Topics: AUKUS; Greens sanctions motion;
07:45AM AEST
13 August 2024
Pete Stefanovic: Well exit ramps from the AUKUS contract have been revealed, which show the US, and the UK can pull out of the deal with as little as a year’s notice. Joining us live now, the Shadow Foreign Minister, Simon Birmingham. Simon, thanks for your time as always. Are you concerned about this at all?
Simon Birmingham: Good morning, Pete. Well, I think what this shows is the importance of all parties in all countries working to maintain comprehensive, bipartisan support for AUKUS. Now, the United States and the United Kingdom have managed to exchange nuclear submarine technologies for 63 years. It’s a long-term partnership. It’s been a successful partnership, and it has helped both nations. And it is that type of long-term partnership that Australia has got to be in it for. Frankly, I’m more concerned by the type of petty and petulant comments from the Defence Minister yesterday when he sought to take some swipe, suggesting that AUKUS was nothing more than a thought bubble when the government was elected. That’s an insult as much to President Biden and to the United Kingdom as it is to the Morrison government. It took a lot to get the US and the UK to the point of agreeing to share nuclear submarine technologies with Australia. We got them to that point. We welcome the advances that have been made, and we all have to work determinedly, bipartisanly, to make sure that we maintain that commitment right through the same type of 60 plus year relationship the US and Europe have had.
Pete Stefanovic: Just on this point. I mean, contracts can be broken. They that would come at a huge cost, as we did with the French as we all recall. But I mean, this just proves, does it not that, you know, it’s no lock. It’s no lock that we’re going to get the subs.
Simon Birmingham: Nothing that any country seeks to do with another country can be guaranteed in ten, 20, 30, 40, 50 years time. But what we are seeking to do here is to build sovereign capabilities in Australia in terms of our own nuclear-powered submarine capability industry and to establish that workforce here in Australia. But of course, to do it in tandem through that technology exchange. And we have just as the US and the UK, such a long alliance with each of those countries, and we should have absolute confidence in the ability to deliver on this program. We should never take a backward step from that ambition, and we’ve got to be charging ahead with it, and we have to be looking at it in the same type of time frame as the depth of that alliance has been before us.
Pete Stefanovic: Yeah, just looking at another part of these details this morning about costs. And on that point of indemnity costs, I mean, that’s against any liability, loss costs, damage or injury that we would potentially be up for. Are we handing over a blank cheque here? And do you suspect that this overall bill is going to go well beyond the 350-360 billion that was originally forecast?
Simon Birmingham: Well, look, this is going to be a significant undertaking, there is no doubt about that. The nuclear-powered submarines are the most sophisticated technologies that our country has ever sought to build, and the most sophisticated defence weaponry that our country has ever sought to have. That’s why we’re in it.
Pete Stefanovic: But with inflation, it’s going to go- it’s going to get right up there.
Simon Birmingham: Look, there will be inflationary challenges. There will be construction challenges. Nobody should pretend that this is going to be an easy slam dunk. This is going to be a big complex task. But it is one we should have confidence that we’re up for. But it demands absolute, consistent, resolute bipartisanship in Australia, as it does in how we work across the UK and the US. And thankfully, it enjoys that bipartisan support in the UK and the US. And we have to be ever vigilant from all sides of Australian politics about maintaining that.
Pete Stefanovic: Okay, on to something else this morning, Simon. A motion from the Greens for the government to sanction the State of Israel. That includes the Prime Minister, Netanyahu. I wouldn’t expect that to succeed. But your thoughts on it?
Simon Birmingham: I think your expectations are dead right. Look, this is another pathetic, petty bit of grandstanding by the Greens that is entirely one sided. It’s a motion that doesn’t mention Hamas, that doesn’t call for hostages to be released. It fails to, of course, meet any type of reasonable sense of balance. And it’s a sign that, again, the Greens seek to foster division in Australia for their own political advantage and to grandstand on an issue that indeed does involve enormous human tragedy. None of us, like to see the loss of life, the loss of civilian life and the tragedy that has occurred. We all wish to see a ceasefire achieved, but it’s got to be a ceasefire that sees the hostages released and the terrorists disarmed.
Pete Stefanovic: Okay, Simon Birmingham, thanks for your time. As always. We’ll chat to you soon.
[ENDS]