Former Prime Minister Paul Keating has launched a swingeing attack on the Labor government over the AUKUS submarine agreement, accusing Anthony Albanese of relying on “two seriously unwise ministers, Penny Wong and Richard Marles”.
Keating lashed the deal for a tripartite build of nuclear-powered submarines as “the worst international decision by an Australian Labor government since the former Labor leader, Billy Hughes, sought to introduce conscription” in the first world war.
“We have gone from a defend Australia to a forward defence policy,” Keating said, while insisting China posed no threat to Australia.
