatment with leader Adam Bandt and the parliament’s workplace misconduct support service last year.

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>>42429 (pb)

‘Bullied and undermined’: Thorpe says she quit Greens over treatment by MPs

Lisa Visentin - March 10, 2023

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Independent senator Lidia Thorpe has alleged that she quit the Greens because she was bullied and undermined by several of her party room colleagues, saying she lodged a written complaint about her treatment with leader Adam Bandt and the parliament’s workplace misconduct support service last year.

The Aboriginal Victorian senator split from the Greens last month and moved to the crossbench to lead a black sovereignty movement as an independent, claiming at the time she wanted to speak freely on issues without being constrained by party positions.

Thorpe’s defection came after months of ongoing divisions with her colleagues over the Greens’ position on the Voice to parliament – a proposal which she had heavily criticised as the party’s First Nations spokeswoman while her fellow MPs were eager to support it.

But in an interview on Thursday that ends the understanding between Thorpe and Bandt not to discuss the circumstances around her exit, Thorpe said differences over the referendum were not the key reason for her departure, alleging that she quit because a number of Greens senators had “caused a lot of harm” to her.

She declined to name the senators or how many were involved, citing an ongoing formal complaints process.

“I didn’t leave over the referendum. I left over irreconcilable differences,” Thorpe said.

She said she detailed the allegations in a formal written complaint in the second half of 2022 to Bandt and the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service, an independent office that handles complaints about workplace misconduct or conflict.

“There’s a few senators within the Greens who undermined me and hurt me and I’ve had to report that to PWSS,” Thorpe said.

“I raised it with the Greens. I raised it with the leader. I said ‘I can’t deal with this any more. I’m being undermined. I’m being bullied. And it’s got to stop.’ It didn’t stop,” Thorpe said.

The crossbench senator said she had not heard back from the support service since lodging the complaint.

A spokesperson for Bandt confirmed the leader was aware of Thorpe’s complaints, but rejected her assertions they constituted bullying. Bandt’s spokesperson confirmed he and Thorpe remained friends and had a working relationship.

“Mr Bandt worked with Senator Thorpe on the issues she raised including arranging an opportunity to have her concerns addressed through PWSS mediation, but Senator Thorpe left the Greens before mediation occurred,” the spokesperson said.

“We do not accept that the issues raised by Senator Thorpe constituted bullying.”

In response to a written question about whether Bandt accepted Thorpe’s claims that she quit the party over her treatment by her colleagues and the lack of support she received from the party, the spokesperson said “no” but did not elaborate.

A spokesperson for the PWSS said it was a confidential service and did not comment on whether it has had involvement in workplace matters.

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18478953 (101300ZMAR23) Notable: Charities watchdog to review fraud allegations made in parliament against Hillsong - The charities watchdog will review allegations made in parliament that Hillsong church misused the donations of its members. Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has used parliamentary privilege to accuse Hillsong church of breaking financial laws in Australia and around the world relating to "fraud, money laundering and tax evasion". Mr Wilkie claimed tens of thousands of leaked financial records and documents — including credit card statements, details of designer gifts and the use of private jets — show a misuse of church funds and lavish spending.

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>>42656

Charities watchdog to review fraud allegations made in parliament against Hillsong

Chantelle Al-Khouri - 10 March 2023

The charities watchdog will review allegations made in parliament that Hillsong church misused the donations of its members.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has used parliamentary privilege to accuse Hillsong church of breaking financial laws in Australia and around the world relating to "fraud, money laundering and tax evasion".

Mr Wilkie claimed tens of thousands of leaked financial records and documents — including credit card statements, details of designer gifts and the use of private jets — show a misuse of church funds and lavish spending.

The Tasmanian MP said some of the documents show former leader Brian Houston — who stepped down from the role last year — was "treating private jets like Ubers" and used church money for various trips costing a total of $179,000 in one three-month period.

The Charities and Not-for-profits Commission confirmed on Friday afternoon it would investigate the allegations.

"Hillsong has stated publicly that it is fully cooperating with regulatory authorities,” ACNC commissioner Sue Woodward AM said.

Jason Clare, who sits in cabinet, told Channel 7 the allegations were serious and should be looked at.

"From the nature of the allegations that have been put before the parliament today — and the nature of the response from the church — it seems like the sort of thing that the tax office needs to take seriously," Mr Clare said.

The Australian Tax Office told the ABC they were unable to comment.

Standing next to two large stacks of folders of documents, Mr Wilkie claimed there were details of four members of the Houston family and their friends spending $150,000 of church money on a luxury retreat in Cancun, Mexico in 2021.

Mr Wilkie also alleged the new head of Hillsong, Phil Dooley, had spent tens of thousands of dollars on business-class flights for him and his daughter.

Mr Wilkie claimed that church donations were also used to pay more than a million dollars a year in royalties to Hillsong musicians like Brian Houston's son, Joel.

"Hillsong followers believe that the money they put in the poor box goes to the poor, but these documents show how that money is actually used to do the kind of shopping that would embarrass a Kardashian," Mr Wilkie detailed in the parliament's Federation Chamber.

He also said hundreds of thousands of dollars in honorariums were paid to US pastors overseas.

"Sending millions of dollars of Australian charitable donations overseas is illegal in some circumstances," Mr Wilkie said.

Mr Wilkie also alleged that Hillsong earns $80 million more in Australian annual income than it reports publicly.

Under parliamentary privilege Mr Wilkie also alleged the leaked financial records and documents were provided to the Australian Taxation Office and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission under whistleblower protections, but said they failed to act on the documents.

Mr Wilkie said the lack of regulatory oversight was as alarming as the allegations made against Hillsong.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Hillsong Church disputed the allegations, claiming Mr Wilkie's remarks were out of context and based on "untested allegations" made by an employee in an ongoing legal case.

The spokesperson said the church had been "open and transparent with our congregation about past governance failures, and over the past twelve months we have engaged independent, professional assistance to overhaul our governance and accountability procedures."

"These allegations, made under parliamentary privilege, are in many respects wrong, and it is disappointing he made no effort to contact us first," the spokesperson said.

"If he did so we would have answered his questions and provided him with financial records to address his concerns.

"Hillsong has sought independent legal and accounting advice on these matters since the employee involved in the legal case made these claims, and we believe that we have complied with all legal and compliance requirements.

"We have filed our defence and will provide evidence at the appropriate time. We cannot do so at this stage due to the ongoing legal case … We are fully cooperating with regulatory authorities as part of their enquiries."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-10/federal-mp-accuses-hillsong-money-laundering-tax-evasion/102077080

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18484519 (111020ZMAR23) Notable: ‘An absolute priority’: Albanese promises AUKUS will mean jobs for Australia - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised the AUKUS pact on nuclear-powered submarines will deliver a significant injection of jobs for Australia, amid concerns the decision to buy up to five boats from the United States will come at the expense of domestic manufacturing.

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>>42650

‘An absolute priority’: Albanese promises AUKUS will mean jobs for Australia

Anthony Galloway and David Crowe - March 11, 2023

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised the AUKUS pact on nuclear-powered submarines will deliver a significant injection of jobs for Australia, amid concerns the decision to buy up to five boats from the United States will come at the expense of domestic manufacturing.

Albanese, US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will unveil the details of the submarine agreement aboard the USS Missouri submarine in San Diego on Monday (US time).

The deal, which is largely aimed at deterring China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, will include Australia buying between three and five Virginia-class submarines from the US in the 2030s. A new class of boats with British designs and American technology would then start being built in the years afterwards, but it is unclear how many of these will be built in Australia.

Minutes before jetting off from Delhi on Saturday at the end of his state visit to India, Albanese sought to counter concerns that the decision not to build all the submarines in Adelaide, as promised by former prime minister Scott Morrison, would mean there wouldn’t be a massive injection of jobs into the country.

“This is about jobs … and Adelaide in particular will be a big beneficiary of this announcement, as well as Western Australia in particular,” he said.

“This is about building up our capacity. And when you talk about the issue of manufacturing submarines in Australia, that’s an absolute priority for us. That will be seen as part of the announcement.”

Labor’s traditional union allies have said they have deep concerns about Australia’s plan to acquire a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines and fear the AUKUS pact will not deliver the promised bonanza of Australian manufacturing jobs.

Albanese confirmed he and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had discussed the details of the submarine agreement and said briefings with other countries were “taking place as appropriate”.

“We’re taking appropriate action. I can confirm that I briefed Prime Minister Modi one on one. I treated him with the respect that he deserves,” he said.

Asked whether he had spoken to French President Emmanuel Macron this week, Albanese said: “We deal diplomatically with other countries in an appropriate way … we will treat our partners and our friends with the respect that it deserves.”

Macron accused Morrison of lying to him in 2021 after the announcement of the AUKUS deal, which resulted in Australia dumping a $90 billion agreement with France to build conventionally powered submarines.

A French official told Agence France-Presse on Saturday that they still believed AUKUS was a mistake. “Regarding Australia, it was treason,” the unnamed official said.

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18484553 (111040ZMAR23) Notable: Morrison reset Australian defence structure by planning AUKUS - "The argument that Australia should not have gone ahead with AUKUS to avoid upsetting France was naive. It boiled down to the national strategic interest, and here Australia and France did not necessarily align. For Morrison, the French being unable to see why Australia needed to head in a different direction reflected their lack of clarity on what the issues in the Indo-Pacific actually were." - Simon Benson and Geoff Chambers - theaustralian.com.au

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>>42668

Morrison reset Australian defence structure by planning AUKUS

SIMON BENSON and GEOFF CHAMBERS - MARCH 10, 2023

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It was late into the afternoon of May 13, 2021, when Scott Morrison finally took his plan for AUKUS, which had been more than a year in the making, to the National Security Committee of cabinet.

While it was Morrison’s secret brainchild, it would never have been envisaged had he not already known there would be a receptive ear from Britain and the US, should Australia come calling.

British prime minister Boris Johnson was across the concept – having been briefed by his own defence chiefs. He had sent Morrison a cheeky text prior to the first official call to seal the deal: “I hear there is something exciting.”

But Morrison had resisted engaging in high-level discussions without the full knowledge of not only the defence and security apparatus but his most trusted political colleagues. Fresh from receiving approval to make the official calls that Thursday afternoon, Morrison and his treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, bolted to the House of Representatives chamber, where Labor leader Anthony Albanese was on his feet delivering his budget-in-reply speech.

A few days later, Morrison phoned Johnson for the formal discussion. The British prime minister was as supportive as Morrison anticipated, and would be pivotal in setting up a historic meeting with US President Joe Biden in the weeks ahead, in which they would secretly formalise the most significant defence agreement since World War II.

Morrison and Johnson had joked that the first working name for AUKUS would be “Project Freedom”.

HOW IT UNFOLDED

An edited extract from Plagued, Australia’s Two Years of Hell – the Inside Story by Simon Benson and Geoff Chambers

The genesis of AUKUS traced back to an informal conversation Scott Morrison had with his defence adviser, Jimmy Kiploks, in late 2019, several weeks after Morrison’s August visit to the French town of Biarritz for the G7 summit.

He was interrogating Kiploks on the delivery of the myriad defence contracts he inherited as prime minister.

Some of the contracts had significant challenges. None more so than the $90bn French deal for twelve Attack-class subs, signed in 2016 by Malcolm Turnbull and then defence industry minister Christopher Pyne.

Morrison wanted to reassure himself of the commercial rigour around the project, with all its delays, jostling and cost blowouts.

Above all, he wanted to test whether it was still the right strategic decision. The reassessment of China’s gambit and Australia’s need for a revised defence strategy that swung the force posture away from the multiple theatres of operation it had been engaged in for the past two decades, and towards a more potent Indo-Pacific focus, had hardened.

Morrison asked Kiploks to make some discreet technical inquiries of Defence. He wanted to know whether there was any prospect of a nuclear-powered option with the US. And if so, how that could happen. Defence officials had discouraged both Morrison’s predecessors (Tony Abbott and Turnbull) from pursuing it because at that point there was no confidence the US would ever share its nuclear technology.

When Turnbull struck the French deal, the economic industrial imperative, and the importance of naval shipbuilding capability, was a big part of the equation. Sovereign capability was central to the vision.

But to Morrison, several years later, these considerations did not trump the strategic issues he saw Australia was now facing. Circumstances had dramatically changed by the time he found himself posing these questions. Not only had the great power competition accelerated but technology had also changed. Morrison’s primary concern was that the conventionally powered French submarine capability would be redundant by the time the vessels got wet.

Morrison had even more questions: what strategic benefits a nuclear-powered submarine platform would provide for Australia, and would Defence be prepared to have a good look at it?

Kiploks came back with an unexpected initial response: nuclear submarines were worth exploring. This was a significant shift in only a few years and Morrison later admitted he’d been surprised to hear Defence’s change of heart.

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18484597 (111102ZMAR23) Notable: Scott Morrison kept AUKUS secret from cabinet ministers and senior diplomats - Senior diplomats and cabinet minsters were kept in the dark over AUKUS negotiations amid concerns that plans to acquire nuclear submarines from the US and Britain would be leaked through ­Australian embassies in Europe, scuttling the landmark deal.

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>>42650

Scott Morrison kept AUKUS secret from cabinet ministers and senior diplomats

SIMON BENSON and GEOFF CHAMBERS - MARCH 11, 2023

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Senior diplomats and cabinet minsters were kept in the dark over AUKUS negotiations amid concerns that plans to acquire nuclear submarines from the US and Britain would be leaked through ­Australian embassies in Europe, scuttling the landmark deal.

The Weekend Australian can reveal then Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Frances Adamson – who is now Governor of South Australia – was only informed of the deal when it was brought before the national security committee of Cabinet in May 2021.

Other embassy officials and senior bureaucrats were also denied prior knowledge of the deal with cabinet minsters only told when it went to Cabinet days before it was announced.

“It was the most remarkably held project that I suspect many could ever recall,” former prime minister Scott Morrison told The Weekend Australian.

“In fact, it was the best kept ­secret in Australian history since the Second World War.

“This secrecy was so essential because the second it moved ­outside those who only needed to know, it was a risk.”

Mr Morrison defended the ­secrecy around early negotiations on the deal, which will be formalised on Tuesday (AEDT) under a defence pact that paves the way for an Australian sovereign ­nuclear-powered submarine capability.

The AUKUS pact, which was sealed behind closed doors on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Cornwall, England, in 2021, triggered a damaging fallout with French President Emmanuel Macron after Australia walked away from its $90bn Attack-class submarine deal with Naval Group, a French majority-state-controlled company.

Mr Morrison on Friday said “only at that time were very ­specific individuals brought into the loop and this was essential ­because the second this went outside those who had a need-to know basis it was put at risk”.

“This wasn’t 007 but it was ­essential to its success … it was hard enough to get agreement on this on its merits, but had it broken outside the lines of containment it would have proven fatal to the project because it would have been in the public domain,” he said.

“It was so in the national ­interest to keep this tight.”

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18484690 (111133ZMAR23) Notable: Biden’s AUKUS Point Man to Exit - James Miller, U.S. President Joe Biden’s top advisor on the trilateral AUKUS military alliance between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States is set to leave the administration soon after the leaders of the three countries meet in California next week to announce Australia’s forthcoming nuclear submarine program. Miller’s role is expected to be folded into the portfolio of Kurt Campbell, Biden’s top Asia hand at the National Security Council.

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>>42650

Biden’s AUKUS Point Man to Exit

With the big sub deal in hand, it’s no longer Miller time.

Jack Detsch and Robbie Gramer - MARCH 10, 2023

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U.S. President Joe Biden’s top advisor on the trilateral AUKUS military alliance between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States is set to leave the administration soon after the leaders of the three countries meet in California next week to announce Australia’s forthcoming nuclear submarine program, four people familiar with the move told Foreign Policy.

It was not immediately clear when James Miller, who has been the U.S. National Security Council’s top official spearheading the alliance, would depart the role. This position was newly established role only 15 months ago. Miller, a former top U.S. Defense Department official, leaves as the AUKUS alliance shifts into a second phase focused on hypersonic missiles, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity cooperation.

The AUKUS pact, signed in September 2021, is one of the Biden administration’s hallmark initiatives to counter China’s growing military footprint in the Indo-Pacific as it gears up toward an era of great-power competition with Beijing. China, which has the world’s largest navy, now operates around 79 submarines, a few more than the U.S. Navy and about seven times what the British Royal Navy has in its inventory. AUKUS is meant to give Australia a nuclear sub capacity of its own—eventually.

Miller’s role is expected to be folded into the portfolio of Kurt Campbell, Biden’s top Asia hand at the National Security Council, sources said. In his role under U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Miller oversaw programs in the departments of Defense, Energy, and State related to AUKUS, and he took on a 90-day sprint to determine whether the nascent alliance could expand into new lanes.

Miller’s departure comes amid a wider shake-up in Biden’s foreign-policy team, with veteran China experts leaving or moving to new posts. Biden’s top National Security Council aide on China, Laura Rosenberger, is leaving her post to become the new chair of the American Institute in Taiwan, a U.S. government-funded nonprofit that acts as the de facto U.S. diplomatic mission to the self-governing island. Rosenberger will be replaced by Sarah Beran, a top aide at the State Department to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The move could give the Pentagon more ability to frame the future trajectory of the AUKUS alliance, with the Biden administration tapping Abraham Denmark last year to lead an advisory group of about 20 to 30 officials under Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on the nascent grouping. Miller will remain available to periodically consult the administration. He is set to leave the administration at a possible high-water mark for AUKUS: the end of an 18-month sprint that will allow Canberra to buy five U.S.-made Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines. This occurs while Australia’s own industrial base, which was churning out diesel-electric submarines until the early 2000s, builds a fleet of nuclear-powered vessels from a British design.

Miller played an outsized role in putting the AUKUS concept into action, according to current and former U.S. officials, an immensely complicated undertaking that involved working through regulatory red tape among foreign allies and transferring highly sensitive nuclear technology to a non-nuclear state, Australia, in a program that experts say breaks precedent on global nonproliferation.

“What makes AUKUS so challenging is you have to coordinate with the defense industrial base, Pentagon, the armed services, the Hill, the State Department, and these countries all at once,” said Jacob Stokes, a defense expert at the Center for a New American Security.

“Having someone who understood how the interagency works and how to move it on something so challenging—in Washington, Canberra, and London—and really know how to push the bureaucracy was so important for this first 18-month phase,” he added.

“It wouldn’t have been sufficient to have someone just at DoD or just at State; they needed someone to really be at the center of this to move the ball forward, which is what made Miller’s job so important.” Miller’s departure will leave the Biden administration without an export control or nuclear wonk in a top seat overseeing the AUKUS deal.

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18484914 (111232ZMAR23) Notable: Japan muscles up to neighbourhood bully China - As the Albanese government prepares urgently to overhaul Australia’s defence capabilities, Canberra’s “quasi ally” in Asia is implementing its own landmark national security strategy to deter an attack by China. Late last month, Japan’s Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, announced an order for 400 US-made Tomahawk cruise missiles for delivery in the next 12 months.

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Japan muscles up to neighbourhood bully China

BEN PACKHAM - MARCH 11, 2023

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Late last month, Japan’s Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, announced an order for 400 US-made Tomahawk cruise missiles for delivery in the next 12 months.

The weapons, which have a range of at least 1600km, will for the first time give the constitutionally pacifist state the ability to strike targets inside China.

A Japanese-developed standoff missile is also on Tokyo’s shopping list, together with advanced fighter jets, hypersonic weapons and armed drones.

As the Albanese government prepares urgently to overhaul Australia’s defence capabilities, Canberra’s “quasi ally” in Asia is implementing its own landmark national security strategy to deter an attack by China.

The strategy will fundamentally alter the strategic balance in East Asia and, it is hoped, affect Xi Jinping’s calculations on whether he will try to take Taiwan by force.

Under the plan, Japan will double defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP within five years, setting the world’s third-largest economy on a course to build a military to match its financial clout.

It will also boost diplomatic efforts by both engaging with China and working with like-minded countries such as Australia to pile pressure on Beijing to abide by global rules.

In a series of recent interviews with Japanese diplomats and strategists in Tokyo, The Weekend Australian was briefed on Kishida’s dramatic recasting of the nation’s defence policy, and the “nasty” strategic outlook that inspired it.

The policy casts China as Japan’s “greatest strategic challenge” and sets out how the country will harness all elements of national power to protect itself and strengthen regional peace.

Critically, it sets Japan on a course to acquire “counterstrike” capabilities to “deter an attack, or force an enemy to stop one”.

It allows Japan, for example, to base long-range anti-ship missiles on its southern islands, which could be used in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

Keio University’s Professor Ken Jimbo tells The Weekend Australian in Tokyo that the elimination of restrictions allowing Japan to possess only defensive weapons will expand “the geography of our defence”, providing new military options for the Japanese Self-Defence Force.

“Chinese military leaders, whenever they think about the window of opportunity for their full-scale invasion towards Taiwan, they always calculate how the United States will respond,” Jimbo says.

“But now they also have to incorporate the Japanese capability, and that will stymie or at least complicate the strategic calculation of what they can do.”

China already spends five times more on armaments than Japan, and this week announced it would increase its defence budget by 7 per cent to about $330bn this year.

But Japan is not setting out to match China’s defence capabilities or its military spending. “Rather, what we have adopted is to explore the Chinese vulnerabilities, and how to deny China’s prospects of operational success,” Jimbo says.

“It is not about a balance-of-power type of deterrence. It is deterrence by denial. And this is the particularly important side of what we have decided so far.”

He cites war simulations by the US-based Rand Corporation, suggesting US forces would suffer heavy losses in a battle with China over Taiwan and potentially be defeated.

But a Chinese amphibious force attacking the self-governed island would also be highly vulnerable, Jimbo says, “so anti-ship missiles make a lot of sense in that kind of denial operation”.

Referring to East Asia’s indelible strategic geography, Jimbo says Japan hopes a concentrated and high-mobile missile force could confine Chinese naval forces within the “first island chain”, denying its ability to manoeuvre into the vast Western Pacific.

Article 9 of Japan’s constitution says the country will “forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes”.

But the provision, a legacy of Japan’s WWII defeat, has been reinterpreted over time.

Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe paved the way for the new security strategy, introducing legal changes in 2015 authorising the right of “collective self-defence” in a contingency – such as Chinese invasion of Taiwan – threatening Japan’s security.

At the time, tens of thousands of everyday Japanese people took to the streets to protest the change. But there has been little criticism of the Kishida government’s rearming of the nation, such is the widespread concern over China’s growing militarism and threats to the regional status quo.

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18484965 (111242ZMAR23) Notable: Fugitive Comanchero Hasan Topal found to be directing criminal activity in AN0M sting - A one-time model turned fugitive Comanchero bikie boss has been found to be directing criminal activity from his foreign bolthole. Fugitive Comanchero Hasan Topal directed criminal underlings to do his dirty work in the streets of Melbourne while being monitored by police. The name of the Melbourne bikie boss was revealed in court documents showing he gave sophisticated orders to his Australian underlings via the ill-fated ANOM app. Those messages were among millions intercepted by the Australian Federal Police and the United States Federal Bureau of Intelligence.

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>>42304 (pb)

Fugitive Comanchero Hasan Topal found to be directing criminal activity in AN0M sting

A one-time model turned fugitive Comanchero bikie boss has been found to be directing criminal activity from his foreign bolthole.

Mark Buttler and Anthony Dowsley - March 11, 2023

Fugitive Comanchero Hasan Topal directed criminal underlings to do his dirty work in the streets of Melbourne while being monitored by police.

The name of the Melbourne bikie boss was revealed in court documents showing he gave sophisticated orders to his Australian underlings via the ill-fated ANOM app.

Those messages were among millions intercepted by the Australian Federal Police and the United States Federal Bureau of Intelligence.

The documents show that on May 19 and 20, 2021, an “H Topal” was on ANOM instructing Melbourne criminals on how to collect $250,000, later determined to be the proceeds of crime.

The Saturday Herald Sun has confirmed it is the same Hasan Topal who left Australia in 2019 as police scrutinised him over a series of underworld shootings.

According to the documents, Topal, a former male model, was directing the criminal gang from the Middle East.

Topal told one of the men to plan and co-ordinate the exchange of the money, to be collected in Sydney with a Toyota van which had a purpose-built secret compartment inside.

That man was then directed to park the van at his worksite, take the $250,000 from its hiding place and put it in a shopping bag on a rear shelf.

He then placed a $5 note on the package, photographed its serial number and sent it to another syndicate member to be used as a token to indicate the transaction was complete.

Topal, after being told of the van’s location, directed that the “$250” be handed to the co-ordinator of another syndicate.

Less than 30 minutes later, another man who was a former Uber driver arrived.

He checked that the van had yellow number plates before photographing the token and sending it on to confirm the cash had been collected.

The former Uber driver was arrested by the Echo task force in Preston soon after and police seized $250,000 in three vacuum-sealed bags.

He would later say he was paid between $300 and $400 for the assignment and, when asked where the bagged cash came from, replied in Mandarin: “Can I not answer this?”.

Underworld talk has persisted since Topal left Australia that he was one of the proponents of ANOM, a platform used by criminals in the wrongful belief that it was surveillance-proof.

Authorities were able to harvest a colossal number of messages, many of them allegedly linked to international drug-smuggling plots and the planning of violent crimes.

Many Comanchero and Mafia figures were swept up in the Australian side of the operation.

Topal, who has Australian and Turkish citizenship, headed abroad two years before the conversations held over ANOM were captured discussing the collection of the money.

Although he remains in exile he is considered a priority target for law enforcement.

Both the Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police remain interested in Topal’s activities.

Topal remains a suspect in two wrong-victim homicides carried out in 2017.

Police say the victims were wrongly identified by their killer whose intended targets were linked to the Mongols outlaw gang.

Muhammed Yucel, 22, was shot at Keysborough and Zabi Ezedyar, 26,was gunned down as he was greeted at the door of a Narre Warren property where a senior Mongol bikie lived.

Topal, a one-time model turned wild man, is also suspected as being one of the triggermen who shot Comanchero Robert Ale.

Ale was shot by two men wearing balaclavas who stormed into the Nitro Ink tattoo parlour in Hampton Park in 2018.

The attack was so frenzied that bullets pierced the walls of adjacent businesses.

Topal is also a suspect in the shooting of Bandido bikies on top of the Bolte Bridge, another ambush in which his former Comanchero comrade Mark Balsillie was wounded and a drive-by attack on a Richmond auto business.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-victoria/fugitive-comanchero-hasan-topal-found-to-be-directing-criminal-activity-in-an0m-sting/news-story/3bf07ec6bd51db3dd881d9b97bb76b5c

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18485011 (111255ZMAR23) Notable: The shed where border officials take on the drug trade to Australia - The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald were given an exclusive tour of the Australian Border Force facility near Melbourne Airport to see how officials are tackling an unprecedented wave of illicit drugs making its way to Australian shores. Most of the drug shipments were hidden inside household items being transported by air cargo such as pumps, lamps, baby carriers and ink cartridges but Rosemond said some crooks were becoming more brazen in their attempts to smuggle drugs, sending them inside a parcel without attempting to disguise them. Traffickers have previously soaked drugs into clothing, hidden narcotics in car parts, filled more than 1600 mustard bottles with liquid methamphetamine, smuggled 300 kilograms of MDMA inside bottles of 2016 Bordeaux wine, and replaced the contents of cereal boxes with cannabis.

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The shed where border officials take on the drug trade to Australia

Marta Pascual Juanola - March 11, 2023

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Inside a shed in Melbourne’s outer suburbs, senior Australian Border Force officer Joel Scantlebury inspects a shipment of coffee beans that has arrived in Victoria by courier from a country in East Africa earlier that morning.

Hidden inside resealed coffee packets nestled in a sea of used clothes and shoes are three black plastic bags filled with white crystals. A chemical analysis of the substance, known as a NIK test, immediately returns a positive result for drugs.

“You can see it’s slowly changing colour,” Scantlebury says of the liquid inside the vial of the NIK test he is holding.

Scantlebury has snapped the vial like a glow stick, spilling the solution into a bag, which contains crystal fragments from the parcel. The liquid has turned a vibrant cobalt blue, which indicates the presence of methamphetamine.

The parcel was sent to the agency’s facility near Melbourne Airport earlier that morning after it raised a series of red flags among the border security officers scanning newly arrived international cargo at the courier’s depot.

One of the key giveaways was a commercial invoice typed up on Google Docs where the name of the intended recipient was misspelled. The fact the commercial parcel included used clothing and footwear also aroused suspicion.

The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald were given an exclusive tour of the facility on Thursday to see how Australian Border Force officials are tackling an unprecedented wave of illicit drugs making its way to Australian shores.

Officers have intercepted more than 10 tonnes of illicit substances bound for the black market since July, including record shipments of cocaine, meth, MDMA, heroin and cannabis smuggled into Australia by air and sea.

Border Force is now bracing for a year of “bumper” drug seizures and predicts the current spike in detections will extend beyond the usual summer and festival season bump to become a year-round feature.

“From what we’ve seen, we are going to hit bumper amounts this year. We are on target to go above and beyond any detections that we’ve had,” said Tori Rosemond, a Border Force superintendent based in Melbourne.

“We’re not seeing it slow down. It peaked in the November, December, and January mark, and it’s still at those peaks.”

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18485079 (111309ZMAR23) Notable: Rupert Murdoch’s ‘stupid emails’ have exposed the inner workings of his empire - An extraordinary paper trail has exposed the inner workings of Murdoch’s Fox media empire, revealing how he shapes coverage at his newspapers and cable networks and interacts with some of the most powerful figures in the Republican Party - After the assault on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, Murdoch seemed ready to use his power as never before — to cleanse the party of Trump once and for all.

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>>42631

Rupert Murdoch’s ‘stupid emails’ have exposed the inner workings of his empire

Jeremy W. Peters - March 10, 2023

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In late 2020, Rupert Murdoch was holed up in the English countryside with his now ex-wife, far from Fox News headquarters in Midtown Manhattan. The pandemic seclusion left him “bored”, he recently said in a deposition, with little to do “but write stupid emails.”

Those “stupid emails” now make up an extraordinary paper trail that has exposed the inner workings of Murdoch’s Fox media empire, revealing how he shapes coverage at his newspapers and cable networks and interacts with some of the most powerful figures in the Republican Party.

People who have worked with Murdoch said he never did much of his most important business over email. He preferred, whenever possible, to convey his wishes in person. But the pandemic changed that, leaving a trove of emails that lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems have used to build their $US1.6 billion ($2.4 billion) defamation case against Fox News.

Fox Corp declined to comment for this article.

‘I’m a journalist at heart’

During his deposition in the case, Murdoch said the journalist in him liked “to be involved” in news stories. He meant it. In the days after the 2020 presidential election, Murdoch’s emails show, he was especially interested in using the news organisations he owns — The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post and Fox News — to pressure then-president Donald Trump to stop talking about voter fraud. As Murdoch testified, he thought Trump looked like “a bad loser”.

On November 7, 2020, just before Fox News and the other networks declared Joe Biden the president-elect, Murdoch posed a question over email to the editor of the Post, Col Allan.

“Should we say something Donald might see?” he asked in his typically terse style of emailing.

Murdoch has known Trump for three decades – long enough to refer to him by his first name. And he understood that Trump was a regular reader of the Post who would probably read an editorial about himself, even one that wasn’t entirely flattering.

The new emails and testimony show just how involved Murdoch was in writing and editing that editorial. He emailed with Allan about some ideas, including how to frame their argument in a positive way around Trump’s legacy, while also urging him to dump Rudy Giuliani as his lawyer.

Neither man was a fan of Giuliani, the former New York mayor. “I think booze has got him,” Allan told Murdoch. In his deposition, Murdoch testified that Giuliani had been “a very good mayor of New York, but it has all been downhill since”.

When the draft was ready for Murdoch to see, he offered a few careful edits. “Few typos. eg ‘return to’ … not ‘retain to,’” he wrote, adding that he thought “dangerous” should be added to describe China. (The adjective was added.)

The editorial ran on November 7 under the headline “President Trump, your legacy is secure — stop the ‘stolen election’ rhetoric”. And it included the line “Get Rudy Giuliani off TV”.

But Murdoch wasn’t done offering advice to his executives as the president and his supporters began attacking Fox.

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18485201 (111330ZMAR23) Notable: Miranda Devine Tweet: This is the same useless Alvin Bragg who lets crime run rampant while he wastes time and our tax dollars persecuting Trump over a personal matter that is none of the Manhattan DA’s business. A young woman was raped in a stairwell on the upper west side last weekend FCOL

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Donald J. Trump Truth

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/109997309210727072

—

Miranda Devine Tweet

This is the same useless Alvin Bragg who lets crime run rampant while he wastes time and our tax dollars persecuting Trump over a personal matter that is none of the Manhattan DA’s business. A young woman was raped in a stairwell on the upper west side last weekend FCOL

https://twitter.com/mirandadevine/status/1634019664836587524

—

Miranda Devine

Miranda Devine (born 1 July 1961) is an Australian columnist and writer, now based in New York City. She hosted The Miranda Devine Show on Sydney radio station 2GB until it ended in 2015. She has written columns for Fairfax Media newspapers The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald, and for News Limited newspapers Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Melbourne's Sunday Herald Sun, and Perth's Sunday Times. As of 2022, she writes for the New York Post. Some of her political opinion pieces and statements on race, gender, and the environment have been the subject of public scrutiny and debate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_Devine

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18485227 (111334ZMAR23) Notable: Jack Posobiec Tweet: (Video) Yup it’s Mel Gibson - https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1633678232514863105

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Jack Posobiec Tweet

Yup it’s Mel Gibson

https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1633678232514863105

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18491283 (121054ZMAR23) Notable: AUKUS meeting to put Australia on track for a ’21st-century submarine fleet’ - Democrat Congressman Joe Courtney, one of America’s biggest proponents of the AUKUS deal with Australia and the United Kingdom has vowed Australia will not be getting substandard submarines despite suggestions that the vessels purchased will be rebadged Virginia-class models instead of newly built boats.

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>>42650

AUKUS meeting to put Australia on track for a ’21st-century submarine fleet’

Farrah Tomazin - March 12, 2023

One of America’s biggest proponents of the AUKUS deal with Australia and the United Kingdom has vowed Australia will not be getting substandard submarines despite suggestions that the vessels purchased will be rebadged Virginia-class models instead of newly built boats.

Democrat Congressman Joe Courtney also told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that much-needed progress was being made to get through a maze of US regulations and export control laws that stand between Australia and the multibillion-dollar pact, which will be unveiled in San Diego on Tuesday morning.

Under the agreement, Australia is expected to buy up to five Virginia-class subs from the US to help safeguard the Indo-Pacific against the rising threat of China. After that, Australia will acquire a second AUKUS-class submarine, based on UK designs and US technology, from the mid to late 2030s.

After briefings from the White House and the National Security Council this week, Courtney gave the strongest signal yet that the Virginia-class submarines the US plans to sell will not be newly built, but high-quality rebadged models.

“They definitely won’t be clunkers,” said Courtney, who co-chairs the bipartisan “AUKUS caucus” and is regarded as one of Congress’ top navy experts. “I can assure you they’ll be very modern and very, very capable.

“The people that have been working at this understand the complexity of construction and acquisition, and they understand things like timing and chronology. The bottom line is I think what we’re going to see emerge is the mixture of all three countries [Australia, the US and Britain] participating in this enterprise to get Australia a 21st-century submarine fleet.”

Courtney’s comments came as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese landed in San Diego late on Saturday afternoon, where he was greeted on arrival by Australia’s ambassador to the US, Arthur Sinodinos, and later at his downtown hotel by the US ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy.

On Monday (US time), Albanese will meet US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to unveil the long-awaited details of the AUKUS pact, including the real cost, timing and procurement.

But while Albanese has described the deal as the “single biggest leap” in Australia’s defence capabilities, many challenges remain, including securing the workforce needed to bring the submarines to service, and whether the acquisition will make Australia too reliant on the US.

While Biden supports AUKUS, he also needs the backing of a divided Congress to make good on his promise to share American submarine secrets with Australia.

This would require overhauling a litany of export control laws such as the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which could delay for years the transfer of crucial technologies at a time when Australia is racing to bolster its submarine capacity before the retirement of its Collins-class fleet.

“Everybody agrees it’s a huge mess,” Emily Harding, a deputy director at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said of America’s ITAR regulations. “But all of the different pieces to it need to be untangled in a set of difficult steps.”

Courtney and Republican AUKUS caucus co-chair Mike Gallagher have both committed to reforming the ITAR system and have even suggested giving Australia a special exemption to accelerate the delivery of its nuclear-powered fleet.

In a fresh development ahead of Tuesday’s announcement, Congress’ foreign affairs committee also put forward a bill requesting that the State Department provide an inventory of export control issues that need to be addressed in order to expedite the transfer of technology and information under AUKUS.

As for the White House, Courtney said: “We’re still talking to them about what needs to be done, but there’s no question there’s some discretion they can use.

“I want to ensure that we’re all marching together in the same direction. The goal is to create a carve-out for AUKUS which avoids these [export controls] becoming barriers in terms of really getting the technology transfer that is required.”

https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/aukus-meeting-to-put-australia-on-track-for-a-21st-century-submarine-fleet-20230312-p5crgl.html

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18491295 (121058ZMAR23) Notable: AUKUS submarines 'transformational' for Australia - US Congressman Joe Courtney, co-chair of Washington's "AUKUS Caucus" said the announcement was going to be a "very thoughtful product". "It's going to be a transformational enterprise for working people in Australia," he told ABC's Insiders.

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>>42650

AUKUS submarines 'transformational' for Australia

Tess Ikonomou - March 12 2023

Concerns over joint-crewing on Australia's future nuclear-powered submarines are "over-hyped" with the AUKUS partnership to be "transformational" for the nation's workers.

US Congressman Joe Courtney, co-chair of Washington's "AUKUS Caucus" said the announcement on Monday, US local time, was going to be a "very thoughtful product".

"It's going to be a transformational enterprise for working people in Australia," he told ABC's Insiders on Sunday.

"Everybody's going to be sort of contributing to each other's needs."

Mr Courtney said concerns over joint-crewing were "over-hyped," saying once the boats were handed over, the submarines would be under "Australian control".

"Everyone understands we need to train up the Australian sailors and officers in terms of nuclear propulsion," he said.

Asked if Australia would get second-hand submarines or brand new ones, Mr Courtney reassured that the country would get the "highest quality".

"No one's gonna be foisting off clunkers to good friends and allies," he said.

Port Kembla in NSW, has emerged as Defence's preferred location for a new east-coast submarine base, according to the ABC.

It is reportedly favoured because of its deep ocean approaches and surrounding infrastructure.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese left India on Saturday for the United States, where he will join President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in San Diego on Monday for the landmark statement.

The three countries first announced the AUKUS plan in 2021 as part of efforts to counter China in the Indo-Pacific region, with the US and United Kingdom agreeing to provide Australia with the capability to deploy nuclear-powered submarines.

Australia is expected to buy up to five US Virginia class nuclear-powered submarines.

It has been speculated there will be multiple stages to the plan, with at least one US submarine visiting Australian ports in the coming years and the advent of a new class of submarines built with British designs and American technology.

On Saturday, Mr Albanese said the project was also about Australian jobs, particularly shipyard and manufacturing work in South Australia and Western Australia.

Asked also about the enormous cost, Mr Albanese said he would explain to the Australian people why it was worthwhile given the deficit hole in the national budget.

"Yes, we will," he said in New Delhi before departing for the US.

"Australia faces real challenges. We have said very clearly and explicitly that there are major pressures on expenditure, not just in defence, but in other areas as well."

In the lead-up to the 2023/24 budget release in May, Mr Albanese reiterated the government needed to be prepared to "make some difficult decisions".

Mr Albanese last week rejected China's criticism of the submarine plans, saying Australia could boost its military power while improving relations with Beijing as well as its relationships with other countries in the Indo-Pacific.

"It's a consistent position, we need to ensure that Australia's defence assets are the best they can be," he said.

Mr Albanese will also discuss with Mr Biden and Mr Sunak Russia's war against Ukraine, climate change action and global economic challenges including inflation and energy prices.

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8117628/aukus-submarines-transformational-for-australia/

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18491321 (121105ZMAR23) Notable: US promises ‘no clunkers’ amid suggestion Australia may get second-hand submarines - US congressman Joe Courtney has given the clearest signal yet that Australia could receive second-hand Virginia-class submarines from the United States under the landmark AUKUS deal. “What you will get is of the highest quality. And I say that sincerely,” he said. “The shelf life of a Virginia class submarine is 33 years and it has a life-of-boat nuclear reactor, it doesn’t require refuelling. No one’s going to be foisting off clunkers on good friends and allies.”

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>>42650

US promises ‘no clunkers’ amid suggestion Australia may get second-hand submarines

James Massola - March 12, 2023

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US congressman Joe Courtney has given the clearest signal yet that Australia could receive second-hand Virginia-class submarines from the United States under the landmark AUKUS deal.

But Courtney – widely regarded as one of the top experts in Congress on submarines and shipbuilding – has vowed Australia won’t be receiving “clunkers” under the deal to be unveiled on Tuesday morning. He also dismissed suggestions the boats may have to be jointly crewed by US sailors, or that Australia won’t have sovereign control over its submarines.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will formally unveil the terms of the AUKUS deal, which will see Australia become the seventh nation in the world to operate nuclear-powered submarines.

The deal is expected to see Australia acquire three to five of the United States’ Virginia-class nuclear submarines, with the first to arrive as soon as 2032. The deal will also see US and potentially UK submarines begin to be based out of Perth’s HMAS Stirling base from 2027 and on the east coast, likely at a new naval base at Port Kembla.

Australia would then acquire a second AUKUS-class submarine, based on UK designs and US technology, would be built from the mid-to-late 2030s with at least some of the construction taking place at the Osborne shipyards in Adelaide.

Courtney, a Democrat who is a member of Congress’s Armed Services committee and chair of its seapower subcommittee, was asked on the ABC’s Insiders if Australia would receive second-hand submarines.

“What you will get is of the highest quality. And I say that sincerely,” he said. “The shelf life of a Virginia class submarine is 33 years and it has a life-of-boat nuclear reactor, it doesn’t require refuelling. No one’s going to be foisting off clunkers on good friends and allies.”

Former prime ministers Paul Keating and Malcolm Turnbull have both warned that Australia’s acquisition of nuclear submarines will make the nation too reliant on the United States.

But Courtney, the co-chair of the US House’s AUKUS Working Group dismissed that suggestion and the prospect of US crew operating Australian boats.

“No one questions about who is the decision maker in terms of how your subs operate, there will be some moments, I’m sure, when Australian sailors will be on board [US] Virginia class submarines, but that’s going to be for training purposes. That’s not for operational missions, in terms of where, you know, they’re basically saluting US officers,” he said.

“I think the notion that there’s going to be joint crewing is really overhyped. Everyone understands we need to train up the Australian sailors and officers in terms of nuclear propulsion, which is all we’re talking about here, not nuclear weapons.”

However, “when the time comes for the deed, the title, to be handed to the government of Australia of a vessel … it’s going to be totally with the full understanding that it’s going to be under Australian control”.

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18491431 (121144ZMAR23) Notable: ‘Jesus loves you Mr Wilkie’: Hillsong pastor announces review after parliament allegations - Hillsong Church will launch an independent review of its financial structure and systems to ensure the organisation can carry out its religious mission in the wake of allegations of fraud and extravagant spending. Addressing the congregation on Sunday morning, global senior pastor Phil Dooley also revealed that 153 staff had taken voluntary redundancies in the last year, saving $9.47 million, and the church had implemented a new policy on gifts and honorariums, and changed its structures.

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>>42656

>>42667

‘Jesus loves you Mr Wilkie’: Hillsong pastor announces review after parliament allegations

James Massola - March 12, 2023

Hillsong Church will launch an independent review of its financial structure and systems to ensure the organisation can carry out its religious mission in the wake of allegations of fraud and extravagant spending.

Addressing the congregation on Sunday morning, global senior pastor Phil Dooley also revealed that 153 staff had taken voluntary redundancies in the last year, saving $9.47 million, and the church had implemented a new policy on gifts and honorariums, and changed its structures.

Last week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie made allegations against Dooley, church founder Brian Houston and other senior members of the church under parliamentary privilege, while also tabling 17 binders of church financial records provided to him by an unnamed whistleblower.

The Tasmanian MP said church money was used “to do the kind of shopping that would embarrass a Kardashian” and that Hillsong was “breaking numerous laws in Australia and around the world relating to fraud, money laundering and tax evasion”.

Dooley and church board member Stephen Crouch both apologised to the congregation on Sunday and committed to detailing the findings of a forensic audit, which began in August last year.

“I am also announcing today that on top of the forensic audit that has been conducted by [accounting firm] Grant Thornton regarding the allegations, we will be beginning this week a complete re-evaluation, via an outside third party, of our financial structure and systems to ensure they line up with the mission going forward.”

Dooley, who took over as head of the church from Houston last March, said Hillsong’s “full focus is to be a mission-driven church … we will do whatever is necessary to investigate these [allegations]”.

“We’re already implementing systems to ensure that if there are any excesses established, they cannot be incurred going forward. I can’t change the past, but I can play a significant role in changing the future,” he said.

The decision to let go of backroom staff, Dooley said, was made because “we want the vast majority of our staff to be front face-facing, focused on people, and the needed and necessary work of face-to-face ministry”.

Crouch, who also addressed the congregation, said the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission had commenced an investigation into Hillsong “within one week of Pastor Brian’s [Houston] resignation in March 2022. This investigation is still under way, and we are fully co-operating with the ACNC”.

Dooley defended himself against allegations made by Wilkie about his use of church funds on business class flights and gifts.

The pastor said he had made clear to the board, when he became global senior pastor, that he would not travel alone, to ensure the health of his marriage and family.

“If I travel internationally, I travel business class simply because I’m going somewhere to work and I have limited time,” he said.

“Last year, I only spoke in one church other than a Hillsong church and that was in Guatemala. And over 60 per cent of that flight was covered by the church in Guatemala. I’ve also paid a portion of that flight myself to cover costs of my daughter flying with me.”

“The rest was covered by our global church budget as I went to do ministry in both our churches in Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires. In fact, that trip involved nine different flights. And not all of them were business class.”

Dooley said he was disappointed Wilkie had used parliamentary privilege to make allegations against him and that it was “un-Australian” not to have contacted the church to seek an explanation for the spending.

“It kind of feels like being king hit from behind. But Jesus loves you Mr Wilkie … Mr Wilkie, you’re still welcome to attend any of our services,” he said.

The ACNC confirmed on Friday that it was taking the “extremely rare” step of confirming an investigation into Hillsong.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/jesus-loves-you-mr-wilkie-hillsong-pastor-announces-review-after-parliament-allegations-20230312-p5crfm.html

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18497095 (130833ZMAR23) Notable: Anthony Albanese warns: price of AUKUS submarine security is $200bn - Australia’s nuclear submarine plan will cost more than $200bn over 30 years, create 20,000 direct Australian jobs, and be overseen by a multi-agency body in a bid to avoid the delivery problems of past Defence mega-projects. Anthony Albanese will warn taxpayers on Tuesday of the massive price tag they will face to ­acquire the “world leading” ­nuclear submarine capability when he unveils the AUKUS plan with Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at a US naval base.

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>>42650

Anthony Albanese warns: price of AUKUS submarine security is $200bn

BEN PACKHAM - MARCH 12, 2023

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Australia’s nuclear submarine plan will cost more than $200bn over 30 years, create 20,000 direct Australian jobs, and be overseen by a multi-agency body in a bid to avoid the delivery problems of past Defence mega-projects.

Anthony Albanese will warn taxpayers on Tuesday of the massive price tag they will face to ­acquire the “world leading” ­nuclear submarine capability when he unveils the AUKUS plan with Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at a US naval base.

The Australian can reveal the submarine program will be run by a stand-alone group inside ­Defence that will draw personnel from across the government, sidelining the department’s trouble-plagued acquisition and sustainment arms.

The submarine delivery group will be created from Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead’s nuclear submarine taskforce, which worked with the US and UK for the past 18 months to develop the government’s “optimal pathway” to ­acquire nuclear boats.

The Prime Minister will stand with Mr Biden and Mr Sunak at the home of the US Pacific Fleet in San Diego to announce the long-awaited nuclear submarine plan, which includes the acquisition of up to five US-built Virginia-class subs, and the construction of a new fleet of British-designed boats.

Mr Albanese has scheduled calls on Monday with key regional partners, including Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo, to personally brief them on the submarine plan.

The deal is being framed as the most important upgrade to Australia’s military capability since World War II, but one that presents the greatest industrial challenge the nation has ever faced. It is understood Mr Albanese will “give a realistic cost estimate” of the AUKUS plan on Tuesday. Labor will contrast the approach with that of the former Coalition government which consistently understated the cost of its now-cancelled Attack-class subs.

