The AUKUS pact is facing its most serious challenge yet. Not from Beijing, but from a former Australian defence minister. One who knows where the bodies are buried. Peter Dutton? No. Think further left. Think Chris Evans.
Evans, a former Labour minister, has launched a crowd-funded investigation into the UK-Australia submarine deal. The £10 billion programme. The one that’s supposed to deliver nuclear-powered boats to Canberra by the 2040s. The one that’s already run into delays, cost overruns, and whispers of industry skulduggery.
The probe’s backers include ‘ozwatch’ – a transparency group with deep pockets. They’ve raised $500,000 AUD in two weeks. Enough to hire forensic accountants, former intelligence officers, and a QC. Their target? The UK’s Royal Navy. BAE Systems. The Ministry of Defence. Anybody who touched the ‘future submarine’ programme.
“The British are not used to being held to account,” Evans said overnight. “But this is Australian money. Australian jobs. And Australian security. We deserve answers.” He claims the deal was rushed, poorly drafted, and stacked in favour of UK suppliers. “The cost-plus contract allows BAE to bill for delays. That’s insane.”
Let’s be clear: this isn’t a fringe campaign. Evans was a senior figure in the Rudd-Gillard governments. He oversaw defence procurement. He knows the system. And he’s leaking like a sieve. Already, documents have emerged suggesting the UK proposed a shorter-endurance submarine. A vessel that didn’t meet Australia’s needs. A vessel that would require three to operate instead of two. Multiply the crew, the port facilities, the training. The costs balloon.
Downing Street is rattled. A senior source told me: “This is the last thing we need. AUKUS is meant to be a golden thread. Now it’s unravelling in public.” The UK’s Ambassador to Australia has been instructed to ‘smoke out’ Evans’s sources. Good luck. Canberra’s defence establishment is leaking like a colander.
Meanwhile, the ‘AUKUS for All’ crowd – the lobbyists, the consultants, the retired admirals – are in panic mode. If the probe uncovers wrongdoing, the deal could be renegotiated. Or scrapped. Imagine that. The UK’s first major post-Brexit trade-security pact, gone. The credibility of British defence procurement, shot.
The Treasury is nervous. The MoD is defensive. And the Prime Minister? He’s on the phone to Canberra, offering assurances. But Evans isn’t listening to him. He’s listening to the Australian public. And they’re angry.
The bottom line: this probe has legs. It has money. It has momentum. The question is: what will it find? And will the UK survive the scrutiny?
More follows.
