AUKUS, Port Kembla and why Gough Whitlam Would Roll in His Grave
- Gregory Andrews
- May 18
- 2 min read
Fifty years ago, Gough Whitlam finally put a stop to Australia’s nuclear plans at Jervis Bay. Known as Booderee by the Traditional Custodians, it’s now a national park and Aboriginal land owned by the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community. But less than 100km up the road at Port Kembla, Australian Labor is now proposing a nuclear submarine base.
Port Kembla isn’t just an empty industrial sacrifice zone. It is a living community. It’s steelworkers and surfers, migrant families and artists, beaches and rainforest escarpment, lyrebirds, quolls, sea turtles and sea Country. It is a place on Dharawal Country with cultural depth, ecological richness and working-class pride.
But the Guardian Newspaper has reported on secretive government documents that list Port Kembla as the preferred east coast base for nuclear-powered submarines under AUKUS. The documents even warn that the base could make the region a military target.
Think about that. A nuclear submarine base and a nuclear target in the Illawarra. With multiple nuclear reactors coming and going secretively on submarines fuelled by highly enriched uranium. The documents admit “nuclear submarines may be far riskier because … highly enriched uranium … is more like the uranium used in nuclear warheads … and they store enough to operate for over 30 years.”
And then comes the waste. Australia still has no permanent high-level nuclear waste facility. Yet AUKUS will create exactly that problem: radioactive waste that will need to be managed for millenia. The risk is obvious. First they’ll say it is only a base. Then they’ll say waste management must happen somewhere. Then communities like Port Kembla will be told to be “practical”.
The old insult has been that places like Newcastle and Port Kembla are just industrial towns: useful, expendable, not beautiful enough to defend. But the Illawarra region deserves investment in clean industries, renewables, housing, education, climate resilience and First Nations-led care for Country - not a nuclear militarisation project that ties Australia more tightly to American war mongering and makes us a direct target when someone like Trump chooses his next fight in our region.
Gough Whitlam would be appalled if he were alive today and knew of this. Especially because it’s coming from the Australian Labor Party which he led and which has supposedly prided itself on a long-standing anti-nuclear stance.
As at todays date, 25th May, there is only 5 days left to sign this petition on the Australian Parliamentary site: Petition EN9842 - Withdraw from the AUKUS Treaty forthwith
https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN9842
Greg, I appreciate your blog so much but life is busy and I find it hard to keep up on a daily basis! As it takes me a while to catch up, my response is often days late, as is the provision of this Aust. Govt petition that some people may wish to sign... if they return to your blog entry.
AUKUS was classic Morrison. If we continue with this disaster Australians will pay $368B+ for Scotty to have had his photo taken with Joe Bidden and Boris Johnson. Sam Roggeveen's "Echidna Startegy and Hugh White's "How to Defend Australia" make it clear AUKUS is not what we need. We do need submarines but we need something like 24, which AUKUS will not give us. Our nuclear subs will be too few, too costly, will only carry conventional weapons and will create a forever waste problem. There are nuclear submarines in Plymouth Harbour in the UK that have been decommissioned but they are still sitting at dock rusting because there is no plan to remove and make safe the reactors! AUKUS…
Well done Greg keep up the good work. I plan to conact my local Federal MP Kristy McBain hopefully many of us will annoy our local MPs till they put a stop to this dangerous nuclear submarine nonsense.
How do we go about fighting this? Emails to oir MPs for starters, share widely I have friends in Wollongong I would hope theyd be concerned!)
Thanks Gregory but you should give credit to Greens MLC Abigail Boyd for tabling this information in Parliament following an FOI request.