Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items

Australian news week to 5 September

Australian news to 5th September

September 1, 2026 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

SUBMISSION to AUKUS Public Inquiry – Slava Volin

Were the public told the truth? Is Australia getting what was promised? Should any
government commit this country to a nominal cost approaching AU$900 billion,
including a multi-generational nuclear waste liability that it refuses to disclose, without a
single independent public audit?

30 June 2026
RE: AUKUS: Moving Beyond Procurement Accountability to the Structural Case for
Contractual Renegotiation or Cancellation

THE DECISION WINDOW: BEYOND THE PROCUREMENT TRAP
Mainstream public analysis regarding AUKUS has focused systematically on delivery
timelines, transparency lapses, and the recent transition to an exclusively second-hand
Virginia-class fleet [1.1].
Other than a hot war, AUKUS is the single most important strategic, fiscal, and
welfare issue in the history of the Commonwealth of Australia.


The underlying metrics and statutory frameworks reveal a deeper structural failure.
AUKUS is not a delayed procurement; it is a fundamentally flawed, legally asymmetrical
pact that subordinates Australian fiscal and operational sovereignty to the statutory
vetoes of United States domestic law [1.1, 1.4]. The fundamental architecture of the
deal compromises Australia’s national independence, cannibalises existing naval
capability, invites strategic aggression, and permanently erodes the tax base and
essential public services of our citizens, completely independent of the final delivery
schedule [1.4].

This submission provides this independent Public Inquiry with the specific financial and
statutory metrics required to expand the terms of national debate. It demonstrates that
the current framework leaves the Commonwealth exposed to absolute foreign vetoes,
multi-generational uncosted liabilities, and a permanent reduction in independent
strategic decision-making [1.4].

THE FRAMING THAT MUST CHANGE: ELEVATING THE CRITIQUE

Focusing civic and parliamentary scrutiny strictly on delivery schedules and cost
updates risks engaging in a narrow project management debate that the Executive can
easily neutralise with revised timelines or minor disclosures. To establish an
unassailable framework for the final Inquiry report, the critique must shift from
procurement tracking to structural capture, targeting how the legal and financial terms of
the pact compromise Australian independence regardless of the physical delivery date.

THE MULTI-FACETED CASE: STRUCTURAL ENTRAPMENT

  1. FISCAL REALITY: Uncosted liabilities push the true nominal cost past AU$917
    billion……………………………………………………………………………………………………
  2. WELFARE IMPLICATIONS: Structural Opportunity Costs and Public Service
    Erosion…………………………………………………………………………………………
  3. 3. LEGAL ASYMMETRY: Structural Vetoes Under United States Law……………………………………………………………………………………….
  4. STRATEGIC DISPLACEMENT: The Wrong Weapon for the Wrong War………………………………………
  5. OPERATIONAL HOLLOWING: The Maritime Workforce Crisis……………………………………………….
  6. SOVEREIGN EXPOSURE: Industrial and Engineering Dependence…………………………………………
  7. INDUSTRIAL FRAGILITY: The Vulnerable British Supply Pipeline……………………………………………..

ACTIONABLE STRATEGY FOR THE INQUIRY FINAL REPORT

Based on the statutory asymmetries, fiscal overruns, and industrial constraints compiled
in this evidence baseline, the Inquiry is urged to adopt the following three-tiered
framework as primary recommendations in its final report on 30 October 2026 [P3]:

Recommendation 1: Order an Immediate Forensic Audit and Formal Suspension……….

Recommendation 2: Execute the 12-Month Notice Provision to Cancel the
Submarine Component………………………………………………………………………

Recommendation 3: Brief the Executive on Preliminary Findings to Facilitate a
Managed Strategic Off-Ramp

The Inquiry Commissioners should formally engage the Prime Minister and the Minister
for Defence with a confidential briefing of these evidence-backed preliminary findings
prior to the publication of the final report on 30 October 2026 [P1, P3]. This private
briefing should be executed as a collaborative intervention to assist the government in
managing a rational strategic pivot, utilizing a distinct three-part psychological and
political framing:………………………………………………………………………………….

CROSS-EXAMINATION TRIGGERS FOR THE PUBLIC HEARINGS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

THE 2028 QUESTION

Were the public told the truth? Is Australia getting what was promised? Should any
government commit this country to a nominal cost approaching AU$900 billion,
including a multi-generational nuclear waste liability that it refuses to disclose, without a
single independent public audit?


This Independent Public Inquiry possesses the unique civic mandate and strategic
separation from major-party factional consensus to ask these questions plainly,
providing an unassailable, evidence-backed reference framework for the future of the
nation.

THE AUKUS MASTER CITATION INDEX (74 VERIFIED SOURCES)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BLukBDqSKjRkp3YNaneLAM8rSG9B3Nus/view

September 6, 2026 Posted by | politics | Leave a comment

Submission to AUKUS Public Inquiry – Eileen Whitehead


When we look in detail at the Pillar II advanced capabilities involved with AUKUS, however, it becomes clear that these will have profound consequences not only for the Australian military, but for the whole of the Australian people in their everyday lives.

698 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Zp9kXdUp0AV2B8U5sIhNKFROKGRnr_dG/view

Originally we were searching for submarines whose primary role was to protect Australia’s
coastline, which had been the Collins’ role. A tender process between German, Japanese and
French contenders resulted in the French Attack class (renamed from Barracuda class) submarine
being chosen. The original design of this class was for it to be nuclear powered, but the design
allowed for it to be conventionally powered by diesel-electric – but convertible to nuclear power
should future owners so desire. At A$50 billion, this was Australia’s biggest ever defence
contract


When we look in detail at the Pillar II advanced capabilities involved with AUKUS, however, it
becomes clear that these will have profound consequences not only for the Australian military,
but for the whole of the Australian people in their everyday lives.


These consequences include the privatisation (by stealth) of the Australian Defence Forces, the
growth of a significant local military industrial complex in Australia, to add to the domination of
the Australian economy by US and European arms manufacturers, giving away Australian
research, data and capital to the US and UK military forces, a further integration of the
Australian military into United States military operations around the globe, and the diversion of
Australian know-how, research and creativity to assist the continued growth of the US military –
industrial complex, rather than in the service of useful and sustainable industries in Australia.
Detail of plans for the development of AUKUS Pillar II is sketchy and hidden from public gaze.

Expansion of the military-industrial complex into Australia
The “military industrial complex” was identified as a real threat to democratic control of
government decisions by US President Eisenhower in 1961 – “This conjunction of an immense
military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. . . .Yet we
must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. . . . In the councils of government, we must
guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the
military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and
will persist.” This threat is even more serious in the US today.
1
In Australia, researchers such as Michelle Fahy have identified the same process growing here – with a “revolving door” of people swapping between weapons corporations, Defence Department positions and political positions. AUKUS development will make this threat of undue influence far worse in Australia.

. AUKUS emphasis is on “dual use technology development” – in other words companies that develop commercially useful applications that also are useful in defence industry. For example,
Australian national security information will be stored in Amazon’s “High Security” cloud.3
In spite of huge private capital needed, significant government investment is also projected to
develop PII industries. For example the $3.6 billion earmarked for the new Advanced Strategic
Capabilities Accelerator.

4 Australian capital and research will be given to US military

4 Australian capital and research will be given to US military
The Pillar II focus on sharing technologies between partners means in practice a mostly one-way
sharing towards the US – that Australian research and IP and Australian government capital will
be provided to build up the US defence industry. AI training of algorithms requires vast amounts
of data sourced from the high tech corporations such as Google and Amazon. Data from
Australians will be swept up in these data collections without any consent – effectively ceding
sovereignty to US tech and military firms.

5 Australian defence industry will continue to be dominated by US defence corporations,
Comments by Richard Marles show that “Our ultimate goal is to supplement and strengthen U.S.
industry and supply chains, not compete with them.”
6. Australian Defence Force will become a US defence contractor
“Interchangeability” means that weapons can be used interchangeably – in practice that means
Australian weapons will be an adjunct to the US weapons arsenal, except that their enormous
price tag will be paid for by Australian taxpayers!
7. Australian people and data they generate will be used to train AI algorithms to help US
become dominant in AI – instead of building AI as a useful tool at the service of all countries.
8. Australian industry is in effect integrated into the US military industrial complex –
serving needs of US government and US military rather than Australia.

AUKUS involves:
● Increased porting, involving servicing and maintenance, of US and UK nuclear
submarines at HMAS Stirling.
● Australia’s purchase of 3-5 second hand Virginia class nuclear subs from the US in the
2030s.
● Building of up to 5 AUKUS nuclear submarines of UK design but eventual construction
at Osborne Shipyard, deliverable from the 2040s.
● The above at a projected cost of A$ 368 billion, (which is already at least double that).

● AUKUS pillar II involving advanced technologies in electronic and maritime warfare.

● AUKUS pillar II involving advanced technologies in electronic and maritime warfare.

September 6, 2026 Posted by | politics | Leave a comment

SUBMISSION: AUKUS PUBLIC INQUIRY – Friends of Port River

Many in our community feel that too much is being asked of our small Peninsula and that local residents will bear the costs with few benefits. I’d encourage you to highlight the current
environmental harms and further risks, with these heightened by the declaration of the
Osborne SDA.

Friends of Port River (FPR), and its predecessor the Estuary Care Foundation (ECF), have been
concerned about the fate of the Port River and Barker Inlet Estuary and advocating for its care
for ten years. Our concerns have included the surrounding area and community, given

  • The significant demands on land, the River and services, from industrial development
    especially the AUKUS development
  • The Estuary is home to the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary, is the southern end of the Adelaide
    International Bird Sanctuary, is crucial as breeding grounds for prawns and fish, contributes
    carbon abatement via blue carbon and provides numerous other ecosystem services.
  • The nature of the SA planning system which deals individually with each new project,
    without due regard for the cumulative impact.
  • The well documented risks of sea level rise, storm surges and flooding commencing with
    the 2005 Port Adelaide Seawater Stormwater Flooding Study1
  • The low levels of stormwater protection on the Peninsula, including vulnerable areas east
    of Victoria Road opposite AdBri, and heavy reliance on pumping stormwater to the Port
    River, which could be more challenging as we experience more ‘unprecedented’ weather
    events
  • The lack of open space in many areas of the Peninsula, which limits community amenity
    and the potential to divert stormwater
  • State Government’s urban infill strategy which seems to pay no regard to risks such as
    stormwater protection and exposure to AdBri’s emissions, nor to the quality of life for new
    and existing residents. The most recent residential developments facilitated by Renewal SA
    around the Port River have very limited open space and almost no community facilities for
    thousands of new residents.