Official estimates now reveal the French-designed boats would have cost at least $216bn to 2055 – well over the initial $50bn reported to the public.

The Australian understands the latest submarine plan will cost even more in a 30-year effort to build a nuclear navy from scratch. Initial government estimates suggest the endeavour will support up to 8500 direct jobs in the building and maintenance of the submarines including scientists, engineers, project managers, technicians, construction workers, electricians and metal fitters.

Ultimately, the government expects the endeavour will support about 20,000 direct jobs over the next 30 years across industry, the Australian Defence Force and the Australian Public Service.

The Prime Minister, who ­arrived in San Diego from India on Sunday afternoon (AEDT), said the submarine plan was about “jobs and manufacturing”, and declared Adelaide and Western Australia would be big beneficiaries.

“This is about building up our capacity. And when you talk about the issue of manufacturing submarines in Australia, that‘s an absolute priority for us. That will be seen as part of the announcement,” he said.

Mr Albanese flagged the need for a national conversation on the need for tougher budget measures to pay for higher Defence spending, arguing the submarine capability was about ensuring a more “peaceful, secure world”. “Australia faces real challenges. We have said very clearly and explicitly that there are major pressures on expenditure, not just in Defence but in other areas as well,” he said.

“It‘s why the government is working so hard. It’s why the (Expenditure Review Committee) has been meeting regularly. It’s why we need to be prepared to make some difficult decisions.”

Mr Albanese briefed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the submarine plan before departing the country on Saturday.

The multi-agency future submarine group will be responsible for all elements of the program, including safety, non-proliferation and regulatory measures, international engagement, education and training, industry development and project management.

It’s understood it will be led, at least initially, by Vice Admiral Mead, who will have a direct reporting line to Defence Minister Richard Marles.

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18497131 (130850ZMAR23) Notable: PM’s plane calls in on Quad squad, skirts China skies - A special flight to carry Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to a major defence announcement has highlighted Australia’s key partnerships in the region by starting in India, landing in Japan and ending in the United States. The Royal Australian Air Force planned a long route from New Delhi to a refuelling stop in Tokyo so the prime minister and his delegation would remain outside Chinese airspace.

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>>42650

>>42665

>>42672

PM’s plane calls in on Quad squad, skirts China skies

David Crowe - March 13, 2023

San Diego: A special flight to carry Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to a major defence announcement has highlighted Australia’s key partnerships in the region by starting in India, landing in Japan and ending in the United States.

The Royal Australian Air Force planned a long route from New Delhi to a refuelling stop in Tokyo so the prime minister and his delegation would remain outside Chinese airspace.

While RAAF aircraft have flown to China in the past, such as for the visits by prime ministers in 2014 and 2016 and Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s trip to Beijing in December, the government considered it better with the AUKUS flight to choose a route that did not require approval from Chinese authorities.

But the flight traversed the South China Sea in a reminder of the importance to Australia of open flight paths and freedom of navigation over a region where China has claimed sea borders that its neighbours dispute.

As a result, the flight path of the KC-30A aircraft illustrated the geopolitics in play in the AUKUS agreement to develop nuclear-powered submarines despite China’s objections.

Starting in the Indian capital after the prime minister’s three-day visit to the country last week, the RAAF flight traversed Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam to skirt the southern border of China before heading north and across the Philippines to land in Tokyo. Commercial flights from New Delhi to Tokyo take a more direct route across southern China to save time.

Albanese then headed to San Diego, California over the weekend to meet US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for Tuesday’s AUKUS announcement on a new submarine fleet.

“This is a very big day for Australia, and it’s a good day,” Albanese said while walking on Sunday morning with Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, the Chief of Navy. “A new dawn in San Diego and a new dawn for Australia’s defence policy tomorrow.”

The flight to the AUKUS announcement took the prime minister to each of Australia’s partners in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad: India, Japan and the US.

Chinese foreign ministry officials have repeatedly criticised the Quad as an “exclusive clique” that is bad for the region, while presenting China as a force for regional peace.

“The countries concerned should abandon the outdated zero-sum mentality and narrow-minded geopolitical thinking,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said before a quad leaders’ meeting in September 2021, the Associated Press reported.

China has also criticised the AUKUS pact as an example of “Cold War mentality” and has lobbied vigorously against the agreement at the International Atomic Energy Agency by pointing to concerns about nuclear proliferation.

India, however, has been largely comfortable with the Australian plan. It helped to stop a Chinese resolution against the Australian deal at an IAEA meeting in Vienna last September, leading China to withdraw the resolution after it realised it could not gain a majority.

Albanese cleared the way for this week’s announcement by calling leaders from key neighbours and allies to ensure they were not taken by surprise by the next phase of the decades-long plan, which the government sees as a way to maintain stability in the region.

He briefed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad and New Delhi during his visit to India last week and spent some of Sunday in San Diego calling other leaders. The prime minister’s office would not confirm any of the calls.

The next phase of the prime minister’s journey will be a stop in Fiji on the way home from San Diego, giving him time to speak to Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who was elected to the position last December.

The RAAF flight was undertaken by a KC-30A tanker mostly used for air-to-air refuelling but also fitted with a cabin for the prime minister and government staff, as well as standard passenger seats for others. Media organisations are charged a fee akin to a commercial airline ticket for journalists on the flight.

In a sign of its transparency over the flight, the RAAF had the KC-30A flight path tracked in the same way that commercial airlines are recorded on popular websites that show thousands of flights each day.

The RAAF considered air-to-air refuelling for the KC-30A on its 20-hour flight, which would have required another Australian KC-30A to undertake the task, but decided in favour of a stop at midnight at Haneda Airport in Tokyo.

In the end, the practical decision about the route also took on a symbolic meaning.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/from-india-to-japan-and-the-us-pm-s-flight-path-takes-on-symbolic-meaning-20230313-p5crjn.html

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18504659 (140743ZMAR23) Notable: China challenge ‘epoch-defining’, Rishi Sunak warns as Xi Jinping vows PLA ‘wall of steel’ - Xi Jinping has declared China will build the People’s Liberation Army into a “great wall of steel” to protect the rising giant’s “national sovereignty” on the eve of Anthony Albanese, Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak unveiling their monumental AUKUS submarine deal. British Prime Minister, Mr Sunak, warned China posed an “epoch-defining systemic challenge” as he headed to San Diego in the US to meet Mr Albanese and Mr Biden to lay out their AUKUS plans to deter an increasingly assertive Beijing.

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>>42650

China challenge ‘epoch-defining’, Rishi Sunak warns as Xi Jinping vows PLA ‘wall of steel’

WILL GLASGOW - MARCH 14, 2023

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Xi Jinping has declared China will build the People’s Liberation Army into a “great wall of steel” to protect the rising giant’s “national sovereignty” on the eve of ­Anthony Albanese, Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak unveiling their monumental AUKUS submarine deal.

British Prime Minister, Mr Sunak, warned China posed an “epoch-defining systemic challenge” as he headed to San Diego in the US to meet Mr Albanese and Mr Biden to lay out their AUKUS plans to deter an increasingly assertive Beijing.

In a nationalistic address that underscored the febrile security environment in the region, the Chinese President spoke of his country’s “national humiliation” by Western colonial powers and instructed his officials to prepare for any future contingency, declaring “security … the bedrock of ­development”.

“We must fully promote the modernisation of national defence and the armed forces, and build the people’s armed forces into a great wall of steel that effectively safeguards national sovereignty, security and development interests,” Mr Xi said on Monday at the closing session of the National People’s Congress, China’s annual rubber-stamp parliament.

To the cheers of nearly 3000 delegates, Mr Xi called for unification with the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing views as part of its own territory. “The great rejuvenation of the Chinese ­nation has entered an irreversible historical process,” he said.

China’s strongman leader spoke as the UK Prime Minister and his Australian counterpart met over supper in San Diego before the announcement of the most substantial upgrade to Australia’s military capability since World War II. Hours earlier, the British PM said China was a country with “fundamentally different values to ours, and I think over the last few years it’s become increasingly authoritarian at home and assertive abroad”.

“Its behaviour suggests it has the intention – but also its actions show it is interested in reshaping the world order and that’s the crux of it,” he said.

In a major security speech, Mr Sunak said the UK needed to be “ready to stand our ground” in a world where “competition ­between states becomes more ­intense”. “We will fortify our national defences, from economic security to technology supply chains and intelligence expertise, to ensure we are never again vulnerable to the actions of a hostile power,” the British Prime Minister said.

Mr Albanese on Monday spoke to key regional partners, including Indonesian President Joko Widodo, to allay concerns about the huge military project, which has concerned some in Southeast Asia. He said the nuclear submarine plan, which is expected to involve Australia buying up to five US nuclear-powered submarines as a stopgap measure while a new fleet is built based on a British design, marked a “new dawn” for the nation’s defence policy.

“It’s been well received and understood why we’re doing this. It builds on our long-term relationship,” the Prime Minister said.

The hugely expensive project to ­acquire “world-leading” ­nuclear submarine capability – likely to cost hundreds of billions of dollars – is a key plank in the response by America and its allies to the massive build-up of the capabilities of China’s People’s Liberation Army over the past decade. Beijing last week further ramped up military spending by more than 7 per cent to more than $330bn.

There is widespread support for the AUKUS project in Taipei. Lo Chih-Cheng, a member of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, said Taiwan’s government saw the security pact as part of a crucial effort to change Beijing’s calculus on ever using force in an attempt to bring the self-ruled island under Communist Party rule.

“Your decision to acquire nuclear submarines and to build up strength in your defence capabilities is conducive to redressing the imbalance that is happening now in the region,” said Mr Lo, a government member of Taiwan’s foreign affairs and national security committee.

“We may not be able to stop China’s continuing military ­expansion, but it is imperative for us to stop the continuation of this kind of military imbalance.”

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18504733 (140805ZMAR23) Notable: Video: Australia begins its nuclear age as AUKUS overcomes years of submarine struggles - Australia secures rotations of US and British nuclear subs from 2027, at least three conventionally-armed Virginia class American subs in the early 2030s and in the 2040s an Australian-built nuclear-powered submarine, SSN-AUKUS, based on the British Astute class boat.

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>>42687

Australia begins its nuclear age as AUKUS overcomes years of submarine struggles

Andrew Probyn - 14 March 2023

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From a dalliance with Japan, to an extended French flirt, Australia's now firmly back in the bosom of its Anglosphere allies during a meandering and disjointed journey to find its next generation submarine fleet.

After navigating Tokyo's disappointment and enduring the French President's fury, there are now reasons to believe Australia has landed a deal with the Brits and Americans that will withstand the decades.

That's because each member nation of the three-phase tripartite AUKUS agreement gets a prize.

Australia secures rotations of US and British nuclear subs from 2027, at least three conventionally-armed Virginia class American subs in the early 2030s and in the 2040s an Australian-built nuclear-powered submarine, SSN-AUKUS, based on the British Astute class boat.

The United Kingdom, which has benefited from America's sharing of its nuclear propulsion technology since 1958, secures long-term certainty for its submarine shipbuilding industry and a US weapons system for the new AUKUS sub.

The US will receive billions of dollars in Australian investment in its stretched submarine industrial base to hasten production, while being able to extend its strategic influence in the Indo-Pacific.

Combined, the US, British and Australian components of the AUKUS deal form a potent deterrence in the face of a vast Chinese military build-up.

In this regard, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has delivered on Scott Morrison's determination to encourage greater British and American naval presence to our region – aided by the Biden administration's vested interest in doing so, and the reinvigoration of the strategic security dialogue with India, Japan and the US.

"AUKUS and the Quad pulls a North Atlantic focus on to an Indo-Pacific focus," Morrison told the ABC. "That is what changes the calculus for any potential aggressors in our region, that is what makes them think twice.

"Not just the fact that we will have nuclear-powered submarines 15 years from now, but there is an alignment, an alliance of some very big players very focused on this part of the world."

The hostility with which China and Russia have reacted to AUKUS highlights the strategic significance of the security partnership.

And Australia, which according to a senior Biden administration official, "has been the subject of virtually undeclared economic and commercial boycott now for almost five years", will undoubtedly feel more of Beijing's rhetorical wrath, notwithstanding recent improvements to the trading relationship.

Beijing has been offered a briefing on AUKUS, Defence Minister Richard Marles said, but that offer's not been taken up. China already knows AUKUS is about them: no briefing required.

Australia may have changed government but its abhorrence at China's growing militarism, its regional assertiveness, its debt diplomacy and state-sanctioned cyberbullying under Xi Jinping remains constant.

The Chinese President views AUKUS as the next step in what he calls the "containment, encirclement and suppression of China" but this will not deter Australia.

Consider how Xi has changed domestic politics in Australia: the rise of a more aggressive China now sees a prime minister from Labor's Left faction now in enthusiastic embrace of nuclear-powered propulsion.

As Morrison told the ABC: "The strategic situation altered so drastically from when the French submarines were contracted (in 2016), it made them pretty much obsolete the second they got wet."

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18504740 (140810ZMAR23) Notable: Albanese, Biden and Sunak’s AUKUS plan ticks many boxes, but there are plenty of unknowns - "The AUKUS submarine is a strikingly aggressive and optimistic plan which seeks to fast-track Australia’s future submarine capability as quickly as possible in the face of a rising China. The plan is hugely ambitious and commits Australia to acquiring two separate nuclear-powered submarines and creating a next generation defence industrial base in South Australia and Western Australia. However it contains many sweeping assumptions and many unknowns and will cost an eye watering $268 billion to $368 billion out until the mid-2050s." Cameron Stewart - theaustralian.com.au

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>>42687

Albanese, Biden and Sunak’s AUKUS plan ticks many boxes, but there are plenty of unknowns

CAMERON STEWART - MARCH 14, 2023

The AUKUS submarine is a strikingly aggressive and optimistic plan which seeks to fast-track Australia’s future submarine capability as quickly as possible in the face of a rising China.

The plan is hugely ambitious and commits Australia to acquiring two separate nuclear-powered submarines and creating a next generation defence industrial base in South Australia and Western Australia.

It is a plan which ticks many boxes, including forging closer long-term strategic links with Australia’s AUKUS partners, the US and the UK; feeding the local defence industry for decades and most importantly, moving as fast as possible to boost submarine capability.

However it contains many sweeping assumptions and many unknowns and will cost an eye watering $268 billion to $368 billion out until the mid-2050s.

The plan to acquire between three and five Virginia-Class submarines from the US from the early 2030s a crucial plank in the planned transition to a British-designed ‘SSN-AUKUS” submarine from the early 2040s.

But the purchase of Virginia-class boats will require congressional approval by a future US administration, for which there can be no certain guarantees. That is why the plan includes Australia investing many billions (up to $3 billion in the next four years for starters) in improving the US production line for the Virginia-class boats. This investment will help the US build their submarines faster, but it is also a political sweetener to curry support in Washington for the eventual purchase of the Virginia-class submarines.

The plan seeks to move quickly to ramp up the massive training which will be required for Australia to support, sustain and crew the Virginia boats and then eventually the SSN-AUKUS submarines which will be built in Adelaide.

The planned timelines to acquire these capabilities are aggressive and optimistic, with the Virginia-class submarines planned to arrive in 2033, 2036 and 2039.

Meanwhile the first Australian SSN-AUKUS is scheduled to be completed in Adelaide in 2042 with new boats then built every three years until Australia has eight of them.

The Virginia-class boats would then be progressively retired between the mid-2050s and the mid to late 2060s.

The back-up plan to acquire two more Virginia-class boats will only occur if, and some would say when, the huge SSN-AUKUS project is delayed.

The plan seeks to increase allied submarine presence in Australia almost immediately with more visits to Perth by US submarines from next year and then rotations from 2027 including four Virginia boats and one British Astute submarine.

If this entire plan ran according to schedule then it would completely transform Australia’s defence for generations. We know, from history, that it won’t run to schedule. So the key is whether the AUKUS plan has enough failsafe back-up plans to carry it through the stormy waters that it will eventually encounter.

The back-up contingency plan for an extra two Virginia-class boats is an excellent start, because these can help plug Australia’s submarine capability in the event of major delays on the SSN-AUKUS project.

But there remain many imponderables which no one can accurately predict, including what a future US Congress might think about selling Virginia-class submarines to Australia.

Australia also needs to rely on future political support and goodwill from different US presidents and UK prime ministers for decades to come. And then there is the question of money, and whether there remains the political will in Australia to keep funding such an enormous project in the decades to come.

