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Aussies Say No to Nuclear Sub Base at Port Kembla, Support Rally In San Francisco Against US Base
An international day of action against a US nuclear submarine base in the Australian Port Kembla. Rallies took place at Port Kembla and in San Francisco against the base and the Australian, UK, US military alliance (AUKUS).
Aussies Say No to Nuclear Sub Base at Port Kembla
Support Rally In San Francisco Against US Nuke Base At Australian Port
by Phil Pasquini — 07/05/2023
As the only G20 country to ban nuclear power by federal law, Australia is now considering where to build an east coast base for its new American-British Missouri class nuclear-powered submarine fleet. On the short list of three possibilities are Brisbane, Newcastle or Port Kembla (Aboriginal for “plenty of waterfowl”). The New South Wales (NSW) Port Kembla on the Tasman Sea is favored for its proximity to deep-water along with its established infrastructure in meeting the needs of the new three boat nuclear submarines that will grow into a fleet of 11 nuclear subs in the near future.
It is the general distaste for all things nuclear that caused Australia’s concerned citizens, environmentalists and union activists to call for “Global Action to Stop US Nuke Sub Base in Australian Port Kembla” by demonstrating on May 6 for “Peace, Jobs and Justice.” Demonstrations opposing the conversion took place in Australia at the Port of Kembla and outside of the Australian Consulate in San Francisco. Leaders at the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) are calling for a cessation to the militarization of Southeast Asia in what they view as a build-up to a war with China by the US, its military industrial complex and its security partners in Australia, the UK and Japan.
Several speakers representing Veterans for Peace, union activists and others spoke of their opposition to the build-up of a war with China along with using Australia as a pawn in that effort. It was lost on no one that the enormous profits to be earned by defense contractors in the project are taking precedent over concerns regarding conflict. They called for cessation to the nuclearization of Australia and the deployment of both British and American nuclear subs who would also use the proposed base during patrols.
Australia, along with its neighbors now facing a more aggressive China, is desirous in replacing its six small aging Australian-built Collins-class diesel-electric submarines scheduled for retirement in 2026. To that end, in 2016 the then Turnbull government struck a deal worth $90 billion with Naval Group (DCNS), a French company, to build twelve Shortfin Barracuda Block 1A conventional diesel subs that could later be converted to nuclear propulsion through a “tech hatch.” At the time of the initial contract, the boats were promoted as being “regionally superior.” This proved in the end not to be the case as China began building more powerful high-tech nuclear propelled ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs).
Because of several issues with the French company, in 2021 after having spent $2.4 billion on the project, the Australian government decided the new submarines would not meet the threshold of being “regionally superior” and cancelled the contract. They instead decided this year to go full nuclear and purchase the newly designed (Australian/American/British trilateral security Alliance) AUKUS-class nuclear subs costing as much as $368 billion over the next three decades, Australia’s largest ever military expenditure.
The new subs will be armed with cruise missiles and will not have any nuclear weapons onboard as required under the 1986 South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Agreement, aka the “Treaty of Rarotonga” that specifically forbids all signatories. “…not to manufacture, possess, acquire or have control of nuclear weapons” and further “…to prevent nuclear testing in their territories.”
Opposition to the proposed plans has also been voiced by the Australian Electrical Trade Union (ETU) stating that “The AUKUS submarines will be powered by nuclear technology, which betrays Australia’s non-nuclear policy and opens doors to a dangerous and unnecessary domestic nuclear power industry, weapons proliferation and regional arms race. The ETU is strongly against the deployment of nuclear power in Australia because of the risks associated with the mining and extraction of uranium, the huge build costs, the terrible and deadly consequences to environmental and human health when incidents occur and its potential to take us down the path of devastating weaponry.”
The conversion of Port Kembla would terminate the busy unionized New South Wales (NSW) commercial port by displacing thousands of workers which in turn would negatively impact the local economy. Conversely, many engineers and others in support of the plan claim it will create new secure high-paying jobs related to the construction and maintenance of the submarines. To fill the gap between the retiring of the present diesel electric boats and the new AUKUS subs, the US and UK will rotate their nuclear-powered subs in and out of an Australian port.
