Antinuclear

US Threat to World Peace, AUKUS, and Dollar Sovereignty

US threat to world peace, why AUKUS spending risks Australia, and how dollar sovereignty offers a safer path.

Social Justice Australia, by Denis Hay, 17/09/2025 

The US threat to world peace sits at the centre of a heated claim that the United States underpins peace in our region. Is that really true, or just easy politics? The facts tell a different story. Australia has pledged hundreds of billions for the AUKUS defence deal, with an additional $12 billion for the Henderson Defence Precinct, enabling the servicing of US and future Australian nuclear submarines in WA.

Australia now targets more than 2.3% of GDP for defence by 2033 to 2034, while NATO’s counting methods inflate figures by adding items like pensions and infrastructure.

Stat box, big picture:

• AUKUS cost envelope, 268 to 368 billion dollars.
• Defence to rise beyond two-point three per cent of GDP by 2033 to 2034.
• Australians’ trust in the US has fallen to record lows in two decades of polling.

Why accept the line that Washington guarantees peace when ordinary Australians see mounting risks, higher costs, and shrinking control?

The Problem: Why Australians Feel Stuck

Root cause, alliance pressure and spending metrics

Pressure to lift spending, often framed in GDP targets, now runs alongside discussion of higher NATO style thresholds and even a five per cent security envelope in Atlantic debates.

The government dismisses a fixation on GDP, yet the headline numbers continue to climb, and new shipyard commitments lock in path dependency.

Reflective question: Are we buying safety or buying into someone else’s strategy?

Power question: Who benefits when accounting rules redefine defence to push the headline number up?

Consequences for citizens

Australians worry the alliance could drag us into conflict in Asia, even as trust in US leadership falls. The truth is that fear and doubt grow when commitments rise faster than accountability. Who carries the risk if a submarine schedule slips or a crisis erupts in the Taiwan Strait?

The Impact: What Australians Are Experiencing

Everyday effects

AUKUS locks in decades of spending, crowding out housing, health, and climate resilience. The WA maintenance push at Henderson aims to support docking and servicing, including for US boats, tying local industry to the US force structure.

Reflective question: Will your family be safer because a US submarine gets serviced in WA next year, or because your town is flood-ready?

Power question: Why should budget rules expand for weapons while social services are told to tighten their belts?

Who benefits

Prime contractors and allied militaries gain capacity and access. Communities near critical bases, such as Pine Gap, a joint US-Australia intelligence hub central to US operations, often become a focus of protests.

The Hidden Cost for Every Australian

The AUKUS defence deal is not just an abstract number. It means about $368 billion spread across a population of roughly 26.5 million Australians, which equals $13,900 for every man, woman, and child.

Imagine if every Australian family received the value of this public investment in tangible safety and wellbeing:

• Housing security: Build more than one million new social and affordable homes to end the housing crisis.
• Health and aged care: Expand Medicare to include dental and mental health, and properly staff aged care.
• Education and skills: Abolish student debt, guarantee free TAFE and university, and fund lifelong learning.
• Climate and disaster resilience: Construct nationwide flood defences, bushfire readiness systems, and renewable energy infrastructure.
• Jobs guarantee: Use dollar sovereignty to ensure meaningful work for every Australian, focused on local and sustainable projects.

Reflective question: Which makes your community safer, a nuclear submarine or a flood levy that holds?

Power question: Why does Canberra accept scarcity for health and housing, but never for warships?

Rally line: We can do better. We must do better.

The Solution: What Must Be Done

Australia dollar sovereignty and reform

Australia issues its own currency. That means we can always purchase what is available in our currency, including public purpose jobs and resilience, without needing foreign approval.

Real constraints are inflation, resources, skills, and the exchange rate, not a household budget analogy. So, the choice to pour hundreds of billions into AUKUS defence deal is political.

Use that fiscal capacity for civil security first, such as climate adaptation, cyber defence, and regional diplomacy.

Reflective question: If we can fund subs, why not fund safety at home?

Power question: Who says the only credible path is more weapons?

Doug Cameron’s Warning on Militarism and Sovereignty

Cameron argues AUKUS erodes sovereignty, risks entrapment, and diverts billions from real security.

1. Entrapment risk, US access: AUKUS ties Australia to US operations, including US submarine use of Henderson, WA, raising escalation and targeting risks. Reuters
2. Mega-cost, weak timelines: The AUKUS envelope, up to $368b over decades, risks obsolescence as detection tech advances. Who benefits if subs are outdated by delivery? ABC+1
3. Bases and nuclear exposure: Pine Gap’s role and HMAS Stirling’s US maintenance periods deepen Australia’s role in US war-fighting networks. Is this the path to peace or a bullseye on home soil? Wikipedia+2Defence+2
4. Accountability gap: Parliamentary intelligence oversight remains constrained, though reforms are proposed. Why spend the most on a kit without thorough scrutiny? Parliament of Australia+1
5. Opportunity cost: The $12b Henderson spends and broader AUKUS outlays crowd out housing, health, climate resilience, and jobs. Real security starts with people. SBS

Rally line: Prepare for peace, not war. Ordinary Australians deserve safety, not pre-commitments to foreign conflicts.

Source: Australian Sovereignty and the Path to Peace – Doug Cameron | 2025 Laurie Carmichael Lecture

Policy solutions and demands

1. 1. 1. Publish complete life cycle AUKUS costs, schedule risks, and opportunity costs in one transparent report each year.
      2. Cap major platform shares of the defence budget and shift funds to cyber, disaster response, and diplomacy.
      3. Require independent reviews of US base roles and accident liability at HMAS Stirling and Pine Gap.
      4. Adopt a regional peace plan with ASEAN and the Pacific that prioritises de-escalation and climate security.
      5. Use dollar sovereignty to guarantee jobs in housing retrofit, flood levees, and bushfire readiness, with measurable outcomes.

Rally line: We can do better. We must do better…………………………………………. https://socialjusticeaustralia.com.au/us-threat-to-world-peace-sovereignty/

September 20, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international