Current environmental harm
Over the last ten years ECF/FPR have witnessed significant environmental harm, and/or failure
to minimise harm in the Estuary and Peninsula, by the SA Government including

  • Poor regulation of the Dry Creek Saltfields and failure to prevent the operator pumping
    hypersaline brine into some cracked ponds, leading to the loss of over 24 hectares of vegetation (mangroves and saltmarsh) and with the catastrophic impact continuing
  • unchecked.
  • Failure to maintain the seawall at Mutton Cove, (now situated within the AUKUS footprint),
    which led to the seawall failing in May 2016 and the banks progressively eroding. Mutton
    Cove abuts the northern end of the ASC, Mersey Road, and the southern end of the
    extended AUKUS development. Despite ANI, Flinders Ports, the City of Port Adelaide
    Enfield, and the Department of Environment, contributing $20K each towards an analysis of
    coastal risks and identification of adaptation options, the 2021 report of that study has not
    been provided to the funding partners and the State Government has continued to allow
    the seawall and banks to fail.
  • Failure to remove from the Peninsula, on both sides of the Port River, extensive areas of
    Penrice waste, which the State Government allowed Penrice to dump on Government land
    prior to the company’s liquidation in 2014.
  • Failure to develop strategies to protect the community from harm from sea level rise, storm
    surges and flooding, despite numerous studies and apparently ongoing work, by the City of
    Port Adelaide Enfield and the Coast Protection Board.
  • Loss of TEC saltmarsh and risks to wetlands at Gillman from a recent State Government
    development at Gillman. Compounding the risks Renewal SA has faulty tidal gates, that
    cannot be shut to limit high tide impacts from the Estuary to the wetlands, or impede
    stormwater discharges.
  • Trucks will take spoil 24×7 from the Torrens to Darlington road works to Gillman from Q3,
    2026 to 2031 and while this is currently impacting local roads there’s been no known notice
    to local residents.
  • Contact with Commonwealth and State agencies
  • About eight years ago ANI reached out to Port Adelaide Residents Environment Protection
  • Group (PAREPG) and FPR, as part of their efforts to secure their social licence in the
  • community, and we met regularly with them around their infrastructure plans, the future of
  • Mutton Cove etc.
  • From December 2023, we met with ASA representatives and from May 2024 those meetings
  • became monthly with ANI and ASA reps.
  • In February 2025, representatives of the Office of AUKUS, Department of Premier and Cabinet
  • joined the meetings, and we were advised of State Government planned to develop a Lefevre
  • Masterplan, with consultants engaged to develop the Plan. So that the community could be
  • consulted we arranged for the consultants to address a Port Adelaide Environment Forum
  • meeting and feedback was submitted from the Forum to the DP&C. We understood that the
  • draft Lefevre Masterplan would be presented at another Forum meeting this year, but that has
  • now been superseded by the Osborne State Development Area process (see below).

Some of the key themes that were raised at the Forum consultation included:

  • Locals’ aspirations for the Peninsula including holistic approach, greening, restoration of
    and access to the River, fostering social connections
  • Opposition to AUKUS and/or reservations about its impact on our community
  • Negative impacts already on environment and community including Harmful Algal Bloom,
    poor canopy cover, AdBri and traffic emissions,
  • How the local community might benefit since for example only a small proportion of
    residents (17.2%) both live and work2
    locally
  • Lack of infrastructure including water, stormwater, electricity
  • Major problems currently with transport and lack of infrastructure to deal with the
    proposed workforce growth and other demands
  • Suggestions for social infrastructure and housing developments
  • Suggestions for environmental improvements including protection of Biodiversity Park and
    implementation of the ECF Vision for the Estuary.

Assessment of the AUKUS development
The Friends of Port River was able to directly compare the application of Commonwealth and
State development assessment processes when ANI submitted an EIS to the State
Government for the AUKUS development and ASA provided a Strategic Impact Assessment
Report (SIAR) to the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment
and Water (DCCEEW). (Radiation matters were separate to this process).
As outlined in this blog FPR made written submissions to both. The experience confirmed
FPR’s perception of the many weaknesses in State development assessment processes,
including the failure to include mitigation or best practice measures, proposed by
environmental consultants, to address identified potential risks and the lack of public
reporting e.g. as to whether environmental monitoring has occurred, whether any required
safeguards are applied.

Commonwealth approvals confirm that the community will lose public access to Mutton
Cove, which after losing Falie Reserve, means “a reduction of approximately 50 percent of
accessible public open space within the northern end of the Lefevre Peninsula”. Three and a
half (3.5) hectares of seagrass will be removed.
FPR acknowledges that the Commonwealth approval processes (unlike the State) set
Environmental Outcomes that are to be met throughout the life of the Sub Yard.
There is also much greater visibility and accountability through Commonwealth requirements.
ASA must, within 3 months, develop an Assurance Plan (including as to how the Outcomes will
be met). Biennial reports to DCEEW and independent audits are to be conducted, and
submitted, to DCEEW every six years. Importantly the Assurance Plan, biennial reports and
independent audits are to be made publicly available.

State use of special legislation
Community concern about the State Government’s lack of regard for the natural world, and
our environmental assets, has been heightened by its recent actions in the Adelaide Parklands
and by the declaration of the State’s first State Development Area (SDA) across the Peninsula
and Gillman. In both instances, special legislation has been passed to expedite development.
In the Adelaide Parklands this has meant hundreds of trees being removed, for LIV golf, with
more at risk for a motorcycle grand prix circuit, the State Government ignoring its own
‘significant tree’ safeguards and not referring its proposed actions to the Commonwealth re
EPBC provisions. Adelaide City Council and community concerns have been ignored, despite
more than 50,00 signatures on a public petition.
The Osborne SDA is the first SDA in SA under the State Development Coordination and
Facilitation Act 2025 (SDCF Act). While the Coordinator General explained at a recent
workshop for City of Port Adelaide Enfield Councillors, that his office wouldn’t necessarily step
into the decision making-role of other agencies, the threat is clearly there that he could do so if
presumably time frames for decisions, or the decisions themselves, do not meet political
imperatives. This could be disastrous for the Estuary in relation to the roles of the EPA, the
Coast Protection Board and the Department of Environment (as landowner and guardian of the
Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary).
While community consultation is ‘open’ about the proposed boundaries for the Osborne SDA,
the Coordinator-General (CG) advised that the SDA would look at all the State’s existing land
holdings and seek their most productive use.
Since the proposed boundaries include Mutton Cove, Biodiversity Park, the local golf club, the
Royal SA Yacht Squadron, the Port Adelaide Rowing Club, the Girl Guides etc the CG’s
statements are naturally alarming community members about the fate of Biodiversity Park and
Mutton Cove and troubling organisations that lease State land.

