The real test of sovereignty is whether you can defend yourself and credibly deter an attack on your territory. Is that what the nuclear submarines deliver?
How are we to peer behind the hype and judge the balance sheet of AUKUS?
Given a straight choice, nuclear submarines are clearly better than conventional submarines, especially for an island continent dependent on vulnerable seaborne trade. Before AUKUS, Australia never had that choice.
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Peter Varghese is the chancellor of the University of Queensland and a former secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
