Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the APEC Summit in November in Bangkok, Thailand.
Reuters / © Sakchai Lalit / Pool via Reuters / File Photo
At the time, secret negotiations were taking place between envoys of Donald Trump, Australian conservative Scott Morrison and his British counterpart, Boris Johnson. The Aukus agreement, designed as an anti-China deterrent in the Pacific region, aims to supply Australia with nuclear attack submarines, while under contract with France for Barracuda-class diesel submarines, and to cooperate in the intense competition of artificial intelligence and quantum physics.
Reassure China…and the taxpayers
Today, Anthony Albanese’s Labor party, elected last May, has reconciled with France, promising smoother relations with China but keeping developing regional alliances – with primarily India and Japan – all under American auspices and a British cousin.
Eighteen months after the signing of the Okus agreement, the San Diego summit must give Australia three to five US or British nuclear submarines by 2027 so that it can build at least ten more. American missile armament. His defense minister has previously warned China, which is concerned, that these developments are not aimed at it, while Albanese is trying to reassure the Australian taxpayer of $100 billion, at least, that this revolution could cost militarily.
