Perth Voice Interactive

AUSTRALIA’S prospective nuclear submarines will be up for discussion next month by medical professionals  who’ll put the former Morrison government’s controversial AUKUS deal under the microscope. 

The Medical Association for Prevention of War will be hosting a panel focusing on how the AUKUS deal will impact Western Australians as part of a global trend of “rising militarism”. 

The AUKUS deal wagered between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States will bring locally-owned nuclear submarines to Garden Island by the 2040s, while more frequent visits of foreign-owned subs will start within a decade. 

The MAPW says potential exposure to radiation makes the submarines a threat to Australians’ health, although the risk of naval-based nuclear disasters is considered low. 

Communities should be able to give informed consent about nuclear-powered submarines in their backyards, says MAPW, which is difficult given secrecy protocols around the vessels. 

MAPW Western Australian convenor Peter Underwood says the Fremantle community “is a very positive place” to protest the AUKUS deal.  

“There’s always been a very strong peace movement in Fremantle, and that’s something that we should be proud of,” Dr Underwood said. 

“Many people might think we are peaceniks,” he said of MAPW, “but even many people from the right side of politics have seen just how bad the AUKUS agreement actually is.

“It is going to dominate a huge amount of our budget for a program that we don’t think will work, and which is much less likely to do what we want, which is to produce a peaceful and effective world.” 

Resisting Militarism in the AUKUS Era will be held at Walyalup Koort in Fremantle on April 12 at 5pm. It is free but requires booking. Search ‘MAPW presents Dr Sue Wareham in Perth’ on the TryBooking Website.

by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER