Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating has launched a scathing critique of the Albanese government’s approach to the AUKUS agreement, accusing it of bending to the will of the United States and risking Australia’s sovereignty.
In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Keating asserted that the trilateral Australia-UK-U.S. (AUKUS) cooperation on nuclear submarines is, in American terms, about the military control of Australia.
“The Albanese government and their policy is likely to turn Australia into the 51st state of the United States,” he said, expressing concerns over the extent of US influence on Australian defense and foreign policy.
Keating emphasized Australia’s unique geopolitical position, highlighting that the nation has an entire continent to itself with no bordering countries. “Australia is not likely to be threatened. The only threat likely to come for us is because we have an aggressive ally, because of AUKUS,” he remarked.
He further argued that if Australia did not have an aggressive ally like the United States, which he accused of being aggressive towards others in the region, there would be nobody attacking Australia. According to Keating, the United States is aggressive because it is trying to superintend China, and he believes that China has no strategic designs on Australia.
ABC’s report also quoted Keating as warning that the strength and scale of the U.S. military presence in Australia could eventually overshadow Australia’s own military capabilities. He cautioned that Australia might be viewed in the United States as a continental extension of American power, akin to Hawaii, Alaska, or Guam.
“Such an outcome is likely to turn the Australian government, in defense and security terms, into simply the national administrator of what would be broadly viewed in Asia as a U.S. protectorate,” Keating concluded.
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Ex-PM Keating accuses Australian govt of bending to U.S. will on AUKUS
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