From August 17 to 19, local time, the 49th Australian Labor Party National Convention was held in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, which was the first offline national convention held by the Labor Party in five years, and the first national convention held by the Labor Party during its administration since 2011, with more than 2,000 participants.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald reported on August 18, local time, an important topic of the conference was to discuss the nuclear submarine agreement worth 368 billion Australian dollars in the "U.S.-UK-Australia Trilateral Security Partnership" (AUKUS). In a heated debate at the Labor National Convention, Australian Labor Prime Minister Albanese won his party's support and approval for the agreement, but in fact there were divisions within the Labor Party over Australia's shift to a nuclear submarine program and a stronger alliance with the United States, with some Workers questioning the risk of a regional arms race.
For this reason, while the party meeting approved the nuclear submarine agreement, Labor also stressed in a detailed statement that Australia cannot be "directed" to join the military operations of any other country and does not allow other countries to drag Australia into war. Although this content does not name specific countries, it actually refers to the United States.
Australian Prime Minister Albanese speaks at the Labor Party National Convention Pictured from Australian media
According to reports, the "AUKUS" nuclear submarine agreement was finally approved by a majority of votes at the meeting that day, and the participants also gave a standing ovation to Prime Minister Albanese, and the safety agreement was also included in the Labor Party platform. The Sydney Morning Herald described it as "Albanese overcame attacks by members of the Labour Party". It is worth noting, however, that there is a new condition: Australia cannot be "directed" to participate in the military operations of any other country.
The Labor Policy Platform released a detailed statement document on the AUKUS nuclear submarine agreement, consisting of 6 pages and 32 paragraphs to guide future decision-making, which warned in non-naming US language that "other countries will not be allowed to drag Australia into war".
"Labor believes that Australia's purchase of submarines does not involve any de facto commitment to participate in, or be under the command of, military operations of any other country," the statement said. ”
The statement also said that all new AUKUS nuclear submarines must be built in Australia. In response to concerns about the possibility that the first nuclear submarine could be supplied by Britain, the statement insisted that the nuclear submarine fleet would be serviced and upgraded by Australian workers. Labor has pledged to ensure Australian ports maintain the ability to safely berth nuclear-powered submarines.
In addition, Peter Dutton, leader of Australia's opposition Liberal Party, debated the issue of civil nuclear energy with the Labor Party, while the latest statement from Labor maintained the party's position on banning nuclear power plants and promised to consult on the storage of nuclear waste, which it said would be done on defense land.
Speaking about AUKUS, Albanese told people who disagreed: "We know that there is no security in isolation. Australia has a responsibility to engage with our region and the wider world. ”
On March 13, Biden met with Sunak and Albanese for talks on the so-called "trilateral security partnership" and unveiled plans to equip Australia with nuclear submarines. The picture is from The Paper
Although the AUKUS nuclear submarine agreement was passed within the party, in fact some of Australia's largest national unions voted against or abstained from voting on the motion. Some of the fiercest critics expressed disappointment that Albanese did not call for a vote count of hands in the nature of a show of hands, which they believed would have indicated "the number of representatives against 'AUKUS'".
Some of the 402 voting delegates spoke out against AUKUS, while non-voting Labour members questioned "whether to side with the United States and spend billions of dollars on new plans."
Michael Wright, national secretary of the Australian Electrical Industry Union, spearheaded opposition to AUKUS, arguing that Labor should not support a nuclear submarine deal because Australia needed more time to "open the door" to options in other areas. Australian Labor MP Josh Wilson, who also opposed the submarine deal, said the decision, originally made by former Prime Minister Scott Morrison, involved sharing weapons-grade nuclear technology, which posed a risk to Australia and was not in the national interest.
Some "AUKUS" critics, including former Australian Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating and former foreign minister Bob Carr, declined to comment after the vote.
Australia's deputy prime minister and defence minister, Richard Marles, claimed that China was a key consideration in the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal, telling delegates that the Chinese navy had six nuclear-powered submarines in 2000 and 21 by 2030. He also said China had 57 large warships in 2000 and 200 by 2030.
"It's not our decision, it's not our choice, but it's the world we live in, and we have an obligation to find our own way." Marles claimed that conventionally powered submarines would be spotted by adversaries and that Australia would have to turn to nuclear-powered submarines to have an effective navy.
On March 13 this year, US President Joe Biden held talks with British Prime Minister Sunak and Australian Prime Minister Albanese at the US Naval Base in San Diego, California, on the so-called "U.S.-UK-Australia Trilateral Security Partnership" (AUKUS), and announced plans to equip Australia with nuclear submarines.
According to the plan, the United States will sell 3 American Virginia-class nuclear submarines to Australia from the early 30s of this century, and may sell 2 more in the future. At the same time, the United States, Britain and Australia will cooperate in the development of new nuclear submarines, which will be equipped by Britain and Australia in the late 30s and early 40s respectively. The entire plan is expected to be completed by 2055 at a cost of $368 billion.
As analyzed by foreign media at the beginning of the establishment of "AUKUS", Reuters also stressed again that the details of the nuclear submarine program announced by the United States, Britain and Australia "target China" (Eyeing China). There are so-called "political analysts" who have even encouraged the three countries to move forward with the second phase of the plan, which will involve hypersonic weapons and other weapons that can be deployed more quickly.
Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning responded that China has repeatedly stated its solemn position on nuclear submarine cooperation between the United States, Britain and Australia, and that trilateral cooperation poses serious nuclear proliferation risks, impacts the international nuclear non-proliferation regime, stimulates the arms race, and undermines peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, which has been widely questioned and opposed by regional countries and the international community. We urge the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia to abandon the Cold War mentality and zero-sum game, faithfully fulfill their international obligations, and do more things conducive to regional peace and stability.
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