“AUKUS is a win, win, win. AUKUS is a win for the United States, which gets more maintenance days and investments into its industrial base now and into the future and also gets another Indian Ocean Port capability. It’s a win for Australia, and it’s a win for the United Kingdom. It’s a win for Australia because we gain a capability that enables us to contribute to the strategic balance that I’ve talked about...” — Foreign minister Penny Wong, July 22.

“We, of course, are a sovereign nation. And John Curtin, certainly, when he chose to stand up to the British and assert Australia’s right to defend ourself and to bring home our troops, was an assertion of that. And he looked to America, of course – was an important part of that as well. Now since then, the US alliance … has been our most important, it remains our most important alliance. That is a critical relationship that we have for our defence and security. But that doesn't abrogate the need for Australia to have a say in our own defence and security relationships...

“What we’ve done is invest in our capability, but also invest in our relationships. When it comes to our capability, the getting, obtaining, by Australia of nuclear powered submarines has a number of advantages over other pieces of military equipment. The fact that a nuclear powered submarine can stay under, submerged, for longer, that it can travel further, that it’s quieter, that it's less detectable, means that it’s an investment, which my Government agreed with the former government was in Australia's national interest.” — Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, July 20.

The PM used his recent visit to China to bolster Labor’s........

© Green Left Weekly