David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Senator Wong) to a question without notice I asked today relating to AUKUS.

It was pretty remarkable that, once again, when questions were put squarely to the Albanese government about why they're doubling down on Donald Trump, why it doesn't matter how offensive his policies are—pulling out of UNESCO, breaching international law to unilaterally bomb Iran, attacking and punching down on minorities within the United States or aggressively attacking former allies and partners on trade or threatening them with military invasion—why it does not matter what Donald Trump does with his extreme regime there in Washington, the Albanese Labor government backs them in. Worse than that, it keeps shovelling them hundreds of million of dollars. It has now given them $1.6 billion, handed over literally in part; $800 million was taken over and literally handed to Donald Trump's team by Richard Marles. It's the obvious tribute payment that the Albanese government thinks it has to make to Donald Trump.

They want to keep AUKUS on life support. They probably realistically know—I give the Albanese government credit that they have enough smarts to realise this—we'll never get a nuclear submarine. But, for some reason or other, they want to keep it on life support and keep leaning in to the increasingly extreme regime in Washington and refusing to criticise them. They're all connected, because the Albanese government are so desperate to keep AUKUS on life support that they cannot bring themselves to have the courage to criticise even the most gross excesses of the Trump regime.

So when I ask Minister Wong about how they can hand them $1.6 billion with no clawback and no returns for nuclear submarines they will never get, we get invasion and avoidance and she starts attacking the question rather than answering the question. What's really remarkable about Minister Wong's backing of Donald Trump, her backing of his extreme behaviour, and his breaches of international law is it's the same Penny Wong who joined with Anthony Albanese, before he was the prime minister—the same two people who, when they were not in the positions of power they are now, signed a joint letter attacking the United States for its unlawful war on Iraq. Before they were in positions of power and influence, they were able to stand up and say things like this:

The ALP firmly believes that international conflict should, wherever possible, be dealt with peacefully and through international co-operation under the auspices of the United Nations.

They talked about the illegal war in Iraq being a dangerous precedent, and now they're in power they double down on Trump—obscene! (Time expired)

Andrew McLachlan (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I remind all senators that they should address people by their correct titles.

Barbara Pocock (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to 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.