MEDIA RELEASE 27 October 2025
President Trump may be at ease regarding the proposed AUKUS submarine deal, but Australians are not.
A recent opinion poll revealed that less than one in five Australians support AUKUS. According to a report in The Australian (13 October), overall Australian support for AUKUS has tumbled 15 points from a net 33% to a net 18% in August.
Australians want to see the AUKUS agreement reviewed or cancelled. Australians don’t want to be dragged into a conflict with China, our major trading partner, and they don’t want Freemantle, Alice Springs and Darwin to be nuclear targets in a US war with China. The Australian Peace and Security Forum has released an infographic that identifies ten reasons why AUKUS must go.
To date, the Albanese Government, has redirected $8B from hospitals, schools, universities, social housing, disability and other social spending, gifting the money to US and UK submarine shipyards. Yet there are no guarantees or ‘get-out’ clauses if the US or UK cannot deliver the submarines. As Prof Albert Palazzo has observed, “Australia has no control what US plans for its submarine and the transfer can be cancelled on the whim of the US president.”
The Federal Government must review this agreement and allow Australians to have a say over the peace and security for our nation, according to Maj. Gen. Mike Smith. “AUKUS has no social licence in Australia as it was contrived in secret and has never been debated in Parliament. The case for our most expensive ever arms purchase, and alternative options, has not been adequately explained to the Australian people”, he said.
For comment contact: Major General Ret’d Mike Smith 0439 490 297
Professor Albert Palazzo a.palazzo@unsw.edu.au