$380 Billion and Counting: Who Decides Australia’s Defence?

AUKUS has committed Australia to nuclear-powered submarines currently costed at up to $380 billion — with no guarantee against further blowouts. As drones and satellites prove themselves in modern conflicts, is undersea power still the right bet for Australia's defence?
Join an informed voices for a grounded, no-BS conversation about Australia's defence future — the cost, the technology, and who exactly we're defending against.
Don't sit on the sidelines while the future is being written. Join the conversation.

In September 2021, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced AUKUS — the trilateral security partnership with the US and UK — committing Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines. The Labor government has continued the program in office.

The official cost envelope has grown to as much as $380 billion, with no guarantee it won't blow out further. At the same time, the battlefield success of low-cost drones and satellite systems has raised real doubts about whether submarines remain the right technology for Australia's defence needs.

The world and threats are different 5 years on. What is the status of global relationships and what impact does that have on the relationships established. 

Speakers have 20 minutes each. Questions — 20 minutes. Bring your questions.

Our keynote speakers

Dr Ross Gwyther — keynote speaker
Treasurer of the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN), a national network of community, church, union, peace and environment groups advocating an independent Australian foreign policy built on the peaceful resolution of conflict. Ross holds a PhD in physics from the University of Queensland and had a long career as a geophysicist at UQ and CSIRO, followed by ten years as an organiser with the National Tertiary Education Union. He has been active in the labour, environment and peace movements for more than 50 years, including as a founding committee member of the Anti-Uranium Campaign (1976) and People for Nuclear Disarmament (1983), and has played prominent roles in Just Peace and IPAN.

Andrew Bartlett — keynote speaker
Former Queensland senator and President of the War Powers Reform group, which campaigns for Parliament, rather than the executive alone, to decide when Australia goes to war. Andrew represented Queensland in the Senate for the Australian Democrats from 1997 to 2008, including as party leader from 2002 to 2004, and returned to the Senate in 2017–18 as a Greens senator. He has since worked as a researcher and academic on migration issues and as a community radio broadcaster, and brings long experience of parliamentary scrutiny of defence and security decisions.

The panel will be convened by Linda Taylor.

Register either by clicking the register button, or send an email REGISTER ME to [email protected] with your name and mobile phone number.

Event Fee(s)

Room Hire (at Cost)	$20.00
Pay it forward	$40.00
Free - (Pensioner, Unemployed)	$0.00