Malcolm Turnbull joins Paul Keating in squashing AUKUS nuclear submarine deal amid ‘sick’ UK economy

Malcolm Turnbull has become the second former prime minister in as many days to criticize the government’s landmark AUKUS nuclear submarine deal.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday announced a $368 billion deal with the United States and the United Kingdom, securing eight high-tech submarines over the next 30 years.

On Wednesday, former Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating described AUKUS as “the worst deal since the First World War”.

Turnbull apologized on ABC Radio for not being able to “express his concerns as colorfully as Paul’s”, before going ahead with the deal.

“The reality is that this is going to take a lot longer, cost a lot more money, have a lot more risk and cost a lot more money than if we had gone ahead with the submarine project we had with France, which Morrison imprudently cancelled.” he said.

Turnbull also raised doubts about Britain’s ability to meet its end of the deal, which involves starting to build a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines by the end of this decade.

‘The bottom line is that their economy is sick. It has fundamental problems, like existential ones,” he said.

“You have to wonder if Britain will be able to keep investing in its navy and army for years to come, given the huge demand on them elsewhere.”

The UK economy has taken repeated hits in the wake of Brexit, Covid, the war in Ukraine and the instability of constant leadership changes.

Despite his misgivings, Turnbull noted that the AUKUS deal is “done and done.”

“I don’t think there is going back,” he said.

Turnbull, who was prime minister as leader of the Liberal Party from 2015 to 2018, also questioned whether a thorough risk assessment had been carried out.

‘This is not a criticism, it is an observation of reality. Each new class of warship carries enormous risks,” she said.

But he rejected the description of Mr Keating’s deal as “the worst since the First World War”, arguing: “I wouldn’t buy that.” My concerns are more limited.

Turnbull said there hadn’t been enough discussion about the pros and cons of the deal beforehand.

‘Morrison fooled the French, he fooled the Americans, shocking business. He did it all in secret. He brags about it…he had a thing for secrecy.

‘There has not been a fully transparent public debate on these issues. We have been caught up in this ruckus and everyone who expresses any concern is implying a lack of patriotism.

“I think there are big problems.”

However, the criticism pales in comparison to comments made by Keating on Wednesday.

During an appearance at the National Press Club on Wednesday, the notorious acid-tongued former prime minister blasted Anthony Albanese, Richard Marles, Penny Wong, US President Joe Biden, the intelligence agencies and just about any reporter who dared to smack him. ask.

‘Because I have a brain. Mainly, she said. And I can think. And I can read. And I read every day.

‘I mean, why would China want to threaten… what would be the point? They get iron ore, coal, wheat.

‘What would be the point of China wanting to occupy Sydney and Melbourne? Militarily?’

And could they ever? Could you ever bring the numbers here? It would be an armada of troop ships to do it.

So you don’t need a report from the silly security agencies we have in Canberra to tell you that. I mean, I know you’re trying to ask a question, but the question is so dumb it’s hardly worth answering.

But Albanese fired back on Thursday, arguing that Australia’s relationship with China is markedly different than it was three decades ago.

“The world has changed,” he told 3AW radio.

‘China has changed its stance and position in world affairs since the 1990s, when Paul Keating was active in politics, as a parliamentarian and leader.

“My job is to govern Australia in 2023 based on what we see are the facts before us.”

Keating accused the Albanian government of agreeing to the $360 billion deal, which was brokered by the previous Morrison government, in just 24 hours.

‘How would you do this in 24 hours?’ asked Mr Keating.

‘You can only do it if you don’t have the perceptive ability to understand the weight of the decisions you are asked to make.

It’s what other people call incompetence. I’ll call it maybe ‘try’.

Calling it the worst decision by a Labor government since World War I, when Prime Minister Billy Hughes supported conscription, Keating said the whole affair was based on the misconception that China posed a direct threat to Australia.

“This is a distortion and it’s not true,” Keating said of this idea. “The Chinese have never hinted that they would threaten us or said so explicitly.”

Keating ridiculed the idea that submarines would protect Australia from a Chinese invasion.

“The idea that we need US submarines to protect us, if we buy eight, three are at sea,” he said.

‘Three are going to protect us from the power of China. Actually! I mean, the rubbish of that. The trash.’

Keating argued that all the deal did was push Australia into the strategic orbit of the US to maintain its dominance of the Asia Pacific region, but leaving the national interest in ‘deep doo-doo’.

Keating also took aim at Defense Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong, saying the AUKUS deal was a failure of strategic thinking.

The three nations are confident that they will continue to comply with nuclear non-proliferation requirements.

But Beijing Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin attacked the deal for “high-sounding rhetoric to fool the world” regarding nuclear non-proliferation.

“The United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and the IAEA secretariat do not have the right to reach an agreement among themselves on safeguards issues in relation to cooperation with AUKUS nuclear submarines,” he said.

“Safeguards issues related to nuclear submarine cooperation should be discussed and decided jointly by the international community.”

Opposition leader Peter Dutton said Keating’s comments showed there was division within the Labor Party over AUKUS.