Given the State’s focus is on “Shaping the future of one of South Australia’s premier industrial
regions” and there are no stated Objectives for the SDA, the community want to know what
regard will be given to public safety (e.g. access to and from the Peninsula) and quality of life
and health and well-being of residents (e.g. traffic pollution, loss of further open space) and
the prevention of further degradation of the natural environment.
Many in our community feel that too much is being asked of our small Peninsula and that local
residents will bear the costs with few benefits. I’d encourage you to highlight the current
environmental harms and further risks, with these heightened by the declaration of the
Osborne SDA.

Catherine McMahon
Convenor
Friends of Port River

September 6, 2026 Posted by | politics | Leave a comment

Pauline Hanson calls for two nuclear plants on east coast and insists policy is nothing like Dutton’s failed plan

Tom McIlroy and Sarah Basford Canales, Guardian, 31 Aug 26

Pauline Hanson says two nuclear reactors should be built on Australia’s east coast, but insists One Nation’s policy is nothing like Peter Dutton’s failed push to build plants during his unsuccessful election campaign.

Campaigning in Victoria ahead of the November state election, the One Nation leader went beyond the party’s published policy, which calls for $6.8bn to be spent on construction of one reactor, to be built at a site supported by community consultation.

One Nation leader also calls for taxpayer funding to keep coal-fired Loy Yang power station operating as part of ‘diversity’ of power

Pauline Hanson says two nuclear reactors should be built on Australia’s east coast, but insists One Nation’s policy is nothing like Peter Dutton’s failed push to build plants during his unsuccessful election campaign.

Campaigning in Victoria ahead of the November state election, the One Nation leader went beyond the party’s published policy, which calls for $6.8bn to be spent on construction of one reactor, to be built at a site supported by community consultation.

Hanson also called for taxpayer funding to keep coal-fired Loy Yang power station outside Traralgon operating, as well as construction of “a couple” of new nuclear plants as part of a push for a “diversity” of power supply.

“The reactors need to happen,” Hanson said on Monday.

“But we need that diversity of power. Keep your coal-fired power stations going.”

She distanced herself from a plan to build seven taxpayer-funded nuclear plants that was previously proposed by the Coalition. That policy, which suggested having two of the plants use small modular technology, fell flat with voters ahead of the 2025 election………………………………………………………………………. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/aug/31/pauline-hanson-calls-nuclear-coal-plants-australia-east-coast-ntwnfb

September 6, 2026 Posted by | politics | Leave a comment

For A Westerner, Opposing The Empire Is The Only Path To Dignity

Caitlin Johnstone, Sep 05, 2026, https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/for-a-westerner-opposing-the-empire?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=82124&post_id=214242987&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

The only way to truly have dignity and integrity as a westerner is to put your energy into opposing the empire under which you live.

Under the individualism of our capitalist society, we are indoctrinated with the belief that the most important and interesting things about us are the personal characteristics which distinguish us from other people: our likes and dislikes, our lifestyle, our interpersonal relationships, our sense of fashion, how successful we are professionally, academically and romantically, etc.

But when you live under the most murderous and tyrannical power structure on the planet, your individual little quirks and facets are a lot less significant than the extent to which you oppose the abuses that your rulers are inflicting upon human beings around the world. If you met a German in 1940, you would probably be a lot less curious about his taste in music and fondness for dapper suits than you would be about his level of support for Adolf Hitler.

That’s you right now. You’re the German in 1940. The most interesting and relevant thing about you is the extent to which you oppose the globe-spanning empire you live under. At this point in history, everything else about you is a very distant second.

I’m sure you’re a nice person. I’m sure you try to be decent to everyone you encounter, and I’m sure you’ve created a really nifty personality for yourself over the course of your life. You probably own some cool stuff and have some fun stories about things you’ve experienced over the years. But as a westerner, none of that matters nearly as much as the degree to which you stand in opposition to the psychopathic dominators who run your society today.

If we lived in Africa, Asia or Latin America, the unique qualities of our individual personalities would have more relevance, because we wouldn’t be materially benefiting from an empire which murders, exploits and steals from the people of the global south. But we are westerners, and the river of blood which feeds our way of life is always the loudest thing in the room.

For us, opposing that river of blood is the only path to a respectable life. We have no control over the fact that right now we live in a society that is fueled by a system of imperialist extraction propped up by the barrel of a gun, but we can control our response to that reality. We can do something every day to throw sand in the gears of the imperial machine. We can help weaken public trust in its propaganda services. We can help open the eyes of our fellow westerners to the reality of what our governments are doing in our name. We can work to foment a revolutionary zeitgeist. We can help construct a robust and widespread anti-war movement.

Your choice to do that or not is the most interesting and significant thing about you as a person. I mean no disrespect to your other wonderful attributes when I say this; that’s just the reality of what it means to be born into this particular slice of spacetime.

September 6, 2026 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

AUKUS makes Australia a nuclear target, top experts warn

Rob Harris, September 3, 2026 —https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/aukus-makes-australia-a-nuclear-target-top-experts-warn-20260902-p60tnk.html

Australia is significantly more likely to be dragged into a destructive conflict with China — and potentially targeted with nuclear weapons — under the AUKUS security pact, two former senior national security figures have warned.