One outstanding issue yet to be addressed is the disposal of radiated material generated by the subs during their service life and the disposal in the 2050s of their reactors at decommissioning. Environmentalists remain concerned that finding adequate and safe long-term storage for the reactors and other highly radioactive materials from the subs has not been fully addressed other than the government noting that Australia has “an overabundance of land” on to which safe and secure facilities can be created for disposal. The use of the term “overabundance of land” is highly suspected to signal land of Indigenous people.
The creation of such a disposal facility has raised concerns too that other countries in the region seeking safe disposal of their toxic nuclear waste may also be interested in utilizing Australian disposal sites, thus creating a larger problem in the country.
Photos by Phil Pasquini
(This article has previously appeared in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Pakistan Link and Nuzeink.)
Phil Pasquini is a freelance journalist and photographer. His reports and photographs appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Pakistan Link and Nuze.ink. He is the author of Domes, Arches and Minarets: A History of Islamic-Inspired Buildings in America.
Support Rally In San Francisco Against US Nuke Base At Australian Port
by Phil Pasquini — 07/05/2023
As the only G20 country to ban nuclear power by federal law, Australia is now considering where to build an east coast base for its new American-British Missouri class nuclear-powered submarine fleet. On the short list of three possibilities are Brisbane, Newcastle or Port Kembla (Aboriginal for “plenty of waterfowl”). The New South Wales (NSW) Port Kembla on the Tasman Sea is favored for its proximity to deep-water along with its established infrastructure in meeting the needs of the new three boat nuclear submarines that will grow into a fleet of 11 nuclear subs in the near future.
It is the general distaste for all things nuclear that caused Australia’s concerned citizens, environmentalists and union activists to call for “Global Action to Stop US Nuke Sub Base in Australian Port Kembla” by demonstrating on May 6 for “Peace, Jobs and Justice.” Demonstrations opposing the conversion took place in Australia at the Port of Kembla and outside of the Australian Consulate in San Francisco. Leaders at the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) are calling for a cessation to the militarization of Southeast Asia in what they view as a build-up to a war with China by the US, its military industrial complex and its security partners in Australia, the UK and Japan.
Several speakers representing Veterans for Peace, union activists and others spoke of their opposition to the build-up of a war with China along with using Australia as a pawn in that effort. It was lost on no one that the enormous profits to be earned by defense contractors in the project are taking precedent over concerns regarding conflict. They called for cessation to the nuclearization of Australia and the deployment of both British and American nuclear subs who would also use the proposed base during patrols.
Australia, along with its neighbors now facing a more aggressive China, is desirous in replacing its six small aging Australian-built Collins-class diesel-electric submarines scheduled for retirement in 2026. To that end, in 2016 the then Turnbull government struck a deal worth $90 billion with Naval Group (DCNS), a French company, to build twelve Shortfin Barracuda Block 1A conventional diesel subs that could later be converted to nuclear propulsion through a “tech hatch.” At the time of the initial contract, the boats were promoted as being “regionally superior.” This proved in the end not to be the case as China began building more powerful high-tech nuclear propelled ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs).
Because of several issues with the French company, in 2021 after having spent $2.4 billion on the project, the Australian government decided the new submarines would not meet the threshold of being “regionally superior” and cancelled the contract. They instead decided this year to go full nuclear and purchase the newly designed (Australian/American/British trilateral security Alliance) AUKUS-class nuclear subs costing as much as $368 billion over the next three decades, Australia’s largest ever military expenditure.
The new subs will be armed with cruise missiles and will not have any nuclear weapons onboard as required under the 1986 South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Agreement, aka the “Treaty of Rarotonga” that specifically forbids all signatories. “…not to manufacture, possess, acquire or have control of nuclear weapons” and further “…to prevent nuclear testing in their territories.”
Opposition to the proposed plans has also been voiced by the Australian Electrical Trade Union (ETU) stating that “The AUKUS submarines will be powered by nuclear technology, which betrays Australia’s non-nuclear policy and opens doors to a dangerous and unnecessary domestic nuclear power industry, weapons proliferation and regional arms race. The ETU is strongly against the deployment of nuclear power in Australia because of the risks associated with the mining and extraction of uranium, the huge build costs, the terrible and deadly consequences to environmental and human health when incidents occur and its potential to take us down the path of devastating weaponry.”
The conversion of Port Kembla would terminate the busy unionized New South Wales (NSW) commercial port by displacing thousands of workers which in turn would negatively impact the local economy. Conversely, many engineers and others in support of the plan claim it will create new secure high-paying jobs related to the construction and maintenance of the submarines. To fill the gap between the retiring of the present diesel electric boats and the new AUKUS subs, the US and UK will rotate their nuclear-powered subs in and out of an Australian port.
One outstanding issue yet to be addressed is the disposal of radiated material generated by the subs during their service life and the disposal in the 2050s of their reactors at decommissioning. Environmentalists remain concerned that finding adequate and safe long-term storage for the reactors and other highly radioactive materials from the subs has not been fully addressed other than the government noting that Australia has “an overabundance of land” on to which safe and secure facilities can be created for disposal. The use of the term “overabundance of land” is highly suspected to signal land of Indigenous people.
The creation of such a disposal facility has raised concerns too that other countries in the region seeking safe disposal of their toxic nuclear waste may also be interested in utilizing Australian disposal sites, thus creating a larger problem in the country.
Photos by Phil Pasquini
(This article has previously appeared in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Pakistan Link and Nuzeink.)
Phil Pasquini is a freelance journalist and photographer. His reports and photographs appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Pakistan Link and Nuze.ink. He is the author of Domes, Arches and Minarets: A History of Islamic-Inspired Buildings in America.
For more information:
https://countercurrents.org/2023/05/aussie...
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May Day Solidarity Statement From Past ILWU President To Australian Unionists and People In Opposition To War Against China
5/1/24
Greetings my Australian Brothers and Sisters.
We all know that world dominance demands unobstructed access to natural resources, labor and transportation. To this end western
powers force themselves physically and intellectually on the developing world and its peoples. But the west is not a proponent of
self-determination or peace. The western concept of “peace” seems only to mean the absence of open warfare. Bully greed is the
only language that is understood. So, how should we respond when our countries propose closing a viable working port to
accommodate an expansion of the world’s biggest war machine in preparation for an implied war with China? Yes, it is true that
I don’t want it to happen there! But understand that that is not the issue, I don’t want it to happen anywhere! The well being of
untold multitudes is always the price that is paid. This U.S. action must be resisted everywhere and please know that progressive
and committed people here support you and your efforts. PREVAIL!
Together we must stand.
Brian McWilliams
Past President
ILWU
Australia Unions march against nuclear subs, citing health risks over jobs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgL307PMWMY&t=101s
https://www.smh.com.au/.../unions-to-march-against...
BY ANGUS THOMPSON
May 5, 2023 — 3.00pm
Labor’s red-shirted rank and file will join a coalition of unions to protest against a major container port south of Sydney becoming a nuclear-powered zone under the AUKUS deal.
Representatives from the Electrical Trades Union, Maritime Union of Australia, Australian Services Union and Unions NSW are among those who will on Saturday rally against the possibility of Port Kembla, near Wollongong, becoming a nuclear submarine base.
Unionists (from left) Shane Elliott, Elizabeth Scott, Maurie Mulheron, Sharon Callaghan and Pat Bates are protesting about the proposed nuclear submarine base in Port Kembla, NSW.
Unionists (from left) Shane Elliott, Elizabeth Scott, Maurie Mulheron, Sharon Callaghan and Pat Bates are protesting about the proposed nuclear submarine base in Port Kembla, NSW.CREDIT: JANIE BARRETT
NSW Electrical Trades Union secretary Allen Hicks, who represents a workforce that would be expected to work on the future fleet, should it be docked at the commercial port, said his members were resolutely opposed to nuclear propelled submarines in Australia.
“Electricians and engineers have deep and long-standing health and safety concerns about nuclear technology,” said Hicks, who is scheduled to speak at the May Day march.
The Australian Services Union’s NSW secretary, Angus McFarland, said his union was opposed to such a base anywhere on Australia’s coastline.
“The presence of nuclear attack-class submarines in our ports would make us a nuclear target and pose an unacceptable risk to the health and safety of hundreds of thousands of people given potential exposure to hundreds of kilograms of highly enriched uranium,” he said.
South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris is organising Saturday’s May Day march.
South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris is organising Saturday’s May Day march.CREDIT: BROOK MITCHELL
South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris said opposition to the nuclear submarines was widespread among the labour movement.
“What we’ve tried to do is to paint a picture of how deep and serious the concern is over the AUKUS submarine base proposal,” Rorris said.
“We expect a big turnout from the broader labour movement including hundreds of rank and file Labor Party members. We do acknowledge there will be ALP members there and everyone’s welcome,” he said.
RELATED ARTICLE
A four-day week would help workers win back some control, Michele O’Neil said at the National Press Club on Tuesday.
AUKUS
‘DISAPPOINTING, DISHEARTENING’: ACTU AT ODDS WITH GOVERNMENT OVER NUCLEAR SUBS
Former Albanese government press secretary Marcus Strom, now a spokesman for Labor Against War, said he was worried about the direction the government had adopted with AUKUS. “Australians do not want to be dragged into another US-led war,” he said.
Opposition to the new submarines extends to the top of the union movement, and ACTU president Michele O’Neil voiced the peak body’s decades-long stance at the National Press Club in March, although the Australian Workers Union supports the AUKUS deal.
The government has said nuclear-powered submarines are the best option to improve Australia’s naval capabilities and maintain regional stability. It said last month a decision had not yet been made about the location of a base.
A spokesperson for Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said on Friday: “As the government’s response to the Defence Strategic Reviewstates, the government will develop a process to consider all feasible options for an east coast facility to support Australia’s future submarine capability, with a decision to be made late in this decade.”
Port Kembla has also been floated as a future hydrogen hub, and Rorris said renewable energy “dwarfs any benefit that we might get from a nuclear parking lot”.
Rorris added that Saturday’s march would also focus on the Yes campaign to enshrine an Indigenous Voice to parliament in the Constitution.
On Friday, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced the introduction of a national energy transition authority helmed by unions, employers and the government to help fossil fuel workers train for jobs in the renewables sector.
Thousands rally in Australia against potential US nuke submarine base
https://www.reuters.com/.../thousands-rally-australia.../
May 5, 202310:48 PM PDTLast Updated 17 hours ago
Reuters
SYDNEY, May 6 (Reuters) - Thousands of people rallied on Saturday against a future nuclear-powered submarine base at Port Kembla in eastern Australia as part of the A$368 billion ($244.1 billion) AUKUS defence pact with the United States and Britain.
The second-largest coal export port in New South Wales state is the Defence Department’s preferred site for a new east-coast submarine base, according to state broadcaster ABC.
Protesters carrying trade union banners and flags marched down the main street to voice their opposition to a base in the town of around 5,000 people 102 kms (63 miles) south of Sydney.
"I'm getting the sense of the renewable energy that's in this community to keep coming out on the streets," Greens Senator David Shoebridge, a prominent critic of AUKUS, told the crowd.
Estimates of the crowd ranged from 2,000 to 5,000, according to participants.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said last month no decision had been made on a site for a new east coast submarine base.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended the submarine project after two former leaders criticised the deal over its cost, complexity and potential sovereignty issues.
The deal unveiled in March will see Australia purchase U.S. Virginia-class submarines before joint British and Australian production of a new submarine class to be built in Australia by the early 2040s.
Reporting by Sam McKeith; Editing by Stephen Coates
THOUSANDS RALLY IN AUSTRALIA AGAINST POTENTIAL SUBMARINE BASE
https://www.farsnews.ir/.../Thsands-Rally-in-Asralia...
📷
TEHRAN (FNA)- Thousands of people rallied on Saturday against a future nuclear-powered submarine base at Port Kembla in Eastern Australia as part of the A$368 billion ($244.1 billion) AUKUS defence pact with the United States and Britain.
The second-largest coal export port in New South Wales state is the Defence Department’s preferred site for a new East-coast submarine base, according to state broadcaster ABC.
Protesters carrying trade union banners and flags marched down the main street to voice their opposition to a base in the town of around 5,000 people 102 kms (63 miles) South of Sydney.
"I'm getting the sense of the renewable energy that's in this community to keep coming out on the streets," Greens Senator David Shoebridge, a prominent critic of AUKUS, told the crowd.
Estimates of the crowd ranged from 2,000 to 5,000, according to participants.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said last month no decision had been made on a site for a new East coast submarine base.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended the submarine project after two former leaders criticised the deal over its cost, complexity and potential sovereignty issues.
The deal unveiled in March will see Australia purchase US Virginia-class submarines before joint British and Australian production of a new submarine class to be built in Australia by the early 2040s.