But the unveiling of plan by the three leaders is a powerful statement of intent and the plan itself is aggressive is it scope, ambition and optimism. And that is a good thing.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/albanese-biden-and-sunaks-aukus-plan-ticks-many-boxes-but-there-are-plenty-of-unknowns/news-story/03ff661c6a34ca518582ba71164e94cb

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18504744 (140815ZMAR23) Notable: Both sides of US politics back AUKUS path; former Trump official says submarine deal will last - Democrat and Republican congressmen have hailed Australia’s planned acquisition of nuclear-powered Virginia class US submarines as a critical step to bolstering US and Australian defences against “totalitarian aggression” in the Indo-Pacific. Mike Gallagher, a Republican from Wisconsin, said the AUKUS details were critical to pushing back against “CCP aggression”, describing the announcement as “taking a critical step towards achieving these goals and demonstrates our commitment to defending the free world from totalitarian aggression”. Democrat Congressman Joe Courtney said AUKUS was “an effective, intelligent effort to deter potential conflict in the Indo-Pacific by enhancing Australia’s Navy with nuclear-powered submarines”.

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>>42687

Both sides of US politics back AUKUS path; former Trump official says submarine deal will last

ADAM CREIGHTON - MARCH 14, 2023

Democrat and Republican congressmen have hailed Australia’s planned acquisition of nuclear-powered Virginia class US submarines as a critical step to bolstering US and Australian defences against “totalitarian aggression” in the Indo-Pacific.

Three, strongly pro-Australia congressmen lauded the details of the AUKUS security pact following their announcement in San Diego on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) by the Australian and UK prime ministers and president Joe Biden, including the purchase of at least three used Virginia-class submarines in the 2030s.

Mike Gallagher, a Republican from Wisconsin, said the AUKUS details were critical to pushing back against “CCP aggression”, describing the announcement as “taking a critical step towards achieving these goals and demonstrates our commitment to defending the free world from totalitarian aggression”.

Democrat Congressman Joe Courtney said AUKUS was “an effective, intelligent effort to deter potential conflict in the Indo-Pacific by enhancing Australia’s Navy with nuclear-powered submarines”.

“This technology, which the US Navy has only shared once — in 1958, with the British Navy — will extend limitless reach and stealth to the Australian submarine fleet,” he added, as part of a joint statement with two other Congressman, all members of an informal, pro-Australian group known as the “AUKUS Caucus”.

Since the announcement of the AUKUS pact 18 months ago concerns about the willingness of US Congress to change longstanding rules to permit the necessary technology transfers to Australia to fulfil the AUKUS agreement have dogged the agreement.

Others pointed to a potential unwillingness of the US military to reduce their stock of submarines in order to boost Australia’s as part of an agreement among the three nations that was politically driven.

Randy Schriver, a former ¬assistant secretary of defence in the Trump administration, told The Australian “the real mischief could come from the US navy and allies in congress that blather on about industrial capability being diverted”.

“But the reality is because of the closeness of the alliance, and if there’s an embedded or composite crews, in many ways they would be an extension of US power projection capability in practice,” Mr Schriver, now chairman of Project 2049 Institute, a Washington-based think tank, said.

“Trump was pretty big on foreign military sales, and that aspect would probably appeal to him more than the alliance building aspect,” he added, when asked about concerns a future Trump-like administration could jettison the agreement.

Australia is expected to pay up to $368bn for the nuclear-powered submarines over the course of the next few decades, according to estimates released with Tuesday’s announcement, which US officials have publicly couched, in part, as a “substantial” contribution to the US industrial base.

“I just want to underscore Australia will be making a substantial contribution to the US submarine industrial base,” a senior administration official told journalists on Sunday (Monday AEDT), pointing to the Biden administration’s own US$4.6bn planned investment in submarine construction capacity.

Bryan Clark, a former adviser to the head of US naval operations, told The Australian it wasn’t clear what Australia’s contribution meant in practice.

“They have used vague language so the administration could say the sale proceeds for the used Virginia class submarines will be Australia’s contribution,” Mr Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said. “They have to throw a bone to people in Congress who might oppose elements of the deal”.

Mr Clark also said the 2027 timeline for the for the first rotation of US submarines seemed unnecessarily slow. “At Guam it took 1 or 2 years to get the first one out there, there’s no reason why we couldn’t establish rotational force next year.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/defence/both-sides-of-us-politics-back-aukus-path-former-trump-official-says-submarine-deal-will-last/news-story/5699383d0f994e6bbbe46a936eabcbe1

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18504751 (140817ZMAR23) Notable: How the subs agreement will work - The multi-stage plan begins this year, with more US nuclear submarine visits to Australia, providing a growing number of training spots for Australian submariners of increasing seniority. Australian tradespeople and professionals will also begin relocating to the US and UK this year to develop their skills and support the AUKUS’ partners’ construction schedules. Then, from 2027, up to four US and one British submarine will begin rotational deployments that will see them temporarily operating from Australia’s submarine base, at HMAS Stirling near Perth.

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>>42687

How the subs agreement will work

BEN PACKHAM - MARCH 14, 2023

Australia’s “optimal pathway” to acquire nuclear submarines is a finely-tuned, risk-laden endeavour, with escalating costs and risks from 2027.

The multi-stage plan begins this year, with more US nuclear submarine visits to Australia, providing a growing number of training spots for Australian submariners of increasing seniority.

Australian tradespeople and professionals will also begin relocating to the US and UK this year to develop their skills and support the AUKUS’ partners’ construction schedules.

Then, from 2027, up to four US and one British submarine will begin rotational deployments that will see them temporarily operating from Australia’s submarine base, at HMAS Stirling near Perth.

The sale of three US-Virginia-class vessels is planned to start in the early 2030s, but importantly will be subject to congressional approval.

This leaves open the small possibility that a future US administration, such as one led by a re-elected Donald Trump, could refuse to honour the agreement.

The vessels will be second-hand but still have significant operational life.

There is an option to purchase another two of the US-built vessels. That decision will hinge on the next stage of the plan – the construction of new AUKUS-class submarines in Adelaide and the UK.

The UK expects to deliver the first of its new boats in the late 2030s, with the first Australian boat scheduled for completion by 2042.

The construction effort will involve all three nations, which will integrate their defence industries as never before.

As the leaders said in their joint statement: “Our plan elevates all three nations’ industrial capability to produce and sustain interoperable nuclear-powered submarines for decades to come, expands our individual and collective undersea presence in the Indo-Pacific, and contributes to global security and stability.”

Government estimates put the cost of the plan at $268bn to $368bn to 2054-55; an estimate that includes a large contingency for unforeseen outlays and delays, and will lift long-term defence spending by 0.15 per cent.

Initially it will be cost neutral, with a $9bn budget hit over the first four years offset by already-budgeted funds for the Attack-class sub, and $3bn from Defence’s long-term funding envelope.

The plan will require Australia’s defence industry and education and training systems to lift as never before to find the 20,000 ongoing workers who will be needed to deliver the capability over the next three decades.

The government estimates an extra 500 workers will be needed from 2027 to 2030 to support the additional US and UK submarine presence at HMAS Stirling.

The construction of new shipyard facilities at Osborne in Adelaide will require an estimated 4000 workers at its peak, while a further 4000 to 5000 workers will be required in South Australia for the AUKUS submarine build.

All partners will consult with the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure the program meets nuclear non-proliferation rules.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says the “highest priority” for AUKUS remains addressing the growing threat of China and helping arm Ukraine against Russia.

“Sixty years ago, here in San Diego, President Kennedy spoke of a higher purpose: the maintenance of freedom, peace, and security,” Mr Sunak says.

“In the last 18 months the challenge we face has only grown. Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, China’s growing assertiveness, the destabilising behaviour of Iran and North Korea – all threaten to create a world defined by danger, disorder and division.

“Faced with this new reality, it’s more important than ever we strengthen the resilience of our own countries. That’s why the UK … [is] announcing a significant uplift in our defence budget, we’re providing an extra £5 billion over the next two years, immediately increasing our defence budget to around 2.25% of GDP.

“This will allow us to replenish our war stocks, and modernise our nuclear enterprise, delivering AUKUS and strengthening our deterrent. And our highest priority is to continue providing military aid to Ukraine.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/how-the-subs-agreement-will-work/news-story/1524546e7bc6b01dcce71a4cd8580e7a

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18504753 (140820ZMAR23) Notable: How the AUKUS submarines will work, armed with Tomahawk missiles and able to evade China - Australia will operate three of the quietest, longest-range submarines available by the late 2030s, armed with Tomahawk missiles that can hit land or maritime targets from at least 1500 km. The Virginia-class subs and subsequent AUKUS-class boats will be able to lurk quietly off China’s main submarine base at Hainan Island, or near key choke points in the East and South China Seas, able to intercept Chinese subs and surface ships or launch strikes on the Chinese mainland. Australia has never before possessed such a capability. As Richard Marles says, it will place an additional “question mark” into the strategic calculations of potential adversaries, by which he means China.

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>>42687

How the AUKUS submarines will work, armed with Tomahawk missiles and able to evade China

BEN PACKHAM - MARCH 14, 2023

Australia will operate three of the quietest, longest-range submarines available by the late 2030s, armed with Tomahawk missiles that can hit land or maritime targets from at least 1500 km.

The Virginia-class subs and subsequent AUKUS-class boats will be able to lurk quietly off China’s main submarine base at Hainan Island, or near key choke points in the East and South China Seas, able to intercept Chinese subs and surface ships or launch strikes on the Chinese mainland.

Australia has never before possessed such a capability. As Richard Marles says, it will place an additional “question mark” into the strategic calculations of potential adversaries, by which he means China.

It’s no coincidence that China’s President Xi Jinping pre-empted the official AUKUS announcement by vowing to build the People’s Liberation Army into a “great wall of steel”.

But as Australia will initially operate subs from the current US fleet, there won’t be a net increase in the Western allies’ nuclear-powered submarine capability until the first AUKUS-built boats roll off the production line. For Australia, that will happen in about 2042, while the first British-built AUKUS boat is scheduled for completion before the end of the 2030s.

The Virginia-class subs will come equipped with 12 vertical launch cells and four torpedo tubes each. They are 7925 tonne monsters that can travel at speeds of more than 25 knots an hour (46 km/h) – about three times as fast as Australia’s Collins-class boats.

The exact specifications of the AUKUS-class boats aren’t known, but they will be armed with long-range missiles and torpedoes.

At the heart of the boats will be US-designed combat systems and similar reactors to American subs, making them interoperable with future US boats.

Australia will get the first of the US-made subs from the early 2030s, according to the AUKUS schedule, mitigating a feared “capability gap” from the retirement of Australia’s Collins-class boats from 2038.

The procurement is the largest and most complex in Australia’s history, and will deliver the ADF’s biggest capability leap since the Second World War.

Mr Marles said the decision was made amid “a very significant military build-up within our region” – a clear reference to China, which the Albanese government is simultaneously trying to normalise relations with.

“We need to respond to this. Failure to do so would see us be condemned by history,” the Defence Minister said.

“As a trading nation, so much harm can be done to us before ever setting foot upon our shores”, Mr Marles said.

“And so it’s fundamentally important for our nation that we have the ability to project, and to project with impact.

“And a long-range nuclear powered, capable submarine, will be at the heart of Australia’s future projection. It will enable us to hold adversaries of risk further from our shores.

“But the true intent of this submarine of this capability is to provide for the peace and stability of our region.”

Unlike Australia’s Collins subs, nuclear submarines don’t have to come to the surface to “snort” – the term used for the need for conventional submarines to periodically run their diesel engines so they can charge their electric batteries.

Nuclear submarines’ ability to remain covertly submerged depends only on their supplies of food, water and air.

They also posses an effectively unlimited power source, giving them greater range and endurance and providing crew members with greater comforts such as hot water.

Standing alongside Anthony Albanese in San Diego, Joe Biden made the point that Australia would not receive nuclear armed submarines.

But Australia has shifted even closer to its nuclear-armed partners, the US and UK.

Australia will gain the ability to put adversaries at risk from greater distances, but will face an even greater prospect of being drawn into a Western conflict with China over Taiwan.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/defence/how-the-aukus-submarines-will-work-armed-with-tomahawk-missiles-and-able-to-evade-china/news-story/ef6857a3a454d472310eacedfe970792

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18504761 (140823ZMAR23) Notable: AUKUS submarine deal could spur Australia to becoming naval power - "These submarine announcements dare Australia to embrace greatness. If we end up with three Virginia-class nuclear submarines and eight AUKUS nuclear submarines we will, in fact, be one of the most powerful navies in the world. In the many decades I’ve been writing about submarines, this is not only the most ambitious, but the most realistic, plan to replace the Collins and upgrade our capabilities. That doesn’t guarantee it will work. But it’s a big step forward." - Greg Sheridan - theaustralian.com.au

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>>42687

AUKUS submarine deal could spur Australia to becoming naval power

GREG SHERIDAN - MARCH 14, 2023

These submarine announcements dare Australia to embrace greatness. If we end up with three Virginia-class nuclear submarines and eight AUKUS nuclear submarines we will, in fact, be one of the most powerful navies in the world.

Of course, all this still has to happen.

Australia in recent years has specialised in grand announcements which subsequently come to nothing much at all.

There are good reasons to think this time it might be different.

For a start, the plan is realistic in timelines and has various fail-safe and back-up mechanisms.

It’s realistic that the first new sub from a new design built in Adelaide won’t come until the early 2040s. Even that is by no means sure. It was always absurd for the previous Government to claim that the first such sub would be ready in 2038.

In the meantime, we get the three to five Virginia nuclear subs.

This has a substantial path of legislation needed in the US Congress but there are lots of reasons to think that will proceed.

First, the Australian alliance enjoys overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress.

Second, at the end of the day, we are talking about Australia spending ultimately tens of billions of dollars on US kit.

We’ll spend $3bn to upscale the US industrial shipbuilding base so it can build more Virginias to replace the ones it sells to us.

And we will pay a purchase price of billions of dollars for the Virginias themselves.

Even a Trumpian presidency, even Donald Trump himself, would be extremely unlikely to want to disrupt what is in part a massive defence sale by the US.

In defence terms, there is no way we could spend money any more effectively than by getting the Virginias.

A Virginia which is already in service is already working perfectly. The only thing remaining for Australia is to build the facilities to accommodate it and train the crew to man it.

In the many decades I’ve been writing about submarines, this is not only the most ambitious, but the most realistic, plan to replace the Collins and upgrade our capabilities.

That doesn’t guarantee it will work.

But it’s a big step forward.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/aukus-submarine-deal-could-spur-australia-to-becoming-naval-power/news-story/f04f86a2638736249075d70130a7b929

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18504773 (140828ZMAR23) Notable: China warns AUKUS has made Australia a target for the People’s Liberation Army - Chinese experts have warned that Australia has “officially put itself on Beijing’s defence radar” with its $368bn plan to build nuclear powered submarines with the United States and United Kingdom. Government-linked academics and military officials said Australia’s mammoth defence acquisition was putting the country on the “frontline” of America and China’s strategic competition, which they said would worsen Canberra’s already strained relationship with its biggest trading partner.

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>>42687

China warns AUKUS has made Australia a target for the People’s Liberation Army

WILL GLASGOW - MARCH 14, 2023

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Chinese experts have warned that Australia has “officially put itself on Beijing’s defence radar” with its $368bn plan to build nuclear powered submarines with the United States and United Kingdom.

Government-linked academics and military officials said Australia’s mammoth defence acquisition was putting the country on the “frontline” of America and China’s strategic competition, which they said would worsen Canberra’s already strained relationship with its biggest trading partner.

The warnings come as China’s Foreign Ministry continues an already 18-month long campaign against the three-country submarine deal, arguing the AUKUS deal will undermine the international non-proliferation system and stoke an arms race in the Indo-Pacific.

Chen Hong, president of the Chinese Association of Australian Studies and director of the Australian Studies Centre at East China Normal University, said the AUKUS arrangement was a “time bomb for peace and stability in the region”.

“Continuing promoting the alliance means that Australia will officially put itself on Beijing’s defence radar,” Professor Chen told China’s nationalistic tabloid the Global Times.

Chinese military expert Song Zhongping told the party-state masthead that Australia had become a “de facto offshoot of the US nuclear submarine fleet”, which elevated risks for Australian forces.

“The US wants to make Australia its frontline military base in the Indo-Pacific region and let its allies foot the bill,” Mr Song said.

