THE AUKUS NIGHT

I went to the AUKUS discussion night in Rockingham with David Shoebridge, Rhi Davies, Sophie McNeill and the Greens (WA). It was a good night — listening, and talking with other concerned citizens.

David has been a stalwart in questioning what AUKUS actually is, and rightly so.

I have set out multiple reasons why AUKUS is the wrong path for Australia. And yes — it has more holes than Swiss cheese. I write about it in full at Modern Movement Australia.

AUKUS and our defence plan must be reviewed.

David mentioned the Echidna strategy. I call it castle defence. It means sovereignty and neutrality, and the ability to be a leader in forging peace in the Asia-Pacific rather than a party to someone else’s war. Sam Roggeveen’s book sets out the argument: The Echidna Strategy.

We must realign the defence plan towards self-sufficiency and self-sustainability — and towards becoming a national exporter of green energy, not weapons.

The current trajectory has us on the wrong path. It will be a failure of the biggest proportions, and it will leave this nation vulnerable and a long way behind.

It is not a fringe view. Gareth Evans, foreign minister through the Hawke and Keating years, testified at the AUKUS Public Inquiry that the bipartisan embrace of Pillar I is likely to prove one of the worst defence and foreign policy decisions this country has made — putting our sovereign independence at risk and generating more risk than reward for the security it is supposed to protect. He could not imagine any government he served in making it.

Our own position: Defence — Not Attack and the defence restructure.