Former Labor Foreign Minister Gareth Evans Calls AUKUS Submarine Plan 'Misconceived,' Urges Backup Strategy
Gareth Evans, Australia's longest-serving foreign minister, told a public inquiry on June 11, 2026 that the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine plan is 'misconceived from the outset' and has made Australia a 'compliant cash cow' to the US and UK. The crowd-funded inquiry, chaired by former Labor minister and Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett, held its first hearings in Melbourne amid revelations that senior Labor cabinet ministers including Bill Shorten raised concerns about the deal in a 2023 cabinet meeting. The inquiry highlights deepening divisions within Labor over a $368 billion defence commitment that critics say undermines Australian sovereignty, while supporters argue it is essential for national security in a shifting regional balance of power.
At the first hearings of an independent public inquiry into AUKUS in Melbourne, former Foreign Minister Gareth Evans argued the submarine deal requires 'heroic levels of optimism' to succeed, citing US construction delays, UK defence-industrial stress, and what he described as an implicit expectation that Australia would deploy the submarines in any US-China conflict, particularly over Taiwan. Evans called for the Albanese government to develop a fallback plan involving off-the-shelf conventional submarines from France, Japan, Germany, Sweden or South Korea, alongside increased investment in drones, uncrewed submarines and missiles. Separately, The Age revealed that in the March 2023 cabinet meeting that endorsed the 'optimal pathway,' Bill Shorten, Tanya Plibersek and Ed Husic all raised questions about the deal, with Shorten specifically warning about Donald Trump's unpredictability and the risk of Australia being last in a global supply chain. Former Defence Minister Kim Beazley pushed back strongly, warning that abandoning AUKUS for less capable submarines would be 'a strike against our national survivability,' and former US ambassador Dennis Richardson dismissed concerns about acquiring three in-service Virginia-class submarines as 'one of the greatest beat-ups' he had seen. Associate Professor Tilman Ruff also testified that the use of weapons-grade highly enriched uranium to power the submarines undermines non-proliferation efforts and that Australia has no solution for managing hundreds of kilograms of resulting radioactive waste. Foreign Minister Penny Wong, meeting her British counterpart in London, defended the deal as 'central to assuring Australian sovereignty' while acknowledging the project's ambition and challenges.
How coverage differed
The Guardian framed the inquiry primarily through Evans's most pointed criticisms and gave significant space to nuclear non-proliferation concerns, including radioactive waste risks, reflecting its left-leaning editorial perspective. The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age presented a more balanced account that included strong pro-AUKUS voices such as Kim Beazley and Dennis Richardson, with The Age adding the politically significant scoop about internal Labor cabinet dissent in 2023.
What different sources said
- The Japan TimesCenter
Hard scrutiny of AUKUS won’t scuttle that deal
Aukus is among Australia’s worst foreign policy decisions and requires ‘heroic’ optimism, Gareth Evans says
- Sydney Morning HeraldCenter
Labor luminary says AUKUS has turned country into ‘compliant cash cow’
- The AgeCenter
Labor luminary says AUKUS has turned country into ‘compliant cash cow’
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