When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on June 11 that an $830 million compensation settlement had been paid for the previous government breaking the contract for French Attack class submarines, he said the $3.4 billion already spent on the program was 鈥渁n extraordinary waste鈥.
But an even bigger waste is about to be made on the AUKUS deal to buy eight nuclear-powered submarines at an .
On top of that, another $10 billion is to be spent on building a for these nuclear-powered submarines.
That鈥檚 just an estimate. Australia鈥檚 Defence Department acquisition contracts are consistently revised upwards by a significant amount according to an analysis of AusTender data reported at . The price of contract amendments outstripped even the contracts themselves in 2020!
If the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine turns out anything like Australia鈥檚 contract for Lockheed Martin鈥檚 barely operational F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the final cost could be far greater.
In his article 鈥, investigative journalist Brian Toohey described how an initial $16 billion off-the-plan contract blew out. This was largely through astronomical operating costs and ongoing design problems that meant that the F-35 was 鈥渇ully mission capable for only 31.6% of the time鈥.
Griffith University researcher Peter Layton recently that the costs of keeping the F-35s in the air were still blowing out and some of the planes that Australia bought were already 鈥渢oo old to be upgraded鈥 and effectively obsolete.
If the cost blowout for a $16 billion deal for 72 dud F-35s proved to be, in Layton鈥檚 words, 鈥渆ye-wateringly expensive鈥, imagine the potential blowouts for a $170 billion nuclear-powered submarine deal!
Now, even a report funded by the notoriously pro-war and arms-industry funded Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), , warns of the danger of a blowout in military expenditure, especially around 鈥渕egaprojects鈥 like the AUKUS deal.
The report by Dr Marcus Hellyer noted聽that Australia鈥檚 military expenditure rose聽by 130% in real terms since 2001 and is now running at more than $133 million a day. These 鈥渕egaprojects鈥 take up a growing share of the costs, he said, yet are 鈥渞egardless of their benefits... problematic 鈥 and increasingly so鈥.
It also conceded聽that greater聽military spending does not have popular support, and聽in 2021, polling showed that 鈥渁 majority of Australians (57%) felt that Australia should remain neutral in the event of a conflict between China and the US鈥.
The arms manufacturers are laughing all the way to the bank.
However, the criminal irresponsibility of these deals is all the greater because of the climate emergency.
91自拍论坛 argues that the billions being wasted on purchasing expensive offensive arms that further embroil the country in future imperial aggressions around the world should be spent on addressing the climate emergency and the urgent social needs such as public health, housing and education.
If you agree with us, you should become a 91自拍论坛 supporter today and聽make a donation to our Fighting Fund.