China’s Foreign Ministry — with the support of its strategic partner Russia — has repeatedly said the deal is in violation of the international non-proliferation regime, a claim that has been rejected by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Taiwan welcomed the submarine deal, which senior members of President Tsai Ing-wen’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party said would help redress the “military imbalance” across the Taiwan Strait.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is happy to see and welcomes the continued advancement of the AUKUS partnership,” a spokesman for Taiwan’s government said in a statement.

“As an important member of the Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan is located at the hub of the first island chain and at the forefront of the fight against authoritarian expansion.

“Taiwan will continue to co-operate with like-minded countries inside and outside the region, and strive to maintain the rules-based international order and safeguard regional peace, stability and prosperity.”

The Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan’s main opposition party, also welcomed the submarine acquisition.

“We would like to see a stronger Western alliance in terms of military capability and technology,” said the KMT’s top international adviser Alexander Huang.

However, Professor Huang cautioned that the submarines, while helpful in the medium term, would not be in operation for more than 10 years.

“The changing dynamic that we are concerned about today is more near term,” he told The Australian.

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18504789 (140836ZMAR23) Notable: In economic recovery era, US is biggest threat by trapping Australia's development interests - "When China sits down with friends, it is for peace. When the US and its partners get together, the agenda is about confrontation. Since the announcement of AUKUS 18 months ago, many observers, including those from Australia, have said the alliance, under the guise of nuclear-powered submarines cooperation, is essentially about US arming Australia and turning it into a US military asset against China, laying a timed bomb for peace and stability in the region." - Global Times - globaltimes.cn

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>>42687

>>42694

In economic recovery era, US is biggest threat by trapping Australia's development interests

Global Times - Mar 13, 2023

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Both China and the US are busy in March. China was busy brokering an unexpected reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran. From March 10, when the two countries agreed to bury the hatchet and resume ties in Beijing, the Middle East has shed a pair of enemies and gained two partners. In contrast, the US is busy paving the way for more tensions and conflicts, through moves including promoting AUKUS.

The leaders of the US, Australia and the UK are set to meet in San Diego on Monday local time to unveil plans to develop nuclear-powered submarines for Australia under AUKUS partnership. "According to leaked details, from the next decade, Australia will purchase between three and five current US Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines before it starts [building] submarines in Adelaide," Australian media Nine News reported on Monday. From 2027, the US will also begin deploying nuclear submarines in Perth as a stop-gap measure, the report added.

When China sits down with friends, it is for peace. When the US and its partners get together, the agenda is about confrontation. Since the announcement of AUKUS 18 months ago, many observers, including those from Australia, have said the alliance, under the guise of nuclear-powered submarines cooperation, is essentially about US arming Australia and turning it into a US military asset against China, laying a timed bomb for peace and stability in the region.

It has been plain to all that AUKUS takes China as its imaginary enemy. "Continuing promoting the alliance means that Australia will officially put itself on Beijing's defense radar," Chen Hong, president of the Chinese Association of Australian Studies and director of the Australian Studies Centre at East China Normal University, told the Global Times.

The question is, is it worth it? Purchasing is just the first step. According to previous reports, at least eight nuclear-powered submarines will be built at Australia's Osborne Naval Shipyard in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It means the current price tag on AUKUS pact that Australian government has to pay is only a temporary figure.

In the future, the manufacture, repair and maintenance of ships and relevant equipment, as well as more interaction with the US, will all bring higher expenses to Australia. In the end, AUKUS will become a bottomless pit, forcing Australia to take money out of its own pockets to pay for the US' strategy, Chen said. Not to mention before Australia obtains the nuclear submarines, it has to pay a $835 million compensation to a French submarine contractor for ditching cooperation with the latter.

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18504803 (140840ZMAR23) Notable: Australia may 'pay expensive price' as AUKUS nuke sub deal only serves US hegemony: experts - "Australia is "planting a time bomb" for its own peace and that of the region, and it would bear the cost of the "expensive mistake" of following the US, Chinese experts warned, as the AUKUS leaders of the US, UK and Australia are expected to meet in San Diego, California and announce a mega nuclear submarine deal to arm Australia." - Wang Qi - globaltimes.cn

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>>42687

>>42694

Australia may 'pay expensive price' as AUKUS nuke sub deal only serves US hegemony: experts

Wang Qi - Mar 13, 2023

Australia is "planting a time bomb" for its own peace and that of the region, and it would bear the cost of the "expensive mistake" of following the US, Chinese experts warned, as the AUKUS leaders of the US, UK and Australia are expected to meet in San Diego, California and announce a mega nuclear submarine deal to arm Australia.

The three-way pact is back in focus after the US picked up the clique confrontation approach against China. AUKUS, launched in September 2021 after Australia scrapped a deal with France, was aimed at strengthening defense cooperation among the Anglo-Saxon brothers and counter China, including offering Australia US nuclear powered submarine technology.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak are expected to further enrich AUKUS with a new nuclear submarine agreement during their meeting in California on Monday (US time), according to media reports.

Citing US officials, Reuters said that Australia is expected to buy at most five US Virginia class nuclear-powered submarines in the early 2030s as part of the defense agreement.

Under AUKUS, there will be at least one US submarine visiting Australian ports in the coming years. The US would forward deploy some submarines in Western Australia by about 2027, media reported.

According to Australian media, all the nuclear-powered submarines will be built in Adelaide, South Australia, with UK and US providing consultation on technology. It's also possible that Australia would acquire vessels from the UK, The Times of London said.

The pact is committed to information and technology exchanges among the three nations in areas ranging from intelligence and quantum technology to the acquisition of cruise missiles.

Chinese military expert Song Zhongping told the Global Times on Monday that if the nuclear submarine ecosystem is set up in Adelaide, it is equivalent to Australia using its own money to build a nuclear submarine production and maintenance base for US.

It means that US nuclear-powered submarines could be built not only in US but also in Australia. However, Australia, as the investor, has no access to US intellectual property, Song said. "Australia's nuclear submarines will also be a de facto offshoot of the US nuclear submarine fleet, serving US' global strategic interests."

"In general, the US wants to make Australia its frontline military base in the Indo-Pacific region and let its allies foot the bill, which is a disservice to Australia's sovereignty and independence," Song noted.

Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Centre at East China Normal University, told the Global Times that the possible purpose of the US providing nuclear-powered submarines to Australia is to equip the latter with long-range strike capability.

"It would be a time bomb for peace and stability in the region. Australia should not fall into the category of a saboteur of regional security just because of US pressure," Chen said.

Australia is very likely to become the seventh nation with nuclear submarines, and Albanese has defended the project, which could create 20,000 jobs over the next three decades.

But Chen said Australia's nuclear submarine ambition violates the international non-proliferation regime and puts Australia on the path of an arms race, which is not in its interest.

According to Australian media, the deal, which could cost A$170 billion ($183 billion), would push Australia's defense spending to 2.5 percent of GDP.

"Such a huge investment would leave Australia with a heavy burden," Song said. "It cannot protect the security of Australia, but will protect the global hegemony of the US. It's an expensive mistake."

Blindly following the US "Indo-Pacific strategy" and developing a nuclear-powered submarine base would pose a threat to other countries' security, said Song, noting that the greatest security for Australia is "not taking sides between China and the US".

Mao Ning, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a press conference on March 9 that China believes that AUKUS poses serious nuclear proliferation risks, affects international nuclear non-proliferation regime, stimulates an arms race and undermines peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific, which is broadly questioned and opposed by countries in the region and the international community.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1287211.shtml

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18504851 (140856ZMAR23) Notable: OPINION: Albanese got the subs deal spectacularly right, and can thank Scott Morrison - "AUKUS itself was the brainchild of Scott Morrison. Bold in its conception and historic in its implications, it was the direct product of close collaboration between Morrison, a very small number of his senior advisers and the leaders of Defence. From the start, the former prime minister took the hardball but necessary decision to keep the inner-circle tight, in particular by marginalising the notoriously leaky Department of Foreign Affairs. (Until shortly before the announcement, the only senior DFAT officials in the loop were Arthur Sinodinos in Washington and me in London.) The short-term damage to our relationship with France was a cost that Morrison was willing to pay to secure the much-better protection for Australia’s national security that AUKUS offered. Scott Morrison has had a rough time over the past year. In the longer perspective of history, AUKUS will be judged to be his most important legacy. It is a legacy greater than many other prime ministers have left behind them." - George Brandis, Former high commissioner to the UK and federal attorney-general - March 14, 2023

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>>42687

OPINION: Albanese got the subs deal spectacularly right, and can thank Scott Morrison

George Brandis, Former high commissioner to the UK and federal attorney-general - March 14, 2023

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The story of Australian public policy over the past four decades, under governments of both political persuasions, has been one of getting the big calls right. Hawke’s internationalisation of the economy in the 1980s, Medicare, and Howard’s GST reforms come to mind. Most people would also include Keating’s superannuation system and the Abbott government’s successful border protection policy on that list.

On Tuesday, with the announcement of the arrangements for the delivery of submarines under the AUKUS pact, the Albanese government has got the biggest call on national security policy of our lifetimes right. Spectacularly right.

The government had to balance a number of competing priorities and reconcile potentially inconsistent objectives. The measures announced by United States President Joe Biden, United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese are as successful in doing so as the circumstances allow.

The dilemma for AUKUS was one of capacity and delivery times. It was essential that Australia acquire this capability at the earliest opportunity. Yet the project faced supply-side difficulties from both our partners. If the subs were to be sourced from the US, we faced capacity constraints within their shipyards, at a time when America is increasing its demand for the vessels.

The UK, which operates a much smaller fleet, is not subject to the same capacity constraints. However, the different economies of scale mean its production facility at Barrow is much slower than the US, and it would not be in a position to supply us until the 2040s.

That problem was unlocked by the adoption of a hybrid solution, whereby a small number (currently three) Virginia-class submarines would be supplied in the 2030s, while Australia and the UK would jointly produce the remaining vessels through to the 2050s, incorporating American propulsion and weapons systems.

In the meantime, beginning in 2027, American Virginia and UK Astute-class submarines would rotate through Stirling naval base in Western Australia, while the existing Collins-class submarines would continue to operate into the late 2030s.

The hybrid model also addressed (or at least mitigated) the issue of long-term political risk. As I argued in this column previously, while there is no doubt about the long-term willingness of future British governments, Conservative or Labour, to partner with us in building the subs, the American political system presents immensely more complexities and uncertainties, not least with the growing strength of isolationism on the American right.

As well, if Australia were solely reliant upon American design and construction, we would have much less weight in the relationship through the delivery phase, at the very time when the US is likely to have difficulties meeting its own demands. Having the majority of the fleet supplied by the UK should give us greater confidence that, in the long term, the AUKUS pact will meet our needs.

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18504867 (140906ZMAR23) Notable: Morrison’s legacy will turn Australia into a significant power - "AUKUS is not just a transformational security agreement but will significantly change the direction of modern Australia. Strategically, the move to become the seventh country with nuclear-powered submarines helps to elevate Australia from an also-ran middle power, like Argentina and the Philippines, to becoming a really substantial contributor to the regional power balance, and therefore global peace. This AUKUS initiative stands in stark contrast with the opinions of those who over the decades have argued we should downgrade ties with the UK and the US. That AUKUS has been endorsed as enthusiastically by the Labor Party as it was by its founders, the Morrison government, means that the neutralist, non-aligned approach to Australian foreign policy is for all intents and purposes dead in the water. So there we have it, Scott Morrison’s great legacy. Whatever you thought of him, there’s no doubt he will be remembered in the decades ahead for one thing, and that will be AUKUS." - Alexander Downer - afr.com

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>>42687

>>42697

Morrison’s legacy will turn Australia into a significant power

Instead of being loyally dependent on ‘great and powerful friends’, Australia will now share more of the burden of maintaining the balance of the power in the Indo-Pacific.

Alexander Downer - Mar 12, 2023

Some prime ministers were popular but we can’t remember anything lasting they achieved. Some were unpopular but have left a lasting legacy. Scott Morrison falls into the latter category. Let’s face it, at the time of the last election he was unloved by the Australian community. But this week we will be reminded of his most substantial achievement as prime minister, which is AUKUS.

AUKUS is not just a transformational security agreement but will significantly change the direction of modern Australia. The decision by the Morrison government jointly to develop nuclear-powered submarines for Australia with the US and the UK will prove eye-wateringly expensive.

The cost of the conventional submarine replacement program – that could have added up to about $90 billion – was one thing, but it is another matter to build nuclear-powered submarines. The total cost of the program could be at least double the price of the French submarines.

This will have significant implications for the Australian economy. Not only will defence expenditure have to increase substantially beyond 2 per cent of GDP. This comes at a time when there is a growing public appetite for still more public expenditure on social policies – not least the NDIS – as well as seemingly insatiable demands for expenditure on any manner of so-called climate mitigation measures.

Let’s stop for a minute and think about it. Between now and 2050 we are somehow going to have to make our whole economy a net-zero economy. No one knows how much that will cost, but it is likely to run into trillions of dollars – assuming it is even technically possible without plunging Australia into deprivation and poverty.

If Australia is to have any hope of meeting these demands, then its economy will have to grow fast in the years ahead.

Since the Albanese government wants to divert investments by the $3 trillion superannuation industry into suboptimal returns in areas such as renewables and housing, it’s hard to imagine how this economic wirtschaftswunder will be achieved. To maximise growth, you have to maximise returns on investment. Diverting national resources away from more profitable investments will reduce growth, not accelerate it.

So, paying for the nuclear-powered submarines will be a huge challenge for governments over the next few years. And while pouring money into renewables, electric vehicles, Snowy Hydro 2.0 and any manner of fancy-sounding programs designed to cool down the weather will prove popular, spending money on submarines will not shift votes one way or the other.

Cheaper to build overseas

This won’t be a problem for the next few years, but what will governments do in a decade or so? They won’t cancel the program because it will be too advanced by then – and its benefits will in any case be substantial even if there is no political dividend.

So inevitably, as time goes by a future government will look for ways substantially to reduce the cost of the submarine program. My prediction is that the biggest cost saving will be to build the submarines in established shipyards overseas rather than build them in new shipyards in Australia. Some estimates are that it will cost 40 per cent more to build the submarines in Adelaide than to have them built overseas. Just think of the savings!

Assuming South Australia’s relative decline in its share of the national population will continue, federal governments will become less concerned about holding a diminishing number of seats in South Australia and more concerned about how they’re going to pay for their other expensive and right-on plans.

So instead of building nuclear submarines in Adelaide, the federal government may well pay some compensation to South Australia for the loss of the project and get the submarines built offshore. We’ll see, but not for a few years yet.

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18510927 (150743ZMAR23) Notable: Fiji backs AUKUS as Canberra soothes regional tensions - One of the Pacific’s key leaders has told Anthony Albanese he supports the AUKUS agreement during a whistle-stop meeting on Wednesday as the Prime Minister continued diplomatic efforts to reassure regional anxieties over the planned acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines. Fijian PM Sitiveni Rabuka congratulated Mr Albanese on the landmark agreement and was comforted by Mr Albanese’s assurances AUKUS would not breach the Rarotonga treaty, a pact among Pacific nations including Australia to keep the South Pacific free of nuclear weapons.

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>>42687

Fiji backs AUKUS as Canberra soothes regional tensions

Andrew Tillett - Mar 15, 2023

Nadi | One of the Pacific’s key leaders has told Anthony Albanese he supports the AUKUS agreement during a whistle-stop meeting on Wednesday as the Prime Minister continued diplomatic efforts to reassure regional anxieties over the planned acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines.

Fijian PM Sitiveni Rabuka congratulated Mr Albanese on the landmark agreement and was comforted by Mr Albanese’s assurances AUKUS would not breach the Rarotonga treaty, a pact among Pacific nations including Australia to keep the South Pacific free of nuclear weapons.

During their meeting in Nadi, Mr Rabuka appeared to allude to previous conflicts such as World War II which left the Pacific devastated, and the need to preserve peace.

Mr Albanese said although Australia was investing in military capability, it was also investing in relationships.

“Thank you for your warm support and for confirming that you want a family-first approach to security, which is our approach too,” Mr Albanese said.

Mr Rabuka, who returned to power late last year and has been a critic of China, said he did not expect imminent conflict within the region.

The brief bilateral meeting came as Chinese officials attended a briefing for the diplomatic corp in Canberra after failing to take up early invitations for one.