‘Not here or anywhere else’: rallies against NSW nuclear-submarine base
More than a thousand protesters are preparing to rally against plans to establish a nuclear-powered submarine base in regional NSW.
https://www.news.com.au/.../3761831be8fb22ad03226c4a3e541276
Video: Port Kembla May Day march rejects AUKUS nuclear submarine base plan
https://www.greenleft.org.au/.../video-port-kembla-may...
Thousands of trade unionists (including many members of the Australian Labor Party) and anti-war activists marched through Port Kembla on May 6 to reject the plan to site the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine base in that town.
The Wollongong May Day march was held in Port Kembla as a symbolic launch of a mass campaign of "feet in the streets" to stop this nuclear military madness, South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris told the marchers.
5/1/24
Greetings my Australian Brothers and Sisters.
We all know that world dominance demands unobstructed access to natural resources, labor and transportation. To this end western
powers force themselves physically and intellectually on the developing world and its peoples. But the west is not a proponent of
self-determination or peace. The western concept of “peace” seems only to mean the absence of open warfare. Bully greed is the
only language that is understood. So, how should we respond when our countries propose closing a viable working port to
accommodate an expansion of the world’s biggest war machine in preparation for an implied war with China? Yes, it is true that
I don’t want it to happen there! But understand that that is not the issue, I don’t want it to happen anywhere! The well being of
untold multitudes is always the price that is paid. This U.S. action must be resisted everywhere and please know that progressive
and committed people here support you and your efforts. PREVAIL!
Together we must stand.
Brian McWilliams
Past President
ILWU
Australia Unions march against nuclear subs, citing health risks over jobs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgL307PMWMY&t=101s
https://www.smh.com.au/.../unions-to-march-against...
BY ANGUS THOMPSON
May 5, 2023 — 3.00pm
Labor’s red-shirted rank and file will join a coalition of unions to protest against a major container port south of Sydney becoming a nuclear-powered zone under the AUKUS deal.
Representatives from the Electrical Trades Union, Maritime Union of Australia, Australian Services Union and Unions NSW are among those who will on Saturday rally against the possibility of Port Kembla, near Wollongong, becoming a nuclear submarine base.
Unionists (from left) Shane Elliott, Elizabeth Scott, Maurie Mulheron, Sharon Callaghan and Pat Bates are protesting about the proposed nuclear submarine base in Port Kembla, NSW.
Unionists (from left) Shane Elliott, Elizabeth Scott, Maurie Mulheron, Sharon Callaghan and Pat Bates are protesting about the proposed nuclear submarine base in Port Kembla, NSW.CREDIT: JANIE BARRETT
NSW Electrical Trades Union secretary Allen Hicks, who represents a workforce that would be expected to work on the future fleet, should it be docked at the commercial port, said his members were resolutely opposed to nuclear propelled submarines in Australia.
“Electricians and engineers have deep and long-standing health and safety concerns about nuclear technology,” said Hicks, who is scheduled to speak at the May Day march.
The Australian Services Union’s NSW secretary, Angus McFarland, said his union was opposed to such a base anywhere on Australia’s coastline.
“The presence of nuclear attack-class submarines in our ports would make us a nuclear target and pose an unacceptable risk to the health and safety of hundreds of thousands of people given potential exposure to hundreds of kilograms of highly enriched uranium,” he said.
South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris is organising Saturday’s May Day march.
South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris is organising Saturday’s May Day march.CREDIT: BROOK MITCHELL
South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris said opposition to the nuclear submarines was widespread among the labour movement.
“What we’ve tried to do is to paint a picture of how deep and serious the concern is over the AUKUS submarine base proposal,” Rorris said.
“We expect a big turnout from the broader labour movement including hundreds of rank and file Labor Party members. We do acknowledge there will be ALP members there and everyone’s welcome,” he said.
RELATED ARTICLE
A four-day week would help workers win back some control, Michele O’Neil said at the National Press Club on Tuesday.
AUKUS
‘DISAPPOINTING, DISHEARTENING’: ACTU AT ODDS WITH GOVERNMENT OVER NUCLEAR SUBS
Former Albanese government press secretary Marcus Strom, now a spokesman for Labor Against War, said he was worried about the direction the government had adopted with AUKUS. “Australians do not want to be dragged into another US-led war,” he said.
