In the latest in our Foreign Policy Rethink series, Mike Gilligan argues that Australia’s renewed focus on defence self-reliance is incompatible with its deepening commitment to AUKUS and nuclear submarines.

Amid the attention demanded by the US-Israel war on Iran, Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles has released a little-noticed but promising new defence strategy – the 2026 National Defence Strategy.

It talks of self- reliance, as if that is a breakthrough for Australia. But self-reliance dates back 50 years, to the nation’s first Defence White Paper of 1976. Geopolitical realities at that time led us to pursue independence from America, though the path was unknown and sure to be tough and costly. Australia created a disciplined defence planning culture – ensuring defence dollars would not be diverted beyond our own priorities eg to US. Any treaty obligations to the US would be met from capabilities developed for our self-reliance. The United States agreed.

Politically, self-reliance was embraced bi-partisanly in 1976. Every Australian government thereafter, up to and including Malcolm Turnbull’s (Defence White Paper 2016) stuck with it.

In 2021, under Prime Minister Morrison, Australia’s independence evaporated into airy embrace of America and Britain as security partners via AUKUS. This triumvirate somehow decided that Australia should build nuclear submarines, to attack China alongside the US. In a twinkle Australia became an arm of American power. Australians had no say. Our disciplined, imaginative and regionally-respected independence of four decades was dumped. Without analysis or Labor whimper. The Albanese opposition unashamedly supported AUKUS on a skimpy briefing.

When the Albanese........

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