The US State Department confirmed it had also briefed the Chinese government about AUKUS in both Beijing and Washington after China’s Foreign Ministry accused the AUKUS partners of going “further down a wrong and dangerous road” and fuelling an arms race.

Malaysia also remains critical of the deal but Indonesia appears to have softened its opposition.

Mr Albanese, government ministers and other senior officials have made more than 60 calls to regional leaders about the $368 billion plan to acquire a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines with help from the US and the UK from the early 2030s.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she had offered her Chinese counterpart a briefing following their recent meeting in New Delhi and the embassy in Beijing had reached out as well.

She said the government did not believe China’s assertions that the AUKUS submarines breached the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

China says the transfer of weapons-grade highly enriched uranium is against the treaty but the government maintains the reactors will be delivered to Australia sealed and remain shut for the 30-year life of the submarine. It has been in close consultation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“We’re always happy to be very transparent about our plans. We believe that one of the ways we can deal in the region openly, clearly and to demonstrate our motivation – which is stability and peace – is to be very transparent about our plans,” Senator Wong told the ABC.

Senator Wong said the government had spent a lot of time engaging with Pacific countries on security matters.

“We have engaged with them about AUKUS and we have listened to some of the issues they’ve raised, and obviously nuclear issues are highly sensitive because of the history of the peoples of the Pacific and we respect that and we understand that,” she said.

Mr Rabuka hosted Mr Albanese at the Blackrock military base, which Australia has invested $100 million to boost training and operations for peacekeeping and humanitarian relief missions in the Pacific.

Mr Albanese was given a traditional sevusevu ceremonial welcome, which included drinking a coconut shell of kava.

Mr Rabuka asked Mr Albanese if he liked the traditional drink after he gulped it down, with Mr Albanese replying it was “very good”.

“You can get it in Marrickville too,” Mr Albanese said to laughter.

https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/fiji-backs-aukus-as-canberra-soothes-regional-tensions-20230314-p5cs3v

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18510950 (150752ZMAR23) Notable: ‘Whatever it takes’: Democrats and Republicans unite for AUKUS - Republicans and Democrats in the US Congress have thrown their weight behind the ambitious plan to help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines, vowing to do “what it takes” to make the AUKUS pact a success. Republican Mike Gallagher, who co-chairs Congress’ AUKUS working group alongside Democrat congressman Joe Courtney, threw his weight behind Tuesday’s announcement and plans to use his new role as a head of a special committee on China to tackle the issue of export controls. “Now we must act with urgency to not only fully resource and implement this agreement, but also make the necessary policy choices to make AUKUS as successful as possible,” he said.

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>>42687

‘Whatever it takes’: Democrats and Republicans unite for AUKUS

Farrah Tomazin - March 15, 2023

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San Diego: Republicans and Democrats in the US Congress have thrown their weight behind the ambitious plan to help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines, vowing to do “what it takes” to make the AUKUS pact a success.

And US State Department officials said they briefed China about the announcement, as tensions between Washington and Beijing continue to simmer over the $368 billion deal between Australia, the US and the UK.

“It’s no secret that our relationship with China is not as close as it was in the past,” said Mark Lambert, deputy assistant secretary for the department’s bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

“I would like to point out, though, that we did brief the Chinese about this AUKUS announcement in the hopes of promoting transparency.”

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joined US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at a navy base in San Diego to outline the details of the three-way pact, designed to counter China’s economic and military advances in the Indo-Pacific.

Under the deal, Australia will buy at least three Virginia-class submarines from the US while building capacity to develop its own locally made nuclear-powered subs, sometime in the 2040s.

However, questions remain about the lengthy time frame, the extraordinary cost to taxpayers, and the maze of US export control laws that must be reformed for America to share nuclear technology secrets with Australia.

Another concern is whether a future US administration could place the deal at risk, although Defence Minister Richard Marles said he was confident this would not happen, based on the US-Australia alliance that spans decades.

Bipartisan members of Congress have so far strongly endorsed the plan and the new chapter in the partnership between the three countries.

Among them is Democratic congresswoman Sara Jacobs, a former foreign policy adviser to Hillary Clinton who travelled to Australia in October to strengthen ties and learn more about AUKUS as part of a delegation with the House of Representatives’ foreign affairs committee.

“There is broad bipartisan consensus in Congress recognising the importance of the US-Australia relationship and we’re ready to do what it takes to make sure that AUKUS is successful,” she told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Republican Mike Gallagher, who co-chairs Congress’ AUKUS working group alongside Democrat congressman Joe Courtney, also threw his weight behind Tuesday’s announcement and plans to use his new role as a head of a special committee on China to tackle the issue of export controls.

“Now we must act with urgency to not only fully resource and implement this agreement, but also make the necessary policy choices to make AUKUS as successful as possible,” he said.

And Senator James Risch, the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate foreign relations committee, said that while he strongly supported the push for Australia to acquire new submarines, the Biden administration should also sharpen its focus on the second pillar of AUKUS, which aims to boost co-operation in areas such as quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

“While a credible undersea capability is a critical piece of this, it will take well over a decade to deliver additional submarines to the Indo-Pacific,” Risch said.

“The Biden administration also needs to be laser-focused on the second pillar of AUKUS – advanced capabilities. This is where AUKUS will see its earliest and most impactful wins and get more capability into the region.”

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18510974 (150800ZMAR23) Notable: AUKUS' final blueprint marks an 'astonishing step forward' for the West that puts our adversaries on notice - "Australian sovereignty was strengthened immeasurably this week, and we have emerged as a different nation: more confident; more determined and far more capable. The signal that it sends to potential adversaries is clear and unmistakable. We are prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure our sovereignty, and will do it with close partners and allies using the most advanced technology available anywhere on the globe." - Stephen Loosley, Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the United States Studies Centre - skynews.com.au

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>>42687

AUKUS' final blueprint marks an 'astonishing step forward' for the West that puts our adversaries on notice

While it may make some of us baulk, the eye-watering $368 billion cost of Australia's submarine venture is a clear and obvious sign that we will do whatever it takes to ensure our sovereignty, writes Stephen Loosley.

Stephen Loosley - March 15, 2023

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Australian sovereignty was strengthened immeasurably this week, and we have emerged as a different nation: more confident; more determined and far more capable.

San Diego, California, was the appropriate backdrop for this historic announcement by the trilateral AUKUS partners, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Since the city's earliest days as a Spanish colonial military fort, the city has played a crucial role in the security of the Pacific.

It emerged as a primary point for American national security during World War Two for the US Navy in particular, and the training of US Marines for the war against Japan.

But in the post-war era, San Diego came not only to supply military needs and logistical framework, but also the intellectual underpinning for the science and technology that permitted the Americans to challenge the Soviets.

The founding of the University of California at San Diego in 1956 embodies this.

The university’s researchers played a pivotal role in underpinning the response to the needs of the US military and industry.

No surprise then that Australian universities have welcomed AUKUS so enthusiastically.

And there was another element in San Diego’s evolution.

Consequent upon the growth in defence technology came extraordinary expansion in venture capital.

Years ago, during a visit to San Diego with a delegation from the Australian-American Leadership Dialogue, I remember walking along a corridor at one of the tech companies in the area.

The walls were lined, from beginning to end, with the framed patents and trademarks which the company had secured over the years.

Each document was an acknowledgement of another step forward in innovation.

It is this cutting-edge technology in the maritime domain that Australia has now embraced with the Virginia-Class and Astute-Class submarines.

The conventionally-armed and nuclear-powered boats represent an astonishing step forward in the guarantee, not only of Australia’s future security, but to the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific.

The signal that it sends to potential adversaries is clear and unmistakable.

We are prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure our sovereignty, and will do it with close partners and allies using the most advanced technology available anywhere on the globe.

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18511006 (150810ZMAR23) Notable: AUKUS alliance: Our $368bn, missile-packed freedom fleet of submarines - Australia will start work immediately on a historic $368bn plan to transform the nation’s defence capabilities that will ultimately ­deliver two types of nuclear-­powered submarines packed with long-range strike missiles to help counter China’s growing military expansion.

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>>42687

AUKUS alliance: Our $368bn, missile-packed freedom fleet of submarines

BEN PACKHAM, CAMERON STEWART and JOE KELLY - MARCH 15, 2023

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Australia will start work immediately on a historic $368bn plan to transform the nation’s defence capabilities that will ultimately ­deliver two types of nuclear-­powered submarines packed with long-range strike missiles to help counter China’s growing military expansion.

The plan will be put into action this year, with more regular port visits by US nuclear subs, accelerating the training of Australian submariners as hundreds of ­defence industry workers are embedded in US and British submarine production lines.

Standing alongside Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak at San Diego’s Point Loma Naval Base, Anthony Albanese said the ­submarine plan marked a new chapter in the ­nation’s ties with the US and Britain – a relationship underpinned by shared values, a commitment to democracy and a common vision for a peaceful future.

“Our historic AUKUS partnership speaks to our collective and ongoing determination to defend those values and secure that future – today, in the years ahead, and for generations to come,” the Prime Minister said.

“We embark with great confidence in the capacity and creativity of our people – with optimism in the power of what our partnership can achieve, and with an unwavering conviction that whatever the challenges ahead, the cause of peace and freedom will prevail.”

Extended rotational deployments of up to four US and one British nuclear submarine will commence from 2027, before Australia acquires at least three Virginia-class nuclear submarines by the end of the next decade.

A planned eight “AUKUS class” boats will be built in Adelaide, rolling off the production line from 2042 amid a parallel construction effort in Britain producing the same submarines.

Both types of submarine will have vertical launch tubes, ­allowing them to fire Tomahawk missiles at land and maritime ­targets, and be able to traverse vast distances silently without needing to surface.

Australia’s pathway to acquiring nuclear submarines will ­require Australia to lift its defence budget by at least 0.15 percentage points to an estimated 2.35 per cent of GDP by the end of the decade. But the pain for taxpayers of Australia’s biggest single capability investment will be deferred until after the next election, with $9bn in offsets from the existing Defence budget to cover the first four years of the program.

Peter Dutton vowed bipartisan support for the plan, but warned Labor must not raid other areas of the Defence budget to pay for the new submarines.

“We have to make sure that there is transparency and honesty with the Australian people about the cost involved in AUKUS,” Mr Dutton said. “It’s not credible for the government to say that there’s no net impact, even over the forward estimates. We can’t allow Labor to cannibalise the Defence Force to pay for AUKUS. It’s not an either/or option.”

Beijing reacted furiously to the announcement, saying the AUKUS partnership was “typical Cold War mentality” that would stoke “an arms race” and undermine the international non-proliferation system, in Beijing’s first official comments after the mammoth defence acquisition was announced.

“Peace-loving countries have expressed serious concern and firm opposition to the damage to regional peace and stability,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday evening.

China was offered a briefing on the plan but was yet to accept the offer on Tuesday night.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Serge Lavror said the AUKUS pact would bring “years of confrontation” in Asia.

“The Anglo-Saxon world, with the creation of structures like AUKUS and with the advancement of NATO military infrastructures into Asia, is making a serious bet on many years of confrontation,” Mr Lavrov said.

Indonesia, which had publicly expressed concerns over the ­nuclear non-proliferation implications of the agreement, said maintaining regional peace was the responsibility of all countries, and it expected Australia to “remain consistent in fulfilling its obligations” under the UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18511054 (150822ZMAR23) Notable: AUKUS compact shows Labor’s new conviction - "This is a revolutionary moment in the history of the Australian Labor Party. At this point Labor assumes full implementation responsibility at the national level for turning Australia into a nuclear-powered submarine nation irrevocably tied to the US and Britain in a strategy of deterrence against China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific." - Paul Kelly - theaustralian.com.au

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>>42687

AUKUS compact shows Labor’s new conviction

PAUL KELLY - MARCH 15, 2023

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This is a revolutionary moment in the history of the Australian Labor Party. At this point Labor assumes full implementation responsibility at the national level for turning Australia into a nuclear-powered submarine nation irrevocably tied to the US and Britain in a strategy of deterrence against China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific.

This decision is driven by deep instincts of Australian identity and strategic belief. Labor under the judgment of Anthony Albanese and the determination of Defence Minister Richard Marles has become a party of conviction in AUKUS. Labor is always a party of beliefs and AUKUS is the new belief.

Labor’s decisions will shape Australia’s future for several decades. They involve a fusion of three beliefs – the leap to a more sophisticated technological and industrial base and workforce; the conclusion that China has embarked on a quest for regional dominance that is an unprecedented risk to our national interest; and the view that our future lies in interoperable strategic deterrence with our historical allies at distance from our shores.

The AUKUS announcement on Tuesday is of global import. The surprise aspect – the stroke of genius if it works – is the US agreement that Australia can buy three US Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the early 2030s, and five if required, thereby giving this country a far-earlier submarine capability than expected.

This reveals astonishing trust and strategic belief among the three AUKUS partners and remarkable US confidence in Australia. This is what China has wrought. Does it comprehend this? For Australia, there are two challenges. Can we deliver on the confidence the US is investing in us by buying and running the Virginia-class boats? And can we deliver on the construction task to work with the UK and the US in building the British-designed new nuclear-powered submarine that will be jointly produced in Britain and in Adelaide?

This agreement takes Aus­tralia into another league as a strategic power and sees a far deeper concept of alliances and partnership underpinned by shared technology.

The announcements on Tuesday are layered with audacity and risk. They cannot be delivered without core changes in the mindset of our defence industry, our navy, our technological and skills base, a lift in our economic performance and better whole-of-nation mobilisation for the task. Labor will be severely tested and it will need to change its thinking to meet the non-negotiable demands of the US nuclear submarine industry. If we don’t meet them, the project falters.

This is not just the single biggest defence step in our history. It is, as the Prime Minister said, a “transformative moment for our nation”. By this decision Australia chooses its future as a nuclear-powered submarine country tied to the military prowess of the US and Britain in a strategy of deterrence against China.

Albanese and Marles were specific, saying the capability will make Australia and its partners “better able to deter conflict”. This is an exacting, open-ended and dangerous future.

For Labor, it looms as an existential issue: you can’t knock back such a unique strategic opening with our allies. “This is an investment we can’t afford not to make,” Marles said. Former Australian ambassador to the US Joe Hockey used similar language. Here is the government’s “bottom line” response to the question of costs: sure, AUKUS costs, but we can’t allow cost to qualify the project.

Outside critics have continually underestimated the strategic conclusion successive governments, Coalition and Labor, have reached from Beijing’s activities and intentions. It is the threat that has delivered bipartisanship.

When the Biden administration assessed AUKUS in 2021 it wanted a whole-of-nation bipartisan commitment. That was promised at the time and is delivered now. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, closely involved with AUKUS as former defence minister, offered his full support on Tuesday. That is no surprise.

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18511070 (150828ZMAR23) Notable: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has reshaped AUKUS, regional power and Labor - "Anthony Albanese and his Defence Minister, Richard Marles, have delivered a national defence outcome that not so long ago would have been unthinkable for Labor. The fact this has not caused a ripple in the fabric of Labor unity on the issue says two things. China has changed the equation, even for the left." - Simon Benson - theaustralian.com.au

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>>42687

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has reshaped AUKUS, regional power and Labor

SIMON BENSON - MARCH 14, 2023

Anthony Albanese and his Defence Minister, Richard Marles, have delivered a national defence outcome that not so long ago would have been unthinkable for Labor.

They would argue its fidelity with Labor tradition, from Andrew Fisher’s creation of the navy and John Curtin’s call to arms in World War II to a unified defence department under Gough Whitlam.

But AUKUS by its definition should be an abhorrence to the predominant elements of the modern Labor left.

Of the things they find most morally detestable, US military hegemony and nuclear power rank near the top of the list.

Yet it is a Labor government led by the left’s most senior member that is now doing both; buying US-made nuclear submarines.

It’s hard to imagine any Labor leader of recent times getting away with it. Shorten, Gillard, Rudd – even Hawke.

Bearing in mind it’s equally difficult to see a Labor government having ever initiated such a project had it not been for the Morrison-led Coalition bequeathing it.

Others will see it as Albanese being boxed in, both by Defence and his predecessor. Politically, he could not have not gone ahead with it.

That said, the Prime Minister has sought to put his personal stamp on AUKUS, rewriting Labor’s previously damaged national defence credentials and, in the process, restoring the primacy of traditional pro-alliance right-wing Labor principles.

This is where Marles was instrumental to the outcome, having guided the government through the process both internally and externally with his US and UK counterparts.

