Port Kembla rally to demand NSW site be ruled out as Aukus nuclear submarine base
March organisers say delaying a decision on the location – one of three flagged as possible – will deter renewable energy investment
Guardian, Daniel Hurst 6 May 23
Labor members are set to join unionists at a rally in Wollongong’s Port Kembla on Saturday to urge the Albanese government to rule out the location as a future base for the Aukus nuclear-powered submarines.
Rally organisers say the debate is “a proxy battle” for Australia’s future and warn the delay in making a decision will only deter renewable energy investment in Port Kembla.
The former Morrison government named it as well as Newcastle and Brisbane as three potential sites for a new east coast base, with reports earlier this year suggesting Port Kembla was favoured by defence planners.
But in the wake of the defence strategic review, the Labor government has delayed a decision on the location and has signalled it will not limit itself to the Morrison government-era shortlist. It also now talks about a “facility”, not necessarily a base.
A spokesperson for the defence minister, Richard Marles, said the government would “develop a process to consider all feasible options for an east coast facility to support Australia’s future submarine capability”.
A decision would be made “late in this decade”, the spokesperson said………………..
The South Coast Labour Council’s annual May Day march has been moved from Wollongong to Port Kembla to shine a spotlight on opposition to the proposed base………..
Rorris said locals had “grave fears” that the prospect of a submarine base would crowd out potential energy investors.
“That is why we are asking the federal government: rule it out, take it off the table and say that it will never be a nuclear base. Until that happens, economically and industrially, we have a major and unacceptable problem.”………….
Rorris said it was a “choice between the industries of the future to save the planet versus the war machines that may well destroy it”.
“We understand that unlike the Morrison government, this Albanese federal government is a bit more attuned to the feeling on this matter on the ground,” Rorris said………………………………….. more https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/06/port-kembla-rally-to-demand-nsw-site-be-ruled-out-as-aukus-nuclear-submarine-base
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