Weeks out from a federal election, and with Donald Trump’s unpredictability and belligerency growing by the day, neither Labor nor the Coalition has demurred from their outright support for the AUKUS nuclear military pact.

AUKUS, signed up by Coalition PM Scott Morrison in 2021 with the Labor Opposition’s full support, has never been put to a vote and has had little official discussion.

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This will be the first election in which people can vote against the major parties’ failure to consult on the eradication of the country’s nuclear protections and its military pact with a White House that believes it could win a nuclear war against China.

Despite Trump’s threats about Greenland, Panama, Mexico and Canada and his green light to Israel to obliterate Gaza, both major parties are sticking to the pro-war script.

AUKUS pillar 1, the $368 billion nuclear-powered attack submarines, are unlikely to materialise in the next four years. But their endeavour allows Australia into an exclusive nuclear weapons’ club, as well as setting up the conditions for greater interoperability between the US and Australia’s defence forces.

AUKUS pillar II is about boosting universities funding to come up with more lethal technologies, which private weapons’ industries can then capitalise on.

Even before Trump’s election, sections of Australia’s ruling elite were uncomfortable with AUKUS and this has only become more widespread since the president has made clear his disdain for the “rules-based” order.

Former Liberal PM Malcolm Turnbull and former Labor foreign minister Bob Carr have been especially outspoken, pushing for what they call a defence “Plan B”.

Turnbull told his own “Sovereignty and Security” forum, in Canberra at the end of last month, that “Trump makes it very clear he is both a less reliable and a more demanding ally”. He said Australia must “be more resilient and independent”.

Fremantle MP Josh Wilson is one of the few serving Labor critics of........

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