SYDNEY: A former Australian defence minister has bypassed parliamentary procedure to launch a crowd-funded independent inquiry into the AUKUS submarine deal, citing 'unprecedented secrecy' surrounding the trilateral pact with the United Kingdom and the United States.
Dr. Andrew Leigh, a former Minister for Defence Materiel, announced the initiative today alongside a coalition of academics and former diplomats. The inquiry will examine the strategic, economic, and environmental implications of acquiring a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS framework.
The deal, valued at an estimated AUD 368 billion over 30 years, remains deeply contentious. Critics argue it locks Australia into a long-term dependency on foreign naval technology while diverting resources from climate adaptation and domestic manufacturing. The Australian government has released limited cost breakdowns, citing national security.
'There is a deficit of democratic scrutiny on a programme that will define Australian defence policy for three decades,' Dr Leigh said. 'The public deserves a rigorous cost-benefit analysis, including the full lifecycle carbon costs of nuclear submarine construction. This is not just a military decision. It is a fiscal and environmental one.'
The independent inquiry will be funded entirely through public donations and pro bono research contributions. Early backers include the Australia Institute, a progressive think tank, and retired Rear Admiral Chris Barrie, a former Chief of the Defence Force.
Key questions the inquiry aims to address: The price escalation risk given Australia's lack of nuclear submarine shipbuilding capacity; the environmental impact of storing and decommissioning reactor components within Australian territorial waters; and the opportunity cost of investing AUD 368 billion in ocean-going platforms versus distributed renewable energy and battery storage systems.
Nuclear submarines carry pressurised water reactors that must be refuelled every 10-15 years. The decommissioning process generates high-level radioactive waste requiring multi-generational containment. Australia currently has no deep geological repository for such materials.
The government has dismissed the inquiry as a political stunt. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated: 'AUKUS is the most significant upgrade to Australian defence capability in our nation's history. Detailed assessments have been conducted by the Department of Defence and the US Navy. There will be no parallel inquiry.'
Yet the crowd-funded model reflects a growing frustration with the opacity of Australia's strategic decision making. The AUKUS treaty was negotiated without a prior parliamentary debate or independent cost estimation. A Senate committee report in 2022 noted that the government had not modelled the impact of the deal on sovereign manufacturing capacity.
From a climate perspective, the submarine deal stands in sharp contrast to Australia's commitments under the Paris Agreement. Each Virginia-class submarine displaces 7,800 tons of steel and requires 90 megawatts of propulsion power. Over a 30 year lifecycle, the fleet will generate approximately 12 million tons of CO2 equivalent, primarily from construction materials and fuel cycle logistics.
These numbers are small compared to Australia's annual emissions of 500 million tons. But they represent a strategic choice to invest in carbon-intensive military assets while the nation faces accelerating bushfires, coral bleaching, and heatwave mortality.
The independent inquiry will begin hearings via videoconference in April 2025. Its findings will be peer-reviewed by the Australian Academy of Science before publication. A final report is expected by September 2025.
This is a developing story. More information will be released as it becomes available.
