AUKUS submarine pact inquiry recommendations

A crowd-funded public inquiry led by former minister Peter Garrett has released a report titled “Surrendering Australia: The AUKUS Deception.” The inquiry recommends the immediate termination of the AUKUS Pillar I nuclear-powered submarine program, describing the agreement as the “worst, riskiest and most costly defence decision ever made by an Australian government.”

The report alleges that successive Coalition and Labor governments concealed the true costs and dangers of the pact while avoiding parliamentary scrutiny. It warns that the deal could cost up to half a trillion dollars when accounting for nuclear waste management and argues that the program threatens national sovereignty by risking involvement in a conflict with China.

Key recommendations include:

• Launching a royal commission to investigate the pact’s conception. • Conducting an independent cost audit by the Australian National Audit Office. • Suspending plans to host rotating US nuclear-powered submarines near Perth. • Halting AUKUS work at Adelaide’s Osborne naval precinct. • Renegotiating Pillar II and developing an alternative submarine strategy.

The inquiry further expressed concern that the United States and United Kingdom could withdraw from submarine deliveries while still benefiting from Australian funding, noting that the current delivery timetable is likely unachievable.