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

Earlier this year, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney delivered these words:

We know the old order is not coming back. We shouldn't mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy, but we believe that from the fracture, we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just. This is the task of the middle powers, the countries that have the most to lose from a world of fortresses and most to gain from genuine cooperation.

The powerful have their power.

But we have something too—the capacity to stop pretending, to name reality, to build our strength at home and to act together.

It's no wonder then that the Canadian government made it clear here today that they want no part of AUKUS. AUKUS is all about nostalgia and pretending—nostalgia for the colonial empire of the UK in the Pacific, and pretending that Trump is our mate who will care about peace in the region. It's a fantasy, just like the submarines we'll never get.

Maybe that's why Canada rejected it. They made the correct call—that joining AUKUS wouldn't make them a US ally; it would make them a US hostage. In fact, Canada went one step further, with defence minister McGuinty making it clear by saying:

Right now we're very busy building bridges between Canada and other middle powers, Philippines, Korea, Japan, India as I mentioned, we're here in Australia.

Just imagine that. Imagine a foreign policy directed by your own country not Washington. Imagine working with like-minded countries in the region to further the aims of peace and stability, and that is only possible if we exit AUKUS. Right now, the war parties—Labor, Liberal, One Nation—are dragging us into another US forever war. Australian troops are stationed on US nuclear submarines right now—ones going around our region and blowing ships out of the water.

Today, the Canadian PM said:

… the question today for middle powers like us is whether we establish the conventions and help write the new rules that will determine our security and prosperity or let the hegemons dictate outcomes.

In this argument, the Greens are on Carney's side. While the war parties are backing— (Time expired)