Michael Keating, a former Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary, and former public servant Jon Stanford argue that the federal government’s current defence posture has “sacrificed considerable sovereignty” to the United States while leaving the country uniquely vulnerable without a guaranteed security safety net.

The pair will front a crowd-funded public inquiry into the AUKUS submarine pact on Thursday, urging the federal government to immediately redesign its national strategy, cancel plans to acquire American Virginia-class and British-designed SSN AUKUS nuclear-powered attack submarines, and pivot to low-enriched uranium vessels sourced from France or South Korea.

Keating, the most senior public servant during the Hawke-Keating era, spent 11 years on the Secretaries Committee on National Security – including five years as chairman – while Stanford has extensive background in submarine research and defence policy.

“Under AUKUS, Australia’s security is under greater threat while it has become increasingly clear that we cannot rely on the US for our defence,” they write in their submission. “We are now in a situation where, because of the AUKUS strategy of integrated deterrence in defence of US regional primacy, Australia is more likely to be attacked, potentially with nuclear weapons”.

They cite prescient warnings from former French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who noted in 2021 that Australia had made a choice “to the detriment of sovereignty” and predicted it would discover later it had sacrificed both security and self-determination.

According to the submission, the policy of “integrated deterrence” and “pooled sovereignty” effectively converts Australian military facilities into forward operating locations for US forces without giving Canberra oversight or veto power.

They point out that unlike allies such as Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines, Australia lacks a formal US security guarantee, such as NATO’s Article V.

Yet, by developing command and basing infrastructure – such as the US submarine squadron facilities at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia – Australia becomes a prime military target.

“If there is a war between the US and China, Australia will inevitably be involved … even if we do not provide military support,” the submission states, adding that escalating hostilities could leave Australia open to nuclear strikes.

Fronting the first day of the hearings in Canberra on Wednesday, former home affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo called for a deeper military integration with the US, agreeing that Australia could surrender sovereignty under the current AUKUS without gaining a meaningful say in decisions that could draw it into a war with China.

Pezzullo, a national security hawk and former senior public servant under the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments, was sacked by Labor in 2023 after confidential messages between him and Liberal Party powerbroker Scott Briggs were leaked to this masthead. The Australian Public Service Commission subsequently found he had breached the public service code of conduct on 14 occasions.

“If I was a Chinese war planner,” Pezzullo said, “I would flatten every single potential facility that might be used overnight by Americans flying in.”

He said facilities including Tindal, Stirling, North West Cape and Pine Gap could be targeted in such a conflict.

But Pezzullo said AUKUS’s nuclear-powered submarine program would transform Australia’s military options, giving the navy greater speed, endurance and reach while opening the way for a new generation of autonomous underwater systems.

Undersea warfare would be critical in any future conflict, from anti-submarine operations to intelligence gathering, he said.

At the same time, Pezzullo said Australia should not commit to fighting alongside the US in every future conflict.

“Alliances are political documents first and foremost,” he said, arguing that countries must retain the ability to make sovereign decisions when a conflict actually occurs.

But he said those political alliances needed military planning and preparation underneath them.

Australia, he said, could either try to remain outside a future US-China conflict and accept the consequences if Washington lost, or strengthen its alliance with the US in the hope that the combined deterrent would prevent war.

“The only choice would be whether we want to sit it out and hope for the best,” Pezzullo said. “I think that’s not plausible.”

The choice was whether to remain on the sidelines and accept the consequences if Washington lost, or deepen the alliance in the hope that Australian involvement would strengthen deterrence.

“I prefer that latter approach,” Pezzullo said. “The war machine is the thing that prevents the war.”

September 4, 2026 Posted by | weapons and war | Leave a comment

The Australian Nuclear Free Alliance (ANFA) report on 2026 meeting

What is ANFA?  (from FOE)

Formed in 1997 by the late Uncle Kevin Buzzacott, the founder and first president of ANFA, alongside current president Auntie Sue Coleman-Haseldine, the Australian Nuclear Free Alliance brings together Aboriginal people and relevant civil society groups concerned about existing or proposed nuclear developments in Australia, particularly on Aboriginal homelands. . 

The Alliance provides a forum for sharing knowledge, skills and experience. It is an opportunity to come together and find strength through our shared aims to protect Country and culture from nuclear developments. The Alliance helped to build the successful campaign to stop the Jabiluka uranium mine in the Northern Territory, and proposed national nuclear waste dumps in South Australia and Muckaty in the NT. Currently, Aboriginal communities face a wave of uranium exploration, rehabilitation and remediation of former mine sites, several proposed new uranium mines, and the threat of AUKUS nuclear waste dumping.

2026 ANFA meeting statement , https://anfa.org.au/2026-anfa-meeting-statement/?mc_cid=8858980633&mc_eid=261607298d

From sunrise to sunset, it’s all Traditional Land”

Nukunu Country August 14-16th, 2026

The Australian Nuclear Free Alliance (ANFA) held its national gathering on Nukunu Country in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia over the weekend of August 14-16th, 2026.

The ANFA network connects Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people and groups concerned about and responding to nuclear threats. This weekend was the 29th annual meeting of the network. ANFA has played a big part in many important campaigns to stop nuclear projects across Australia. 

The meeting began with an acknowledgement of the powerful leaders who started ANFA and welcomed representatives of the next generations to the meeting. Delegates collectively paid tribute to many beloved Elders and community members who have passed. 

