Antinuclear

Submission to AUKUS Public Inquiry – Scrap AUKUS – Teachers Federation

No 309

Maxine Sharkey, General Secretary, AEU NSW Teachers Federation

31 July 2026

Extracts – ” ……………………… The AUKUS announcement in September 2021, made clear that once again the peace movement, including Federation, would be required to mobilise against the warmongers who seek to line the pockets of the vested interests in the global weapons manufacturing industry, at the expense of government spending on education and other social services and investment in mitigations and solutions to the real threat – the climate emergency.

Costs
The massive $368 billion expenditure on nuclear-powered submarines that may or maynot be able to be delivered and may or may not utilise obsolete technology when they are, is unacceptable and will affect generations to come as those costs are inevitably diverted from vital public services…………………………………….

While the Albanese government asserts that there will be jobs created by the AUKUS
deal, there has not been any credible evidence presented that this is the case,
particularly when compared to the number of jobs that would be created without AUKUS, – in education, health, and manufacturing, for example, not to mention those jobs that would be lost if a nuclear submarine base is imposed on a functioning port and the industries that use it………………

Loss of independence
From the outset, Federation held concerns that the AUKUS pact would compromise
Australia’s ability to pursue an independent foreign policy, in particular, the prospect of hosting of US military forces on Australian territory. The risks that Australia will be dragged into future foreign conflicts and wars has only intensified under the current US administration.

It is not clear how AUKUS will allow Australia to engage in diplomacy in our region, and not merely follow our AUKUS “partners”, particularly the US, into their wars.

Secrecy
The lack of transparency about the details of the AUKUS deal is ongoing and highly
concerning for members of the community including teachers, as affected workers, as well as their students and families………………………………..

For example, the location of the proposed East Coast base for the submarines remains
secret. Port Kembla and Newcastle, both towns with significant population of Federation
members, have been mooted, with documents released by an order for the production
of documents in the NSW parliament indicating that Port Kembla was the preferred site

There has been no transparency from the Australian government around the question of
how high-level nuclear waste and the use of weapons-grade uranium will be managed.
Historically, the Australian government has repeatedly tried to set up nuclear waste
dumps on First Nations lands. The AUKUS deal will only intensify that pressure.

The Albanese government states that: “Australia will manage all radioactive waste
generated by its own Virginia Class and SSN-AUKUS submarines, including radioactive
waste generated through operations, maintenance and decommissioning.

All waste, including spent fuel, will be managed safely, informed by international best
practice and in accordance with Australia’s international and domestic legal obligations
and commitments.”6

But to date there has been no detail provided about how the above will be achieved.

Mobilisation against AUKUS
The AUKUS announcement has unquestionably seen an increase in peace activism
amongst the Federation membership.

In 2023 on May Day, Federation members joined thousands of fellow workers across
the Illawarra in Port Kembla for a march and rally in opposition to AUKUS, the nuclear
submarine deal and Port Kembla as a possible site for a nuclear base.

In July the same year unionists and community leaders from Port Kembla attended
Federation’s Annual Conference as guests to hear a special report “On Peace”,
including from this inquiry’s lead commissioner, Peter Garrett. Conference noted that it
appeared that the weapons industry had been emboldened by the AUKUS decision and
called for their attempts to push their way into public schools, TAFE and universities to
be rejected.

One example is the Nuclear Subs in Schools program7……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Recommendations

Federation strongly believes that AUKUS deal must be scrapped by the Australian
government.

Notwithstanding this position, there are immediate answers the Albanese government
must provide the Australian people with regards to AUKUS – and they must be treated
as essential transparency obligations with respect to safety and costs.

Until there is clarity on the safety for communities with hosting nuclear submarines in
Australia, building nuclear submarines here and disposing of the highly enriched
uranium they will be built with, Federation cannot support AUKUS, and we call on both
the NSW and Australian government to immediately and categorically rule out a nuclear
submarine base at either Port Kembla or Newcastle.

Of equal importance is that the Albanese government stop hiding behind claims of every
detail being “classified”, and immediately provide the public with transparency around
the costs and the “deliverables” under the AUKUS agreement. When public schools still
have not reached the School Resourcing Standard and will not do so for at least
another 10 years, capital spending on public school infrastructure is all but absent,
TAFE colleges are trying to skill the future with outdated equipment that doesn’t meet
industry standards, and governments do not yet recognise and fund programs for
affordable home ownership for teachers in the public system, the least the Albanese government can do is provide details on exactly what this agreement is, including what
options Australia has if deliverables are not met by one or both of our AUKUS partners.

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November 15, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized