Labor and union movement at odds over AUKUS nuclear submarine deal

The finalising of the $368bn AUKUS submarine deal has set up a potential clash between Labor and one of its most reliable allies.

The finalising of the $368bn AUKUS submarine deal has set up a potential clash between Labor and the peak union body over nuclear power.

Australian Council of Trade Unions president Michele O’Neil declared at the National Press Club on Tuesday that unions backed a “nuclear-free Defence policy”, at odds with the government’s plan to purchase and manufacture nuclear-powered submarines over the next 30 years.

Under the trilateral security agreement with the US and the UK, Australia will become the first non-nuclear weapon state to acquire nuclear-powered submarines by seeking an exemption from the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The government has said the submarines will only use nuclear propulsion and will not be equipped with nuclear weapons.

ACTU president Michele O'Neil says the union movement supports a nuclear-free Defence policy. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Ms O’Neil said the ACTU, which brings together 36 Australian unions and a number of labour councils, was yet to come to a final position on AUKUS.

But she said the union movement had a longstanding policy of opposing nuclear power, nuclear waste and proliferation while supporting a “nuclear-free Defence policy”.

“These are not positions that have been developed in the last weeks and months, they’re decades long and our position hasn’t changed,” she said.

Ms O’Neil wouldn’t confirm if the union movement wanted the government to scrap its AUKUS plans and acquire a new fleet of conventional submarines instead.

“The detail of the announcement being made is something that we will bring our affiliates together to discuss over the coming months and we will want more detail from the government as well,” she said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese revealed the AUKUS details earlier this month. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Ms O’Neil claimed the AUKUS deal was a “new announcement” and said the union movement hadn’t had the chance to discuss the plan with the government.

Although Anthony Albanese announced the details of the AUKUS deal in California earlier this month, unions have known since the agreement was signed by the former Morrison government in mid-2021 that the aim of the pact was to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.

Under the plan revealed by the Prime Minister in San Diego, the government plans to purchase between three and five US Virginia-class nuclear submarines from the 2030s as a stopgap measure to replace Australia’s ageing conventional submarine fleet.

With the first vessel of a locally manufactured SSN-AUKUS class fleet due to be completed in 2042, Australia will also host a rotation of US-owned vessels and B-52 bombers that would have the capability to be nuclear armed.

Mr Albanese’s announcement has triggered concerns about where the nuclear waste the submarines generate will be dumped as well as whether the agreement might breach Australia’s international obligations on nuclear non-proliferation.

Originally published as Labor and union movement at odds over AUKUS nuclear submarine deal