After Australia signed an agreement with the United States and the United Kingdom to share nuclear-submarine technology, acquire eight nuclear attack submarines, former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is now calling for Australia to operate used nuclear submarines operated by the US and the UK Navy.
Under the new defence agreement, or AUKUS, the United States and Britain will help Australia build at least eight nuclear-powered attack submarines. But according to Abbot, if the Royal Australian Navy operates retired nuclear submarines, it’s personal will gain crucial operating experience.
Tony Abbot was speaking last Friday at a Wilson Centre event in Washington, D.C., where he suggested that Australia should consider leasing or purchasing one or more existing U.S. submarines to develop Australia’s capability to operate nuclear-powered submarines.
Abbott has posed the question, “Might it be possible for Australia to acquire a retiring [Los Angeles] class boat or two and to put it under an Australian flag and to run it, if you like, as an operational training boat?” Abbott added that he’d make a similar proposal for British nuclear-powered submarines “were I in London.”
“It would, in that capacity, be — if you like — an addition to the order of battle in the western Pacific, should that be necessary,” he added.
When Abbot was asked about his admiration of China, he said, “like everyone else— until probably the end of 2015, I was a China optimist. We all thought for a long time that China and the West were on … converging paths.” China became the largest customer for Australian exports, he said, but then “weaponized trade against Australia.” And now, he noted, “China is stepping up its intimidation of Taiwan all the time. In the few days before my [early October] visit [to Taiwan], there was something like 150 Chinese warplanes dispatched into the Taiwanese air [defence identification] zones. I expect that [such behaviour] will get more intense.”
He went on to add, “Victor Gao, a senior Beijing foreign policy analyst and former translator for Chairman Deng [Xiaoping] directly threatened Australians. ‘Do you want to be a target for a possible nuclear war?’ he said, in response to our decision to acquire nuclear-powered but not [nuclear-]armed submarines. So, if the drums of war can be heard in our region — as an official of ours has noted, it’s not Australia that’s beating them. The only drums we beat are for justice and freedom.”
Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.