Over the weekend, ANFA strongly reaffirmed its opposition to all uranium projects. Communities from South Australia, Northern Territory and Western Australia talked about the threats and pressure for new and expanded uranium mines, the lasting legacy and impact from operating mines and the difficult, ongoing work to rehabilitate these sites. South Australian representatives also shared important stories about the impacts of uranium mining on water.  The meeting committed to carry on Uncle Kevin Buzzacott’s lifelong efforts to end unsustainable water extraction from Borefields A and B at Roxby Downs.

Dr Jillian Marsh reminded delegates: “For hundreds of thousands of years we’ve known about uranium as a poison, this comes from our Yura Muda. Our knowledge systems refer to poison ground and poison wind; we have known about it for many generations and we have never given our free prior and informed consent for the extraction and transportation of uranium.” 

The ANFA meeting united communities concerned about impact from the proposed AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine agreement. Many places in Australia are threatened by plans for submarine construction, new ports and radioactive waste sites as part of this flawed agreement. Delegates representing Osborne at Port Augusta in South Australia, Stirling at Meandip (Garden Island) in Western Australia and Port Kembla in New South Wales shared concerns about the lack of information and meaningful consent, the impacts of a military build up in those communities and the risks of nuclear waste. 

Members expressed concern that the AUKUS proposal increases pressure from Government to find a radioactive waste storage site and for the first time there are now private companies seeking to play a role in nuclear waste management at sites in the Northern Territory and Western Australia. The meeting resolved to support any communities being pressured to take nuclear waste and to call out any secretive proposals such as those disguised as salt mining.

Anangu Tjuratja descendants and Maralinga survivors and descendants shared stories of survival, black mist and health impacts and forced removal from their homelands. “Our people died from that bomb, we say no to poison land” said Yallata community member Roslyn Peters.

ANFA welcomed second and third generation Hiroshima hibakusha Yumi and Moeko who shared stories of the impacts they have inherited from the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

The meeting learned about the health impacts and risks caused by radiation in all its forms and that the legacy of contamination, poison and sickness remains today.

Delegates were reminded to “Stand up, talk loud” and that “First Nations mob network with one another” and sent strong messages of solidarity to the Hayes family resisting the militarisation of their land at Pine Gap. 

ANFA celebrates the sustained intergenerational resistance of communities across the country as well as ongoing efforts to build a nuclear free future. ANFA is nearing its third decade of peaceful resistance against the nuclear industry and members look forward to celebrating this milestone in 2027.

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Communities represented: Adnyamathanha, Googatha, Ngemba, Yallata, Mirning, Kaurna, Ngarrindjeri, Arabunna, Kuyani, Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara, Walmumpa, Kaurni, Mirarr, Wongutha, Noongar.

Organisations represented: Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Friends of the Earth, Australian Conservation Foundation, Nuclear Truth Project, Don’t Nuke the Climate, Independent and Peaceful Australia Network, Medical Association for the Prevention of War, Nuclear Free WA, People for Nuclear Disarmament.

September 4, 2026 Posted by | opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Inquiry into AUKUS – final public hearing today

3 September 2026 AIMN Editorial, https://theaimn.net/inquiry-into-aukus-final-public-hearing-today/

Australia’s independent, crowdfunded Public Inquiry into AUKUS concludes its public hearings today in Canberra, with presentations from Andrew Wilkie, the Hon Kim Beazley AC, Dr Michael Keating, Jon Stanford and Dr Emma Shortis amongst many others.

A huge number of Australians – including a Prime Minister, Foreign Affairs and Defence Ministers, senior academics and military experts, community groups and citizens – have presented to the Inquiry across 10 day-long hearings in 8 cities around Australia over the last 12 weeks.

Up to 1,500 people a day have watched the live-streams of proceedings.

Over 800 written submissions have been received.

$200,000 has been raised by crowdfunding, from other individual donors and from civil society organisations, in order to hold the inquiry.

AUKUS Public Inquiry Lead Commissioner Peter Garrett said today that the public hearings have been an extraordinary exercise in real world democracy.

“Everyone associated with the Inquiry has found this process of community outreach and participatory democracy genuinely inspiring.

“It has been many years since Australia has seen something like this.

“The inquiry has asked many questions that the public desperately need answers to, particularly the most pressing one: will AUKUS actually keep us safe and at what cost?”

The Commissioners will draft a comprehensive report which will be presented at the National Press Club in early November.

Livestream of today’s proceeding here

September 3, 2026 Posted by | politics | Leave a comment

Cameron Leckie: AUKUS “A maladaptive response to the end of the US empire”

September 2, 2026 Posted by | politics international | Leave a comment

One Nation vows to ramp up gas exploration and scrap ‘nonsense’ renewable projects as Pauline Hanson unveils new energy policy in Victoria

By NICHOLAS COMINO, POLITICAL REPORTER, AUSTRALIA, 31 August 2026

One Nation has vowed to ramp up gas exploration, scrap major renewable projects and roll back a historic ban on nuclear energy as it unveils its new energy policy in Victoria.

Federal leader Pauline Hanson and Victorian leader Warren Pickering launched the policy at the Loy Yang site in the Latrobe Valley on Monday, arguing Victoria needs a more reliable energy mix and a renewed focus on coal and gas……………

Pickering also announced the party would axe both the Western Renewable Energy Zone and the Coastal Renewable Energy Zone if elected, labelling both as ‘ideologically driven nonsense’.

‘The Western Renewable Energy Zone will be abolished, the Coastal Renewable Energy Zone will be abolished,’ he said. ………………….

