Donald Trump’s policies will play a significant part in the federal election campaign, with the US President set to announce another round of tariffs this week. The ABC’s ‘your say’ project has revealed that Australia’s relationship with the US, and particularly the AUKUS Agreement, is a big concern for many of you.
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00:00And so, friends, AUKUS is born.
00:04In 2021, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the AUKUS deal out of the blue.
00:09Australia's biggest ever military spending project, and most importantly, pinning Australia's
00:14future defence on a fleet of eight nuclear-powered submarines at an eye-watering cost of nearly
00:21$370 billion.
00:24Australia, through this deal, has gained access to highly-prized military technology.
00:31Nuclear-powered subs are more stealthy, they're much faster, and unlike diesel-electric subs,
00:37they can essentially stay underwater indefinitely.
00:39They're only limited by the need to stock up on food.
00:43The deal was done in secret with the US and the UK, and it meant ripping up an existing
00:48French contract for new diesel-electric submarines, and that did not go down well.
00:54But the fuss died down, and for more than three years, AUKUS has largely been out of
00:59the news.
01:00Apart from Donald Trump's trade wars against friendly countries, including Australia, he's
01:05made it clear that America is pulling back from its role as the world's military superpower.
01:11And your say is telling us that, for you, that's a worry.
01:15We've seen comments like these.
01:17If the US can completely ignore a free trade agreement, how can Australia rely on their
01:21defence promises?
01:22Or this.
01:23Get out of AUKUS, because there is no way the USA will go to war to protect Australia.
01:30And this.
01:31The US has permanently changed, and we can no longer trust them.
01:35But the main concern coming through from your say is that when the time comes, Americans
01:40simply won't follow through on their end of the deal, which is to sell Australia between
01:44three and five nuclear submarines.
01:47You're telling us the likelihood of the US selling us any submarines in the next 20 years
01:52is unlikely, because the US is short of submarines.
01:55And this.
01:56With the US no longer a reliable partner, why would Australia be handing over billions
02:00of dollars to a long-range scheme that may never come to fruition?
02:05Well, that's possible.
02:07Because there's a very important clause in the AUKUS deal that says the Americans don't
02:11actually have to sell us any subs.
02:14They don't think they have any to spare.
02:16And the US submarine building program is behind.
02:19According to some estimates, and the US Congress itself, the Americans could have only half
02:25the number of submarines they need for their own fleet when the time comes to sell the
02:29first one to Australia.
02:31There are some very vocal critics of AUKUS in Australia.
02:35That includes the former Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, who did the original submarine deal
02:40with France.
02:41We are paying US$3 billion to the Americans to support their submarine industrial base.
02:47But we have no guarantee that we will ever get any submarines.
02:51But perhaps most of all, you were giving us comments about that price tag of up to $368
02:58billion.
02:59Comments like these.
03:00Cancel AUKUS.
03:01Put the money into health and education.
03:04The money used for this scandalous project could solve the housing crisis.
03:08And this.
03:09Why don't we cancel AUKUS and go back to the French subs and save some money?
03:13The Greens say Australia should do it now.
03:16And so too does a group calling itself Labor Against War, which is urging current Labor
03:21MPs to dump the deal.
03:24But neither of the major parties, as they exist in parliament at the moment, is interested.
03:29Do you think Australia should be reconsidering at all things like AUKUS or our intelligence
03:34sharing with the Trump administration?
03:37Not for a minute, David.
03:38In fact, I think we should double down on those and we should bring forward them as
03:42much as we can.
03:43I want to see AUKUS delivered in an even more timely way.
03:45And it has to be said, there are many advocates in Australia who want the AUKUS deal to go
03:50ahead.
03:51Their argument is that the sheer capability of nuclear-powered submarines to defend an
03:57island nation in modern warfare simply can't be matched.
04:01But it might all be out of Australia's hands anyway.
04:05Because it remains to be seen what Donald Trump really thinks about AUKUS and whether,
04:09as he has with other friendly allied nations, he could rip up an existing agreement and
04:15demand a better deal.