Will AUKUS keep us safe? Community leaders have their say

On the day the independent AUKUS submarine inquiry came to Labor heartland, the City of Wollongong already had a fair idea of what citizens wanted in their future. 

As Electrical Trades Union members carrying banners and flags headed up to the old council chambers in Wollongong Art Gallery on Wednesday morning, ‘Peace & Unity’ was topping the list on the Wollongong Goals website thanks to thousands of submissions in a world-first engagement trial. Echoing this theme, all 15 community speakers at Wednesday’s hearing opposed AUKUS, expressing concerns about safety, secrecy and spending in the $368 billion deal by Australia, the UK and the US. 

“The question that your inquiry is asking is: 'Will AUKUS keep us safe?' And our answer is no,” said peace activist Melanie Barnes.

“We are concerned that the presence of nuclear submarines would make the Illawarra a high priority target for conventional or nuclear attack.”

A member of Wollongong Against War And Nukes (WAWAN) and a Port Kembla resident with two children at the public school, Melanie won applause for describing the climate crisis was the real danger. Inquiry commissioner Admiral Chris Barrie (R’td), a former Defence Force chief, backed this, saying climate change was "an existential threat that we are not addressing properly".

Melanie said AUKUS money would be better spent on fixing poverty, homelessness and a lack of hospital beds, social services, and aged care places.

“Instead of war industries, war machines, and militarisation, I want our town to be a hub for sustainable jobs, clean energy, education, and environmental repair.”

About 120 people filled the inquiry gallery, with rallies held outdoors. At lunchtime, activists staged a ‘die-in’ street theatre scene, imagining of the impact of a nuclear accident or military strike. Meanwhile, after school, teacher union members, parents and children clad in ‘no place/nuclear base’ t-shirts gathered outside Port Kembla Public to chant “schools not bombs” before meeting inquiry commissioners.

Leading the inquiry

The lead commissioner is Midnight Oil’s Peter Garrett, a former federal Labor minister, current chair of Landcare Australia's board, and an activist with a history of opposition to militarism dating at least as far back as the Oil's 1982 protest song US Forces. Also at the Wollongong hearing were commissioners Chris Barrie, Yankunytjatjara woman Karina Lester, a second-generation survivor of 1953’s British nuclear tests at Emu Fields, and retired Labor politician Dr Carmen Lawrence, who said the Wollongong attendance rivalled only her home turf in Fremantle, Western Australia, and praised youth submissions as a stand-out in Wollongong's "excellent public response”.

Peter Garrett told journalists the inquiry was driven by a need to publicly examine how taxpayer funds were spent and referred to former NSW Liberal government documents tabled in state parliament in May: “We have had fantastic hearings right around the country, and this one in Wollongong is particularly important because the documents that were released to the public under a freedom of information request Port Kembla was identified as a possible submarine base site, and that warrants us being here as commissioners…”

No government ministers have appeared before the crowdfunded inquiry. However, Cunningham MP Alison Byrnes – unable to attend the hearing as federal parliament was sitting – sent a statement, saying the subs were necessary for national security. She also warned against misinformation and said: “No decision will be made on an east coast submarine base until the 2030s.”

Award-winning citizens step up

Presentations by three former Wollongong citizens of year were a highlight of the morning inquiry.

Dr Aunty Barbara Nicholson is a Wadi Wadi elder, recently named Aunty of the Year at the regional NAIDOC Awards, and a lifelong social justice advocate known for bringing poetry programs to First Nations inmates. 

Presenting a day after her 91st birthday, Aunty Barb said she wanted to speak from the heart, shared childhood memories of World War II and called for environmental protection of sea, air and land.

“I think it's stupid of us,” she said. “It’s stupid of everyone concerned not to acknowledge the great risks that this proposal will bring about to this city, not just Port Kembla, but this whole city.

“I want people to take into consideration that Five Islands are an integral part of the Dreaming story of Wadi Wadi people, and that needs protection.

“There’s so much that can go wrong."

Triggering a burst of laughter, Aunty Barb added: “I’m trying to think of something good and the only thing I can think of that might be good if the marine base does go in there is that it might drive the yuppies out of Port Kembla.”

“That is the best line that we’ve had,” said Peter Garrett.

“I’m not sure that it’s necessarily a benefit,” Aunty Barb said.

Women would pay 'silent price'

2023’s citizen of the year, Sally Stevenson, spoke next, delivering a powerful analysis of social costs, backed by her professional experience, which has included leading the Illawarra Women’s Health Centre, giving humanitarian aid in Gaza with Médecins Sans Frontières and now advising the Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association.

Sally said: “I will focus on the one specific and well-documented risk that I don't think has received sufficient public attention… and that's the inevitable elevated risk of sexual violence against women and girls associated with the presence of a large transient population of foreign and Australian military personnel on a local base.”

Women and girls would pay the "silent price" of AUKUS, Sally said, “compounding the already growing epidemic of violence against women here in Australia”. She pointed to a history of sexual offences by US personnel in Okinawa and Darwin, where Sally said jurisdictional failures have resulted in cases being dropped.

“A large nuclear submarine base at Port [Kembla] would bring a substantial rotating population of mostly male service personnel – estimated by some up to 4000 – into our small regional community, replicating the conditions under which these risks have historically materialised.”

2025’s citizen of the year, Port Kembla “peacemonger” Malika Reese, shared Sally's concerns about potential sexual violence, telling the inquiry her community was strong and caring.

“We really look after each other.

“I think AUKUS makes us less safe, not more safe.

“It takes courage to ask hard questions… And that's what I'm asking for: a proper review before anything goes further.

“My biggest thing is common sense and critical thinking… I mean, don’t we teach our children to use their words and not their fists? I still just don’t understand how men ruling this world think that blowing people and the planet into smithereens is some emotionally mature fricking answer.”

Unions support inquiry

The Australian Peace and Security Forum is coordinating the inquiry with funding from individuals, peace groups and unions, including the South Coast Labor Council. Its secretary, Arthur Rorris, told the inquiry a subs base at Port Kembla must be ruled out.

“Governments routinely tell our nurses, our teachers, our transport workers, and others there is no money for wage increases or essential public infrastructure. Yet $368 billion is magically being found for a foreign defence program with zero public scrutiny,” Arthur said.

“The entire foundational premise of this agreement rests on a deeply flawed, closed-door think-tank consensus that treats China solely as an imminent military threat. This defies economic logic. China is our largest trading partner. The idea that they intend to choke off the very sea lanes their own economy depends upon is absurd. The idea that we would consider anything that might compromise Port Kembla being the nation’s steelmaking capital, the country’s largest car import terminal, and a critical east coast bulk, break-bulk, and future container terminal brings a new depth of meaning to the term ‘self-harm'.”

Representing the National Union of Students, First Nations officer Daniel McClelland said his union chooses “education over militarism” and wants AUKUS cancelled. “If our universities are increasingly incentivised to pursue research because it satisfies defence objectives, then there is a fundamental question about the independence of that research.

“Right now, students are literally starving. They're living in dilapidated student accommodation and racking up a gross amount of debt. And rather than help them or offer relief, we're going to spend billions of dollars for submarines that may never even arrive.”

What's next

The inquiry will next stop in Canberra, with reports expected by November. 

Ultimately, like Wollongong Goals, this investigation into what citizens want comes with a risk of disappointment. Council is not committed to delivering ‘peace and unity’ after its survey, nor is the federal government obligated to act on the inquiry’s recommendations.

The commissioners have no power under the law, Admiral Barrie said. “On the other hand, there's no doubt that a whole lot of people in the community want to have a say, and I think we all believe it's important.”