One Nation said more detailed policies would be released in the coming weeks as the party targets support in regional Victoria ahead of the November state election and capitalises on its recent by-election victory in WA’s Secret Harbour.https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16092167/one-nation-victoria-energy-gas-nuclear-pauline-hanson.html

September 2, 2026 Posted by | politics | Leave a comment

How to get filthy rich via Small Modular Nuclear Reactors

30 August 2026 Noel Wauchope AIM Extra, https://theaimn.net/how-to-get-filthy-rich-via-small-modular-nuclear-reactors/

Well, I hasten to warn you that you need to be already rich, for this to work. It has already worked for some alert rich investors. What they did was – they noted the soaring share prices of small nuclear reactor companies, a soaring that was accompanied by an awful lot of media hype.

And then they noted some salient facts about those companies – for example:

OKLO – has a market cap of $8 billion, and its shares jumped more than 12% on Aug. 25 Sounds great doesn’t it? BUT:

  • ​OKLO had a net loss of $81.6 million in the second quarter this year.  
  • It went public through a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) in 2025.  
  • It generates no commercial energy income today.  
  • Its first Small Modular Reactor (SMR), the Aurora Powerhouse, isn’t expected to enter commercial operation for years.  
  • Oklo is incurring tens of millions in operating losses annually. 
  • It is  $78.6 million in debt, so interest and loan payments eat into its earnings.
  • OKLO is still in discussions with the regulator NRC, regarding the fuel, high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU, and other supply chain issues.

Similarly, stocks of  both NuScale Power, and Nano Nuclear have soared over the past year. Yet both are making little or no money, and both have suffered operational losses over this year. NuScale is now facing a class action by investors who claim that the company misrepresented the prospects for small nuclear reactors.

So – what have the smart rich investors done? Basically, they’ve gambled on these stocks being over-priced, and soon to go down. Investment strategies are not my strong point, but it seems that short selling is one hedge fund strategy. So these clever investors, noting the unsustainable rise in share prices, borrow shares and soon sell them at the inflated price, and can buy them back later as the price plunges down.

So , it’s estimated that investors made over $2 Billion over the past months by short selling shares in these three small nuclear reactor companies – OKLO, NuScale, and Nano Nuclear.

The rage for investing in SMRs is still on, as the world is gripped by the mania for AI hyperscalers. (AI hyperscalers are companies investing grotesque amounts of money in building data centres world-wide)

Neither the hyperscalers nor the small reactor companies are actually making money at present. But the hype is all-consuming.

This is the prevailing hype –

The AI Boom Is Making Nuclear Power Bankable Again – America’s nuclear power landscape is undergoing a dramatic transformation, driven by the immense energy needs of artificial intelligence. Tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta are directly financing nuclear projects, committing billions to secure nearly 10 gigawatts of capacity. ………..

Almost everything tech companies are funding—Meta, Amazon, most of Google’s bets—is small modular reactors: compact designs.

Will AI kickstart a new age of nuclear power? IAEA Director General Manuel Grossi believes that the nuclear industry is destined to be the energy partner of the AI revolution. “Only nuclear energy can meet the five needs of low-carbon power generation, round-the-clock reliability, ultra-high power density, grid stability and true scalability”……………………..the IAEA is working closely with regulators and the industry to make them a viable proposition and we could soon be seeing large numbers of small reactors being deployed to meet the demand.

So- we have the Trumpian process in the USA, of the weakening of radiation and safety regulation of nuclear reactors, and of the government already funding 8 SMR companies.

With the claim that nuclear power combats climate change, with the accepted belief in the necessity for AI hyperscale, governments, academia, the corporate media, and the UN all promote this new marriage of nuclear and Big Tech. So – all the stars are aligned for the rise and rise of small nuclear reactors.

Incidentally, don’t look to the UN, the World Health Organisation (WHO)or anyone like that to cry foul. I think that most people have forgotten, if they ever knew it , but the 1959 agreement between the WHO and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) effectively prevents the WHO from criticising things nuclear.

One important part – “Whenever either organization proposes to initiate a programme or activity on a subject in which the other organization has or may have a substantial interest, the first party shall consult the other with a view to adjusting the matter by mutual agreement.”

And, in this time of vulnerability of nuclear sites, to war and terrorism, you wonder how Rafael Grossi, Director of the IAEA reconciles his conflicting duties, that of promoting nuclear power and of assuring of its safety.

But I digress. We are talking about money, and how to get rich through investing in small nuclear reactors. Well, that is still a goer. But perhaps you’d better be quick, as investment advisors are now dithering about the share price of commercial SMR companies, even though the Big Tech- SMR teams are apparently still booming.

However, the global nuclear lobby is now turning its attention to military microreactors, so there’s hope for future stock market gains as governments splurge tax-payers money into companies in that area.

September 2, 2026 Posted by | Christina reviews | Leave a comment

‘Absolutely shocked’: Top level NACC recruitment process shrouded in secrecy

Despite Attorney-General Michelle Rowland’s promises of greater transparency around the hiring of a new NACC commissioner and deputy, nothing has changed

Michelle Fahy and Elizabeth Minter, Undue Influence, 30 August 26

We undertook this investigation in collaboration with Jommy Tee. It was first published by The Australia Institute’s The Point on 26 August 2026.

A third top level recruitment process is under way for the National Anti-Corruption Commission – to appoint a new commissioner and deputy commissioner following the resignations in May of Paul Brereton and Nicole Rose, both two years short of their five-year terms.

The first two processes – in 2022 and 2023 – were characterised by secrecy. Even members of parliament’s NACC oversight committee, the PJC-NACC, were given little information on how the recruitment was conducted. The jobs were publicly advertised but then the shutters came down.

In acknowledgement of the profound public disappointment in the NACC’s performance to date, following Brereton’s resignation Attorney-General Michelle Rowland promised a more transparent recruitment process and a “reset” of the beleaguered organisation:

I’m engaging across the parliament to look at ensuring … that there is transparency of the merit-based process … [and] also realising there is an opportunity here to reset the Commission and to ensure there is public confidence in this very important institution. (Bold added.)

