AUKUS poses no risk to sovereignty: Richard Marles

Richard Marles will move to allay fears the AUKUS pact will undermine sovereignty, arguing nuclear submarines and other high-end capabilities will build self-reliance.

Richard Marles will argue ‘almost all of Australia’s high-end capability is developed in co-operation with our partners’, and that such technology ‘dramatically enhances our sovereignty’. Picture: Gary Ramage

Defence Minister Richard Marles will move to allay fears the AUKUS pact will undermine the nation’s sovereignty by making it overly reliant on foreign technology, arguing nuclear submarines and other high-end capabilities will build the nation’s self-reliance.

In a statement to parliament on Thursday, Mr Marles will seek to repudiate critics, including former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who warn Australia’s future nuclear submarines will require so much allied support they cannot be considered a sovereign capability.

Mr Marles will argue “almost all of Australia’s high-end capability is developed in co-operation with our partners”, and that such technology “dramatically enhances our sovereignty”.

He will tell the House of Representatives the Albanese government has “full knowledge and concurrence” regarding foreign military activities in Australia – a form of words first used by the Hawke government to endorse the operations of joint facilities, including Pine Gap.

Mr Marles will argue “Defence capability is a key factor in sovereignty”, and suggest Australia will have “absolute discretion” over the use of its future AUKUS-derived capabilities.

“Through AUKUS, we are building Australian capability and expanding our strategic options,” Mr Marles will say, according to an advance copy of his speech.

“This represents a long-term commitment to building our self-reliance and, in turn, will enhance Australia’s agency to pursue our sovereign interests. That is the essence of sovereignty,” he will say.

The statement – the first of its kind since 2019 – comes about a month before the government unveils its preferred nuclear submarine option and interim measures to prevent a “capability gap” before the boats are delivered. Whether Australia decides on a US or UK submarine design, it will be reliant on its AUKUS partners to help maintain and operate the boats throughout their life.

Suggestions US submarines could be based in Australia, or leased to the ADF and manned by joint crews, have also alarmed some commentators, who fear Australia would have little ­control over such capabilities.

But Mr Marles will reject ­arguments that Australia’s ­reliance on its AUKUS partners to access nuclear propulsion technology will create “a dependence that undermines Australia’s sovereignty”.

“The reality is that almost all of Australia’s high-end capability is developed in co-operation with our partners. Submarines are no exception. And that dramatically enhanced capability dramatically enhances our sovereignty,” he will say.

“We need to leverage expertise from the United Kingdom and the United States to help us along our optimal pathway – and building capability with them means we are better able to shape, deter and respond within our strategic landscape.”

Mr Marles will argue that AUKUS’s non-submarine co-operation – on artificial intelligence, quantum computing, hypersonics and unmanned undersea technology – will also build the nation’s defence ­capabilities, adding to its “strategic options”.

“These capabilities will help us hold potential adversaries’ forces at risk, at a greater distance and increase the cost of ­aggression against Australia and its interests,” he will say.

The speech follows comments by former US Indo-Pacific commander Admiral Harry Harris, who declared the AUKUS pact was “supremely important”, and urged the nation’s Republican-controlled congress to slash regulations ­impeding the sharing of ­advanced military technology with Australia.

Admiral Harris told a hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday that he “couldn’t emphasise enough how important” it was “to get through this export control issue with Australia”.

He also dismissed claims that it would be 30 years before ­Australia would operate its own nuclear-powered submarines, due to the immense complexity of the venture.

“We put a man on the Moon in eight years, and we developed a Covid vaccine in one year. We can do this, but we’re going to have to put our shoulders to the task,” he told the House Armed Services Committee.

Mr Turnbull said earlier this month that the government needed to answer whether the AUKUS submarines could be operated, sustained and maintained by Australia without ­foreign support.

“If the answer is that US Navy assistance will be required, that would mean, in any normal understanding of the term, that they are not Australian sovereign capabilities, but rather that sovereignty would be shared with the US,” he said.

“If that is the case, then this acquisition will be a momentous change, which has not been acknowledged, let alone debated.”