Today marks five years since British government signed the AUKUS Treaty with US and Australia. This Treaty includes Britain building conventionally armed, nuclear-powered attack submarines for Australia, which would make this country the first non-nuclear weapons state to deploy them.
This Treaty is increasing tensions across the Asia-Pacific region, including the risks of nuclear confrontation. It is in breach of the nuclear Non-Proliferations Treaty and drives nuclear proliferation.
Upon the announcement of the Strategic Defence Review in 2025, the government said they would build as many as 12 submarines at the BAE Shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness as part of AUKUS, promising it would “transform the UK’s submarine building industry.”
However, the AUKUS anniversary comes amid reports that the current government has now rolled back on making any orders for new nuclear-powered attack submarines until 2028, raising doubt over whether Barrow or the government is able to deliver the AUKUS submarines under the terms of the Treaty.
Yet the Australian people are still having to foot the bill – a colossal AUS$368 billion over the thirty-year lifetime of the submarines. This a totally unacceptable economic burden on the Australian population for a military system which will not keep them safe, but, on the contrary, make them a target in any military confrontation between the US and China.
CND stands in solidarity with the Australian peace and trade union movement, unified in our opposition to this treaty and our call for the programme to be scrapped.
CND General Secretary Sophie Bolt said:
“Instead of fuelling nuclear proliferation and tensions in Asia, we need an end to military escalation and nuclear threats. This can be done with a clear focus on strengthening global cooperation so we can tackle the real security threats we face like climate change and the looming economic recession caused by the US/Israeli illegal war on Iran.
“Governments across the world have shown it is possible to come together to develop nuclear-free zones: they exist in the South Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Africa. This cooperation is going a step further with the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). It is the direction demanded by the global majority, not a new nuclear arms race.”