Who gets to have an opinion on the AUKUS nuclear submarine military base?

Greens Cr Deidre Stuart asked about plans to establish the future AUKUS nuclear submarine base on Australia's east coast at a Wollongong City Council meeting last month.

Port Kembla was listed as the most cost-effective option to site the project, according to a three-year-old state government report.

Cr Stuart's questions included whether council had a formal position on a local AUKUS base, and whether any future decisions would be taken by council management or with input from elected councillors.

Labor councillors seemed unimpressed by Cr Stuart’s queries. Cr Dan Hayes referred to AUKUS being a “soapbox” issue, and Cr Linda Campbell said “there’s an agenda here” and “it does my head in a bit”. Lord Mayor Tania Brown felt the four hours staff spent responding to the nuclear sub base could have been better spent tackling Council’s budget challenges.

In a statement to The Illawarra Flame, Cr Stuart said: “I asked the Questions With Notice about AUKUS to Council mostly because there is significant community concern about AUKUS, in particular that Port Kembla might be developed as the east coast navy base for the AUKUS nuclear-powered attack submarines.

"Also, there seems to be a lot of secrecy about AUKUS both before and since this was announced. When I attended the AUKUS public inquiry, early in the day, the lead commissioner, Peter Garrett, read out most of a statement from the Member for Cunningham (Alison Byrnes) who spoke about misinformation and disinformation on this topic and urged people to stick to the facts.

"Sitting there later, listening to people’s very serious concerns, I wondered what are the facts, and what are my own responsibilities as a councillor in this city, in the context of an AUKUS base in Port Kembla."

Cr Stuart’s statement continued: “I set about trying to collate and read public information on AUKUS in relation to Wollongong. Were concerned community members, including me, deluded or not? After significant searching and reading, I found nothing that ruled out Port Kembla as the east coast navy base for AUKUS.

“So my questions [at the council meeting] aimed to find out what our council might know, or be aware of, or has done, in relation to AUKUS."

Council's response

Council did not take a position on a potential nuclear submarine military base in our city.

The staff’s response to Cr Stuart’s questions said, in part: “Council officers are not aware of documentation from the current Commonwealth Government that identifies Port Kembla as a potential AUKUS submarine east coast Navy base.”

Also, “council officers are not aware of any Commonwealth Government plans for future consultation in relation to AUKUS.” And, “to date, council has not considered a report or resolved a position on the AUKUS pillars.”

Finally, “council has not responded to the public debate in relation to this matter.”