In March 2023, Midnight Oil frontman and former Labor minister Peter Garrett wrote in an article titled “AUKUS stinks, and that’s an understatement”:

Scott Morrison’s decision to build nuclear submarines in partnership with northern hemisphere former imperial powers was the most costly and risky action ever taken by any Australian government and should not have been allowed to stand.

Scott Morrison’s decision to build nuclear submarines in partnership with northern hemisphere former imperial powers was the most costly and risky action ever taken by any Australian government and should not have been allowed to stand.

It’s little wonder, then, that a Garrett-led community inquiry has this week delivered a report recommending Australia scrap its nuclear-powered submarine program immediately.

AUKUS carries significant risk. The question is whether those risks are being adequately mitigated.

The report offers little in the way of mitigation beyond recommending Australia cancel its submarine program yet again, at a time when state-on-state conflict is at levels not seen since the second world war.

Australia’s strategic circumstances and our responses warrant close scrutiny. There remains a disconnect between how national security professionals understand our strategic circumstances and the public’s understanding of this.

The government needs to do more to communicate how the world is changing and what this means for Australia’s security. It must better explain our dependence on maritime trade and why AUKUS is part of the response.

Unfortunately, this inquiry fails to do that. Instead, it takes an alarmist approach, demonstrates a........

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