Submission- Amelia King -re new agreement on Naval Nuclear Propulsion- a shoddy deal for submarines that might not even exist.
a projected$368 billion will be used to build submarines while teachers, students, nurses and doctors will be left in the dust.
If any damages relating to ‘nuclear risk’ occur, we’re paying the bill! How much debt are you willing to put us in?
Submission no.9 https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Treaties/NuclearPropulsion/Submissions
As a member of the Australian public, I cannot agree that AUKUS is a good idea for the
wellbeing of Australia as a whole.
Firstly, AUKUS is a horrifying idea in the sense that it is taking money away from the
Australia institutions that well and truly need it. The already underfunded sectors of
education1
, public health2
and climate action3
are put in further risk by AUKUS;
a projected$368 billion will be used to build submarines while teachers, students, nurses and doctors
will be left in the dust. These people are our citizens; why aren’t you listening to their
voices? Our public education systems have been left in shambles for a while now, and for
what? The idea of submarines? A fraction of 368 billion can be so much better used not only
to fund the education of students but also provide support for both the students and their
teachers, who are leaving the education industry at an alarming rate. Similarly, the public
health sector has little to no funding in areas such as preventative health4
, which is arguably the most important field we should be focusing on. Don’t even mention nurses, ambulance drivers, doctors and other technicians who are notoriously overworked and underpaid. How
long until the next pandemic? How long until we destroy public health completely and only
private fields remain? Who will pay for your submarines then? And finally, climate action.
You propose that paying for these submarines will bolster our future, and yet we burn in the
present. We are home to one of the great natural wonders of the world, and yet your inaction
and dependence upon foss fossil fuels will cause it to die. How does it feel to have the blood of
our land on your hands?
You claim that by building these submarines, we will grow our domestic workforce. The
truth of it is that we’re getting a shoddy deal for submarines that might not even exist. The
US and the UK can walk away from AUKUS with just a year’s notice; what then? Why are
you gambling with our money? If any damages relating to ‘nuclear risk’ occur, we’re paying
the bill! How much debt are you willing to put us in? Even if the US or the UK doesn’t back
out and somehow no damage occurs, who’s to say that the US will even deliver the promised
product? This is new technology being dealt with; we don’t know if it’ll even work! And
we’ll still be $368 billion in debt! But let’s be honest, if you cared so much about bolstering
our defence, you would’ve bought from France when you had the chance.
So, it really comes down to this: for how long will you choose capital over your people? No
matter how many jobs this AUKUS deal proposes for the Australian public, how can you go
forward with it in good conscious that this was the most utilitarian choice to make for our
country? Where do you suppose you’ll suddenly be able to produce the money we so
desperately need to be funnelled to the public when we’re 368 billion dollars in debt? Truly, I
have to wonder what the benefit of AUKUS might be. You’re a public servant, so fucking act
like it. Listen to what we’re all saying. Listen to our voices. Get rid of AUKUS.
1 https://www.aeufederal.org.au/news-media/news/2023/how-school-funding-fails-public-schools-report
2 https://www.phaa.net.au/Web/Web/News/Media-releases-2024/New-analysis-uncovers-reality-aboutGovernment-public-health-and-prevention-research-funding-
.aspx#:~:text=%E2%80%9CAcross%20the%20board%20health%20prevention,no%20funding%20attached%20
to%20it.
3 https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/australia/
4 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1326020024000463?via%3Dihub
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1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 
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