Barbara Pocock (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I join with my colleague to take note of the government's answers on AUKUS. AUKUS is a dud. It's a very expensive dud, and it's a dud no matter who is president in the US, but right now it puts us into alliance with a country lead by a frightening and undemocratic leader—an alliance where we pay and they run the show. It compromises our sovereignty in ways that are completely unacceptable. It was never subject to a genuine consultation with Australian citizens. Then there is the cost—so far, a down payment of $1.6 billion. We heard Senator Wong confirming there was no rollback, and it's running up to an incredible $376 billion down the track, with no guarantee of any submarine delivery.

I've had an enormous amount of correspondence on this issue from South Australians. South Australians don't like waste, and they value independence, including in defence. It is, therefore, no surprise that in a recent poll South Australians led the nation in believing that AUKUS would make us less safe. Across the nation, two-thirds of those Australians polled say that there should be a parliamentary inquiry. Well, why not? The US and the UK are all having inquiries. South Australia and Australian citizens want an inquiry here. The local council where AUKUS nuke submarines would be based, at Osborne, is opposed to what's down the track for them. We've heard, too many times in South Australia, the promise of unrealised jobs—promises that never actually arrive in anything like the numbers promised and that, if they did, would be the most expensive jobs on the planet.

We need a full inquiry, we need real experts who know what's going on. South Australians are extremely concerned, in particular about the disposal of nuclear waste. There's no solution, and we definitely reject the blocking of South Australian voices on nuclear— (Time expired)

Question agreed to.