Opposition to the new submarines extends to the top of the union movement, and ACTU president Michele O’Neil voiced the peak body’s decades-long stance at the National Press Club in March, although the Australian Workers Union supports the AUKUS deal.
The government has said nuclear-powered submarines are the best option to improve Australia’s naval capabilities and maintain regional stability. It said last month a decision had not yet been made about the location of a base.
A spokesperson for Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said on Friday: “As the government’s response to the Defence Strategic Reviewstates, the government will develop a process to consider all feasible options for an east coast facility to support Australia’s future submarine capability, with a decision to be made late in this decade.”
Port Kembla has also been floated as a future hydrogen hub, and Rorris said renewable energy “dwarfs any benefit that we might get from a nuclear parking lot”.
Rorris added that Saturday’s march would also focus on the Yes campaign to enshrine an Indigenous Voice to parliament in the Constitution.
On Friday, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced the introduction of a national energy transition authority helmed by unions, employers and the government to help fossil fuel workers train for jobs in the renewables sector.
Thousands rally in Australia against potential US nuke submarine base
https://www.reuters.com/.../thousands-rally-australia.../
May 5, 202310:48 PM PDTLast Updated 17 hours ago
Reuters
SYDNEY, May 6 (Reuters) - Thousands of people rallied on Saturday against a future nuclear-powered submarine base at Port Kembla in eastern Australia as part of the A$368 billion ($244.1 billion) AUKUS defence pact with the United States and Britain.
The second-largest coal export port in New South Wales state is the Defence Department’s preferred site for a new east-coast submarine base, according to state broadcaster ABC.
Protesters carrying trade union banners and flags marched down the main street to voice their opposition to a base in the town of around 5,000 people 102 kms (63 miles) south of Sydney.
"I'm getting the sense of the renewable energy that's in this community to keep coming out on the streets," Greens Senator David Shoebridge, a prominent critic of AUKUS, told the crowd.
Estimates of the crowd ranged from 2,000 to 5,000, according to participants.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said last month no decision had been made on a site for a new east coast submarine base.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended the submarine project after two former leaders criticised the deal over its cost, complexity and potential sovereignty issues.
The deal unveiled in March will see Australia purchase U.S. Virginia-class submarines before joint British and Australian production of a new submarine class to be built in Australia by the early 2040s.
Reporting by Sam McKeith; Editing by Stephen Coates
THOUSANDS RALLY IN AUSTRALIA AGAINST POTENTIAL SUBMARINE BASE
https://www.farsnews.ir/.../Thsands-Rally-in-Asralia...
📷
TEHRAN (FNA)- Thousands of people rallied on Saturday against a future nuclear-powered submarine base at Port Kembla in Eastern Australia as part of the A$368 billion ($244.1 billion) AUKUS defence pact with the United States and Britain.
The second-largest coal export port in New South Wales state is the Defence Department’s preferred site for a new East-coast submarine base, according to state broadcaster ABC.
Protesters carrying trade union banners and flags marched down the main street to voice their opposition to a base in the town of around 5,000 people 102 kms (63 miles) South of Sydney.
"I'm getting the sense of the renewable energy that's in this community to keep coming out on the streets," Greens Senator David Shoebridge, a prominent critic of AUKUS, told the crowd.
Estimates of the crowd ranged from 2,000 to 5,000, according to participants.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said last month no decision had been made on a site for a new East coast submarine base.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended the submarine project after two former leaders criticised the deal over its cost, complexity and potential sovereignty issues.
The deal unveiled in March will see Australia purchase US Virginia-class submarines before joint British and Australian production of a new submarine class to be built in Australia by the early 2040s.
‘Not here or anywhere else’: rallies against NSW nuclear-submarine base
More than a thousand protesters are preparing to rally against plans to establish a nuclear-powered submarine base in regional NSW.
https://www.news.com.au/.../3761831be8fb22ad03226c4a3e541276
Video: Port Kembla May Day march rejects AUKUS nuclear submarine base plan
https://www.greenleft.org.au/.../video-port-kembla-may...
Thousands of trade unionists (including many members of the Australian Labor Party) and anti-war activists marched through Port Kembla on May 6 to reject the plan to site the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine base in that town.
The Wollongong May Day march was held in Port Kembla as a symbolic launch of a mass campaign of "feet in the streets" to stop this nuclear military madness, South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris told the marchers.
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