He is right in his acknowledgement that the geopolitical significance of the new tripartite defence pact, the transformation of Australia’s own projection of regional power and the reshaping of the nation’s ­defence architecture can’t be ­overstated.

Equally the Defence Minister’s role in buttressing Albanese’s ­ability to keep faith with the ­mission should not be under­estimated.

The fact this has not caused a ripple in the fabric of Labor unity on the issue says two things. China has changed the equation, even for the left.

It also represents a modernised values-based appeal that enables a pragmatic delivery of outcomes, even if some within Labor remain squeamish.

There is no question Albanese has done well on the world stage, projecting strength and relevance.

Marles, at the same time, has been the steward of what has been one of the most complex but game-changing alliances forged in more than 70 years.

This signals an evolution in Labor leadership. Albanese maintaining authority over his caucus, with Marles massaging the ­concerns.

As John Howard did with the Liberal Party, Albanese has ­allowed the party to run while still maintaining control, often shifting people into positions they never would have contemplated.

What he and Marles have ­delivered is without post-war precedent for Labor, both in its scope but also when considering the degree of perceived internal difficulty.

Those in the left who may once have been considered hostile are now deeply entrenched – witness left powerbroker Pat Conroy as Defence Industry Minister.

Albanese has also manoeuvred Labor deep into Coalition territory on defence, challenging the notion of Coalition brand advantage without any discomfort while washing away the stain of Labor’s last term in office when its credibility on defence and national ­security was gravely damaged.

The broader domestic political dividends, however, are mixed.

There is rarely any political prize for a government doing what voters think it ought to be doing – keeping the country safe.

Albanese, however, is cleverly weaving the nuclear submarine deal and questions of manufacturing sovereignty into a broader Labor nation-building narrative, in the same vein as Chifley’s first Australian-built FX Holden.

Not that Albanese will be around to oversee the first Australian-made submarine roll out of the Adelaide shipyards.

AUKUS will now be an enduring and unshakable bipartisan policy, a rarity in modern Australian politics, which will be inherited by future Labor governments as well as Coalition ones, each delivering on various milestones.

The test for Albanese now lies with his ability to sell the ­announcement domestically considering the eye-watering cost of $368bn. At a time of uncertainty and cost-of-living pressures, this won’t be easy to reconcile among those who have been forced into household austerity.

The opposition, while offering bipartisan support to a policy of its own design, will be arguing that the cost of the program can’t be used as an excuse to raise taxes.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/prime-minister-anthony-albanese-has-transformed-aukus-regional-power-and-labor/news-story/5e15abce0726b2c081a24518a607b4c8

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18511090 (150836ZMAR23) Notable: China is determined to thwart AUKUS, driven by distrust and fear of a US nuclear build-up - China has made no secret of its plans to diplomatically thwart Australia's AUKUS submarine plan, which it sees as part of a broader US effort to contain China's future military dominance of Asia. Beijing's mission to the United Nations yesterday slammed the announcement that Australia will obtain several American nuclear-powered submarines as part of the deal, saying it "fuels arms races and hurts peace and stability".

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>>42687

China is determined to thwart AUKUS, driven by distrust and fear of a US nuclear build-up

Bill Birtles - 15 March 2023

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China has made no secret of its plans to diplomatically thwart Australia's AUKUS submarine plan, which it sees as part of a broader US effort to contain China's future military dominance of Asia.

Beijing's mission to the United Nations yesterday slammed the announcement that Australia will obtain several American nuclear-powered submarines as part of the deal, saying it "fuels arms races and hurts peace and stability".

But rhetoric aside, China's real strategy is focused on stifling the submarine plan at the world's nuclear watchdog body in what will likely be a long-term effort to win over other member states.

So far, China's diplomats are losing the battle, fuelling increasing frustration.

China has the world's biggest navy, including at least 12 nuclear-powered submarines, with a quicker production capacity than the US and its allies.

And not long after the AUKUS plan was first announced in 2021, Beijing launched a vigorous diplomatic campaign at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), arguing the plan blatantly breached the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

The problem for Beijing is that it doesn't.

However, the deal does set a precedent that some analysts fear could be exploited by countries intent on using the cover of nuclear propulsion to secretly develop weapons.

China's diplomats have so far failed to convince IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi, who has expressed satisfaction that consultations between his agency and the AUKUS nations are in line with the treaty.

In a statement released late on Tuesday, Grossi said Australia had provided the IAEA with preliminary design information about the project, and noted that the agency "must ensure that no proliferation risks will emanate from this project".

"I will ensure a transparent process that will be solely guided by the agency’s statutory mandate and the safeguards agreements and additional protocols of the AUKUS parties," his statement said.

"Nuclear submarines are a highly secretive military platform; it's very hard to provide basic transparency to IEAE or other inspecting parties to show them how things are done," said Zhao Tong, a senior fellow in the nuclear policy program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"So that high secrecy over nuclear submarines might create opportunities for countries like China to raise questions about whether there is any theoretical possibility for misuse of the nuclear technology."

The US-UK plan to transfer highly enriched uranium and reactor technology to Australia for the submarines has also prompted claims of double standards, given America's efforts to prevent other countries from transferring nuclear materials in recent decades.

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18511145 (150853ZMAR23) Notable: ‘Dangerous path’: China issues chilling AUKUS threat - China issued an ominous warning over the nuclear-powered submarine deal with the United Kingdom and the United States, saying the historic AUKUS pact put Australia on a “path of error and danger”. A day after it was revealed Australia would become a major naval power in the Pacific with nuclear subs bought from the US and built with the UK, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Wenbin lashed out at what he said was the proliferation of highly enriched “weapons-grade” uranium to Australia. “The three countries, for their own geopolitical interests, have totally disregarded the concerns of the international community and gone further down the wrong and dangerous path,” he said.

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>>42687

‘Dangerous path’: China issues chilling AUKUS threat

China lashed out at the newly unveiled nuclear submarine deal with the UK and US, saying highly enriched, weapons-grade uranium put Australia on a “path of error and danger”.

Justin Vallejo, Clare Armstrong and Charles Miranda - March 15, 2023

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China issued an ominous warning over the nuclear-powered submarine deal with the United Kingdom and the United States, saying the historic AUKUS pact put Australia on a “path of error and danger”.

A day after it was revealed Australia would become a major naval power in the Pacific with nuclear subs bought from the US and built with the UK, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Wenbin lashed out at what he said was the proliferation of highly enriched “weapons-grade” uranium to Australia.

“The three countries, for their own geopolitical interests, have totally disregarded the concerns of the international community and gone further down the wrong and dangerous path,” he said.

The thinly-veiled threat comes after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joined Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and President Joe Biden to announce the purchase of up to five nuclear-powered submarines from the US and the development of a new model of attack submarine with the UK.

Asked about the AUKUS agreement, Mr Wenbin said the transfer of the US and UK’s nuclear secrets and “other cutting-edge military technologies” to Australia risked a new Cold War.

“It will only exacerbate arms race,” he said. ‘Nuclear submarine co-operation between the US, the UK and Australia involves the transfer of large amounts of weapons-grade highly enriched uranium from nuclear weapon states to a non-nuclear weapon state, which poses a serious nuclear proliferation risk and violates the purpose and object of the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty).

Mr Wenbin’s comments are China’s strongest response yet to the $368bn deal. While Chinese state Twitter accounts lashed out at the “blatant act” that “hurts peace and stability in the region”, Mr Wenbin is the first state official to directly respond to the detail outlined by the leaders of the three AUKUS countries.

“It should be stressed that the Asia-Pacific is the most dynamic and fastest growing region in the world. This doesn’t come easily. China urges the three countries to heed the call of the international community and regional countries, discard the outdated Cold War zero-sum mentality and narrow geopolitical mindset, earnestly fulfil their international obligations and refrain from doing anything that undermines regional and world peace and stability,” Mr Wenbin said.

“The US, the UK and Australia should not proceed with relevant co-operation, and the IAEA Secretariat should not have consultation with the three countries on the so-called safeguards arrangements for their nuclear submarine co-operation,” he added.

Mara Karlin, the acting deputy undersecretary of defence for policy, confirmed the State Department has had discussions with the People’s Republic of China about AUKUS but did not reveal the specifics.

“Open communication between our two countries is important for risk management,” she said at the Pentagon.

“To be very clear, AUKUS is not about any one country. It is about the need for security and stability in the Indo-Pacific.”

“This is going to take us to another level of interoperability,” she said about the US sharing its nuclear submarine technology. “The last time we did so was 1958, so it’s really a sign of how close this relationship is.

“Australia will get these subs in just about a decade. That is frankly faster than most folks expected when this was announced 18 months ago.

“These submarines are going to be especially special though because of their stealth and range.”

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Tuesday they made a massive diplomatic push to brief regional and world leaders on the AUKUS sub deal, including China.

“We offered a briefing,” Mr Marles said. “I have not participated in a briefing with China.”

Asked by if China had rejected the briefing or responded at all, Mr Marles replied: “I’m not aware of that response.”

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18511176 (150908ZMAR23) Notable: Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin’s Regular Press Conference on March 14, 2023 - "We’ve repeatedly said that the establishment of the so-called AUKUS security partnership between the US, the UK and Australia to promote cooperation on nuclear submarines and other cutting-edge military technologies is a typical Cold War mentality. It will only exacerbate arms race, undermine the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and hurt regional peace and stability."''''

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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin’s Regular Press Conference on March 14, 2023

AFP: US President and the leaders of Australia and the United Kingdom yesterday announced that Australia will buy nuclear-powered submarines from the US. Do you have any comment on this agreement between these three countries?

Wang Wenbin: We’ve repeatedly said that the establishment of the so-called AUKUS security partnership between the US, the UK and Australia to promote cooperation on nuclear submarines and other cutting-edge military technologies is a typical Cold War mentality. It will only exacerbate arms race, undermine the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and hurt regional peace and stability. Peace-loving countries have expressed grave concern and firm opposition. The latest joint statement issued by the US, the UK and Australia shows that the three countries, for their own geopolitical interests, have totally disregarded the concerns of the international community and gone further down the wrong and dangerous path.

Nuclear submarine cooperation between the US, the UK and Australia involves the transfer of large amounts of weapons-grade highly enriched uranium from nuclear weapon states to a non-nuclear weapon state, which poses a serious nuclear proliferation risk and violates the purpose and object of the NPT. The US, the UK and Australia said they are committed to set the highest nuclear non-proliferation standard, this is nothing but a high-sounding rhetoric to deceive the world. In essence, it is a move to coerce the IAEA Secretariat into making safeguards exemption arrangements, which would seriously undermine the authority of the IAEA. China is firmly opposed to this.

We need to point out once again that nuclear submarine cooperation bears on the integrity, efficacy and authority of the NPT. The safeguards issues related to AUKUS concern the interests of all member states of the IAEA and should be jointly discussed and decided by all member states through transparent, open and inclusive intergovernmental process. Pending the consensus reached by all IAEA member states, the US, the UK and Australia should not proceed with relevant cooperation, and the IAEA Secretariat should not engage with the three countries on the safeguards arrangements for their nuclear submarine cooperation.

It should be stressed that the Asia-Pacific is the most dynamic and fastest growing region in the world. This doesn’t come easily. China urges the three countries to heed the call of the international community and regional countries, discard the outdated Cold War zero-sum mentality and narrow geopolitical mindset, earnestly fulfill their international obligations and refrain from doing anything that undermines regional and world peace and stability.

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/202303/t20230314_11041208.html

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18511193 (150914ZMAR23) Notable: China expected to prepare for AUKUS nuclear submarine program with underwater buildups - "The AUKUS collaboration will damage the global strategic balance and stability, encourage other countries to join the nuclear arms race, escalate geopolitical tensions and bring the Asia-Pacific region to a wrong path of confrontation and splitting-up, completely opposite to the common appeal for development and prosperity from countries in the region." - Liu Xuanzun - globaltimes.cn

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China expected to prepare for AUKUS nuclear submarine program with underwater buildups

US, allies build up underwater encirclement against China, ramping up tensions

Liu Xuanzun - Mar 14, 2023

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The leaders of Australia, the UK and the US announced details of the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine program in California on Monday, a move that experts said on Tuesday is a part of a threatening underwater encirclement designed by the US to militarily confront China, and that China will need to prepare to defend itself.

The so-called AUKUS trilateral security partnership and the promotion of cutting-edge military technology cooperation, including nuclear submarines between the three countries, come under a typical Cold War mentality that will only stimulate an arms race, sabotage international nuclear non-proliferation systems and harm regional peace and stability, said Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a regular press conference on Tuesday in response to the announcement.

The program, widely reported by major media outlets from the three countries, is summarized by analysts as a three-step plan that will first see four submarines from the US and one British sub start rotating through a base in Western Australia from as early as 2027, which will immediately turn the country into a forward deployment base of mainly the US as a part of the latter's attempt to militarily contain China, said Chinese military experts.

For the second phase, Australia will reportedly take three potentially second-hand Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines from the US in the early 2030s with an option to purchase another two, which Australian media claimed is far more than a stopgap measure, as these submarines would be by far the most capable ones the country has ever operated. The US is developing its next-generation SSN(X)-class submarine, so the older Virginia-class boats would be retired anyway if the AUKUS program did not offer them to Australia, observers said.

In the meantime, a new type of submarine known as the AUKUS-class will be developed based on UK work in replacing their Astute-class submarines. The construction of the AUKUS-class is scheduled to start in the early 2040s, and eventually Australia would operate eight AUKUS-class submarines by the 2060s, with the UK also planning to procure the new boats to replace its current ones and potentially add more.

The submarine program will cost Australia between $268 billion and $368 billion over the next 30 years, and the country will also contribute money to US and UK production lines, according to Australian news website abc.net.au.

Under the program, Australia is like a guinea pig that pays money for US interests at own risks, Wei Dongxu, a Beijing-based military expert, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The US and UK are experimenting with new technologies and concepts in joint submarine development, and they have found Australia is a good test subject, Wei said. In case technological problems arise in the program, the US and the UK could shift the blame between each other, leaving Australia who has paid the money with a bitter pill, he said.

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/18511200 (150920ZMAR23) Notable: Nuclear submarines will turn Australia into a ‘haunted house’: Global Times editorial - "In the English context, "white elephant" usually refers to a useless but expensive and eccentric object. It could have been better if the nuclear submarines of the US were just white elephants, but they are also a big ill omen. Canberra bought them back with a huge sum of money and will turn Australia into a haunted house, bringing risk to the whole region and making the years of efforts of South Pacific Countries in building a South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone, which is protected by formal treaty, face the most serious impact." Global Times - globaltimes.cn

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Nuclear submarines will turn Australia into a ‘haunted house’: Global Times editorial

Global Times - Mar 15, 2023

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The leaders of the US, Britain and Australia celebrated the unveiling of the AUKUS nuclear submarine plans with great fanfare at the Naval Base in San Diego, California, on Monday. It was a public humiliation to France, which was cheated by them, and a cover-up and deceit to the Australian people, and a kind of bravado to neighboring countries. It was also a blow to the already fragile international nuclear non-proliferation mechanism, and obviously a dangerous move for the entire international community.

According to the agreement, Australia will purchase up to five US nuclear-powered submarines in the next few years, which means that Australia will become the seventh country in the world to have nuclear submarines. The peace and stability of the Indian Ocean and Pacific region will expectedly bear the impact, pressure and risks brought about by this agreement for a long time. Some American media even called it a "milestone." This obvious misnomer has produced ironic effects, but the agreement may indeed become a boundary stone for the US, Britain and Australia to drag the Asia-Pacific region into a "new cold war." It is what everyone is worried about.

In order to obtain the US' nuclear-powered submarines, Australia may have to spend nearly $250 billion. Does Australia have too many mines and is too wealthy? Australia indeed has mines, but life in Australia is not rich for most, and the current economic situation is very bad, with a huge structural budget deficit. $250 billion is roughly equivalent to about two years of public healthcare expenditure of Australia. In order to pay for this huge sum of money, Australia is bound to squeeze social welfare. In other words, the 25 million Australians will eventually have to pay the bill through a certain degree of frugality.

Another question, is Australia in danger without US' nuclear-powered submarines? Can't it survive? Obviously not. Not only does Australia not need them, but it will definitely put itself at risk by buying them. Australia, which is isolated in South Pacific and far away from other hotspots in the region, has a relatively unique geographic advantage. No country will attack or even invade Australia for no reason. Australia has had the conditions to spend its main resources and energy on improving people's livelihood.

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