Undermining AUKUS is only Malcolm Turnbull’s latest effort to square up with his foes

Malcolm Turnbull’s intervention in the debate about the AUKUS deal is all about one thing. And it’s a new low for the ex-PM, writes Daniel Wild.

“It’s gonna be yuge! Believe me. It will be the biggest, the best, and the single most beautiful deal that you have ever seen.”

This, sadly, is almost certainly not President Trump’s view of the current AUKUS deal which, and like the broader alliance with the United States, Australia’s most important, is now under threat.

Many will be quick to point the finger at Trump and his unapologetic ‘America First’ approach to foreign policy. But our government has been its own worst enemy.

First, there is the continued engagement of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd as ambassador to the United States. Whatever Rudd’s capabilities may be, his personal insults to Trump should have disqualified him from continuing in that role. On social media Rudd had previously said Trump was a “traitor to the West” and “the most destructive president in history”. There was never any coming back from this with Trump returning to the White House.

Malcolm Turnbull.

Then there is Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s six-day jaunt to visit the Chinese Communist Party headquarters in Beijing. No doubt that, like his political mentor Daniel Andrews, Albanese believes coddling up to the CCP will curry favour with mainland-Chinese born voters at home. It may also set him up with a plum gig after politics, lobbying on behalf of China and, at the very least, allowing him to cos-pay being his personal hero Gough Whitlam.

The Virginia-class attack submarine USS California during sea trials in 2011.

And to complete the trifecta in undermining AUKUS and our relationship with the US, now there is Malcolm Turnbull.

The recent revelation that Turnbull has been engaging with Elbridge Colby, prior to his confirmation as the US Undersecretary of Defence for Policy, on the future of the AUKUS pact is unprecedented. This is a big deal as not only is Colby a key ‘America First’ foreign policy operator in the Trump Administration – he is also in charge of leading the review into our security partnership.

Make no mistake. Turnbull’s intervention in the debate about AUKUS is all about how he was vanquished by Scott Morrison who, as Prime Minster, ditched Turnbull’s preferred submarine deal with the French.

Scott Morrison spoke with the President of the United States Joe Biden and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson when they announced the creation of an enhanced trilateral security partnership called AUKUS.

Turnbull is not an ambassador, or a government official or envoy.

As shadow assistant defence minister Phil Thompson correctly remarked, Turnbull should “show himself to be a good statesman”.

It is true that the AUKUS deal is far from perfect, to say the least. But for a former and failed Prime Minister to use discussions around the deal to feed his need for attention is a new low, even for Malcolm Turnbull.

There are valid concerns about the capacity of the United States to ramp up production of Virginia Class nuclear submarines to supply Australia on the agreed timelines. Even under the agreed to schedule, Australia would only receive the subs by the early 2030s.

At a time of heightened geo-political tension in the Indo-Pacific, this could be seen as too little too late. Yet this should reinforce the argument for Australia to improve upon the agreement and our most important security alliance – with the United States – by doing more for ourselves at home, today.

Elbridge Colby, nominee to be Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.

As the Institute of Public Affairs outlined in its recent research publication, No Higher Priority, we must increase defence funding to at least three per cent of GDP in this term of Parliament, and move to four per cent in the next.

We must also improve the quality of what it is we are investing in.

For example, acquiring new B21 bombers and two additional squadrons of F-35B fighter jets; prioritising our northern defences and establishing a stronger Australian Defence Force presence in northern Australia; kickstarting domestic drone manufacturing; and shifting the Australian Defence Force Academy away from Canberra and into the field in, say, Townsville, which would all be welcome complements to the AUKUS agreement. It would also show our allies and our enemies that we are being fair-dinkum about doing the heavy lifting in our own defence.

The simple reality is that the defence of our island nation must be beyond and above petty politics, and Malcolm Turnbull vanity exercises.

Whatever our domestic capabilities, and short of having our own nuclear deterrent, Australia will always require the national security umbrella of a super-power. And the only two choices before us are our long-term, free and democratic partner, the United States, or communist China.

Daniel Wild is Deputy Executive Director of the Institute of Public Affairs