A fresh AUKUS agreement won’t mean Australia will accept nuclear waste from overseas partners, Anthony Albanese says while dismissing criticism of the pact from one of his predecessors.
An update to the AUKUS security pact was signed off during the annual AUSMIN talks between Australian and US defence and foreign ministers.
While the initial deal inked in March 2023 only allowed for the exchange of information about nuclear submarines, the update has paved the way for nuclear material to be brought to Australia.
The prime minister attempted to hose down concerns the update would lead to the US or UK sending their nuclear waste to Australia.
“There’ll be no nuclear transfer from either the US or the UK. That’s the detail,” he told reporters in Perth on Friday.
“We’ve agreed to have nuclear-powered submarines, that’s what we’ve agreed to, and the transfer of technology that’s related to that, we’ll have access to it.”
As part of the AUKUS agreement, Australia will acquire three Virginia-class vessels from the US before Australian-built nuclear submarines begin operating.
The $368 billion plan will bring eight nuclear-powered subs into service by the 2050s.
But the deal has come under renewed criticism from former prime minister Paul Keating, who says Australia is losing its autonomy by being part of it.
“AUKUS is really about, in American terms, the military control of Australia. I mean what’s happened? Our policy is likely to turn Australia into the 51st state of the United States,” he told ABC’s 7.30 program.
“The only threat likely to come for us is because we have an aggressive ally because of AUKUS.”
Mr Albanese said while his predecessor was entitled to his views, AUKUS was a benefit for Australia.
“Paul was a great prime minister and that ended in 1996,” he said.
“Paul has his views, they’re well known. My job as prime minister is to do what Australia needs in 2024. The world is different, the world has changed between 1996 and 2024.”
Defence Minister Richard Marles says the fresh agreement is a “foundational document” for the trilateral security pact.
“It provides the legal underpinning of what we agreed with the US and UK under the banner of AUKUS,” he told ABC Radio on Friday.
“It also affirms that in walking down this path, we will meet our international obligations in terms of non-proliferation.”
The agreement had also come under fire from Greens defence spokesman David Shoebridge, who said levels of secrecy about the deal’s terms were concerning.
“What is so damaging to the Albanese government with this new deal that it has to be kept secret from the Australian public?” he said.
“There are real concerns the secret understanding includes commitments binding us to the US in the event they go to war with China in return for getting nuclear submarines.”
The agreement showed Australia’s “blind allegiance” to AUKUS, Australia Institute senior researcher Emma Shortis said.
“Australia is unlikely to get these submarines. More importantly, we do not need them,” she said.
“Secrecy is not security and Australians have a right to know what the government is agreeing to.”
It comes as opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie called for the WA government to include a minister dedicated to AUKUS in its cabinet, with the state to play a role in submarine infrastructure.
By Andrew Brown in Canberra