This investigation, based on documents released under Freedom of Information, shows that nothing of substance has changed. The secrecy that characterised the two earlier recruitment processes looks set to be repeated. The government appears just as intent on evading scrutiny and oversight of this crucial third recruitment process.

Despite having been repeatedly advised by integrity experts to establish a recruitment process at arms-length from government for the top NACC roles, the Albanese government has chosen to stick with the ‘merit and transparency’ guidelines that have been in place since 2008. These guidelines were strongly criticised by Lynelle Briggs in her 2023 ‘Jobs for Mates’ report.

Smoke and mirrors

The current attorney-general, Michelle Rowland, appears to have led members of the NACC oversight committee and respected integrity advocates to believe that the latest recruitment process is a marked improvement – because there will be an “eminent” independent person included on the government-controlled selection panel.

Yet we can reveal that the first recruitment process also featured an eminent independent member on the selection panel.

Not only was this information kept from the public, it was also withheld from the PJC-NACC.

“It’s extraordinary as a member of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the NACC to be finding this out three years after the event and only through an FOI,” Greens Senator David Shoebridge told us.

Despite Rowland’s promises of increased transparency, the government has refused to disclose – even to members of the PJC-NACC, which is bound by confidentiality – the names of the people it has appointed to the selection panel.

Integrity expert, and former counsel assisting the NSW ICAC, Geoffrey Watson SC, told the committee he was “absolutely shocked” when advised the government would not be telling the committee who’s sitting on the selection panel……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Revealed: the selection panels and conflicts of interest

We obtained via FOI the names of the seven people who sat on the two selection panels. Aside from the sole external person, all panellists were senior government officials.

A separate set of documents, also obtained via FOI, revealed that four of those seven people – including the eminent independent person – declared actual or perceived conflicts of interest………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

NACC secrecy a deliberate choice of Albanese government

The secrecy around NACC recruitment is a deliberate choice of the government, according to integrity organisation the Accountability Round Table (ART).

The ART, which works to strengthen government accountability and democratic practices, is a non-partisan organisation with a board that includes senior legal practitioners, former judges, former parliamentarians and others with substantial experience of Commonwealth integrity arrangements………………………………………..

The ART said that immediate reform is urgently required to restore public trust. It is a statement for which this investigation provides strong evidence.

We put a number of detailed questions to Attorney-General Michelle Rowland and her department for this article. Neither responded.

We put detailed questions to former attorney-general Mark Dreyfus. He did not respond to the questions and directed us to contact the attorney-general’s department.https://undueinfluence.substack.com/p/absolutely-shocked-top-level-nacc?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=297295&post_id=213255175&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

September 2, 2026 Posted by | secrets and lies | Leave a comment

Friends of the Earth remind Chris Bowen, Minister for Climate Change that nuclear power is a false solution to climate change

Friends of the Earth Adelaide has sent the letter below to Chris Bowen, Minister for Climate Change and Energy, before a series of important meetings in the lead up to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP31). A special climate event will take place in Palau at the  Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting from tomorrow (30 August to 4 September). That is followed by pre-COP preparatory meetings in Fiji and Tuvalu (5-8 October). COP31 itself will take place from 9 to 20 November 2026 in Antalya, Türkiye.

I’m sure you all remember that Adelaide was vying to host COP31, but we missed out when Türkiye wouldn’t back down. The compromise was that Chris Bowen got to be President of Negotiations.

Hon Chris Bowen, MP
Minister for Climate Change and Energy
Dear Mr Bowen,
We imagine you are extremely busy preparing for important meetings in the lead up to the November
UN Climate Change Conference (COP31), beginning with a special climate event in Palau (30
August to 4 September), followed by pre-COP preparatory meetings in Fiji and Tuvalu (5-8 October).
We wish you every success in your role as President of Negotiations.


The impacts of climate change are becoming more and more serious. The northern hemisphere has
experienced unprecedented heat waves and catastrophic fires this summer, while Australia faces
dangerous weather conditions during the forthcoming southern hemisphere summer, which will fall
in the middle of a strong El Nino event.

In the course of COP31 negotiations, you will hear many proposals for mitigation of and adaptation
to climate change. Some proposals will represent sincere attempts to address the problems, while
others will offer false solutions designed to protect vested interests. For too long, vested interests have
been allowed to obstruct the world’s response to climate change. As a result, we are in the midst of a
climate crisis that is expected to get worse over the coming decades.


One false solution that is raised at every COP is nuclear energy. Wealthy lobby groups backed by
powerful political forces promote nuclear energy as the solution to global warming, but their
proposals are designed to perpetuate the use of fossil fuel. It is no coincidence that in Australia and
elsewhere the political parties that support nuclear energy are the same parties that consistently block
climate action.

The situation in Europe this summer demonstrates how inappropriate nuclear energy is for a warming
world. Nuclear reactors have been forced to shut down because of low flow in rivers from which they
extract cooling water, or because the water temperature in those rivers is too high. Coastal nuclear
power plants in France have been shut down by jelly fish which swarm in the warmer sea waters
clogging the cooling water intake filters. Sea level rise and severe weather caused by climate change
will lead to increasingly severe storm surges in coastal areas threatening nuclear power plants.


We urge you to remain faithful to the science. Call out those who seek to muddy the waters with
misinformation and disinformation. Support real solutions, not vested interests.

Yours sincerely,
Philip White 28 August 2026
Convenor
Friends of the Earth Adelaide

September 1, 2026 Posted by | climate change - global warming | Leave a comment

Palantir’s $12m Austrac Contract and Your NDIS Data | The West Report

September 1, 2026 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

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