Australia’s blind faith in the Aukus submarine deal is “stark staring bonkers,” the former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has told a public inquiry, arguing the asymmetric deal with the US and UK will likely result in no submarines at all for Australia.
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Turnbull said: “There is a cargo-cult mentality in Canberra about these Virginia-class submarines where people clearly feel that if they acknowledge that there is a real risk that they won’t arrive, that will prevent them arriving: so you have to keep on believing”
Turnbull – the prime minister whose deal to buy submarines from the French group Naval was torn up by Scott Morrison in favour of Aukus – has long argued the Aukus agreement has always been irretrievably lopsided in the US’s favour.
Giving evidence to a public inquiry into Aukus in Sydney, Turnbull focused on the three second-hand Virginia Class submarines the US is proposing to sell to Australia from 2031 (the first tranche of Aukus’ Pillar One).
🎥: Public Inquiry into AUKUS
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