Antinuclear

Submission- Susan Benham-re new agreement on  Naval Nuclear Propulsion- financial and security concerns

Submission no. 3. I express strong concerns about the broad parameters of this document.
The serious nature of the contents of this treaty deserves adequate financial and security
protections for Australia which are lacking as it stands now.

Within the present document that outlines the procurement by Australia of nuclear powered
submarines from the US and the UK, the following clauses need to contain detailed
information that foreseeably protect Australia from future unreasonable claims by the US and
the UK

Article IV C I propose that any prices of Special Nuclear Material that do not have a
market price should be decided by Australia, US and UK – not only by US and UK as
currently exists in the agreement.

Any of the three countries is at liberty to end the deal with 12 months notice.

I propose that the consequences and subsequent liabilities following an exit should be
explicitly stated:
such that a clause be added to the agreement that provides for reasonable and adequate financial
compensation to Australia for irredeemable costs incurred until this point.

• Furthermore, Australia should not be liable to indemnify the US for ‘’liability, loss, costs,
  damage or injury’’ relating to any of the nuclear submarines.
  The clause should state ‘’may be liable for loss, costs, damage or injury to any of the US
  nuclear submarines only if it can be unequivocably proven negligence by Australia was
  involved’’. To not state this is egregious.
• The extreme length of time for this Agreement is unacceptable: it is realistic that unforeseen
  events / actions could occur within the next 51 years and unforeseeable financial demands on
  Australia could be made.

I propose that the time limit for this Treaty be reduced to 35 years

September 7, 2024 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized