Cometh the hour, cometh the Malcolm. And who’d argue? It’s reached that stage in the life cycle of an issue where Turnbull can no longer stay silent.
This week the ABC’s time came when Turnbull lobbed his inconvenient truths at current affairs doyennes Sarah Ferguson and Sally Sara after they questioned the former PM’s judgment on warning of the perils of Donald Trump while the mad king decides on tariff punishments. It is quite a moment when an Australian political leader has to justify airing his views about a Russia-friendly dictator running the US — but that’s what the ABC calls balance.
In times past Turnbull spoke his mind to one-time Liberal opposition leader Brendan Nelson. He could no longer look on in silence at Tony Abbott’s sad act as prime minister. The Australian’s Paul Kelly also received his free character assessment (as a Murdoch stooge on climate) via Turnbull live on the ABC’s Q+A. With one of the planet’s genuinely big brains, Turnbull should not have imprisoned himself in the political process. He should forever be free range, commenting on this and that without fear or favour.
Red alert
This time he vented his disgust with two inter-related political crises in the making: an off-the-leash, bullying Trump and an off-the-rails defence pact, the $360 billion AUKUS deal. Who’d fault him for ringing the alarm? Oh yes, of course, the Murdoch group, which has confected a traitor-to-Australia narrative over a former PM it always hated. What gall from that marauding pack of opportunists.
Anyone who has paid a sliver of attention will know AUKUS has never been on track since that day in 2021 when Joe Biden, in a clear seniors moment, praised that “fella from Down Under” (AKA Scott Morrison) in a joint press conference alongside the Churchill-wannabe Boris Johnson.
Like all things Morrison, the self-styled father of AUKUS, the grand reveal worked on only one level: as a political wedge. Since then, report after report from the (very clued-in) US Congressional Research Service has sounded the alarm on any number of problems, most pressingly the probable shortfall of nuclear submarines for the US navy. In 2023 it suggested the US might maintain control over the subs and leave Australia to “invest” in other weaponry under the AUKUS umbrella. It noted that this was “broadly similar” to a military division of labour that exists between the US and its (then) NATO allies.
Sub division
Anyone who is now surprised by doubts over whether Australia will get its own nuclear submarines can’t have been paying attention. The Greens, to their credit, have been calling out the risks consistently and with forthright candour since the rise of the despot Trump. So what’s Defence Minister Richard Marles’ excuse?
The Turnbull intervention contrasts vividly with Marles’ dogged ploughing of the AUKUS furrow and his cultivation of the US alliance, even as the US swaps sides to crush Ukraine. For those who believe that silence is golden when it comes to dealing with Trump and his administration of crooks, misogynists and lunatics, Marles is your man.
Marles, also Australia’s deputy prime minister, displays a natural affinity with power, especially US power. Give him a dais and a small forest of US and Australian flags and he will happily heap praise on the Americans and the strength of the mighty US-Australian alliance — even as that alliance partner turns dangerous like a rabid dog. Marles fawns over the likes of US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. Hesgeth! In fact he will happily pay Hegseth more due than Hegseth’s mother, who accused him of mistreating women for years.
None of Hegseth’s faults — his past abuses, his record of drunkenness, his lack of experience running a huge bureaucracy — stood in the way of his appointment. Indeed, in line with other Trump appointments, he appears to have been given the job precisely because he is utterly unqualified, save for two essential qualities: he once worked for Fox News and he is 110% loyal to POTUS, his commander-in-chief.
You’re fired
So it was that shortly after Marles’ spoke of the great honour of meeting Hegseth in Washington, the new defence secretary launched a military coup of his own. In a vicious Friday night purge, Hegseth and Trump sacked the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the navy’s top officer, the air force’s vice chief of staff and the judge advocates-general of the three service branches. Some had committed the sin of putting DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) hiring practices in place. The removal of the advocates-general was particularly pernicious: they provide independent advice to the military on the legality of presidential orders.
Hegseth is manifestly unsuited to his role, at least as it has traditionally been understood. Trump has gone out of his way to trash government positions by appointing the unworthy. But being a loyal ally means never pointing that out.
These are the lessons that characters such as Marles have fully internalised. Having returned from Washington, he spoke with the gravitas of an international statesman about his meeting with “secretary Hegseth” and the assurances Hegseth had given about Trump’s support for AUKUS. (Shame that Trump later asked what it was.)
Playmates
How to cope when the inexplicable becomes real? When Ferguson on 7.30 last week put the question of the Trump administration “insulting [and] threatening its allies”, cutting off military aid and crucial intelligence to Ukraine, Marles fell back on the government’s standard line.
“I’m reluctant to get into a commentary about what the president of the United States is saying.”
That’s a high-falutin’ version of the old “no comment” if ever there was one, and quite a dodge when you’re asked to comment on the core question facing Australian defence.
Marles has been a multi-level player in the Australia-US relationship. He is a long-term supporter of the US alliance. He is a habitue of the diplomatic-intel-networking world of policy think tanks, such as the prestigious Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). In a pleasing closing of the circle, Melbourne billionaire Anthony Pratt, a friend of Marles, is a generous donor to the CSIS.
As defence minister it falls to Marles to provide the solution to the crisis articulated by Turnbull. Under recent questioning, again from Ferguson, Marles took refuge in defence jargon. He has his “optimal pathway” to make AUKUS work as set out in March 2023. Under it, Australia promised to make multibillion-dollar payments “to provide for the American industrial base” to “create the availability of American Virginia [submarines] to come to Australia”:
“That’s what is in Australia’s interests.”
The Morrison vision is taking its natural course. From the razzmatazz political announcements from behind gilded lecterns, it now turns into the financial extortion of Australia that it was always going to be, with a vanishing likelihood of submarines surfacing any time soon.
Can’t we stop that cheque?
We can live without American bases, we can live without AUKUS, we can even live without long range missiles, our sovereignty and possibly our very survival depend on it.
Who gains from all this, who tells Marles what to say, who actually runs the Pentagon? No one knows but just about everyone suspects that it is the obscenely rich whose dividends bulge every time another defence deal gets done or worse, every time another war gets started somewhere.
Our security does not lie with the American strategic dream for the Pacific and Indian oceans. In the worst case scenario two nuclear missiles could take out half of our total population. We should do everything we possibly can to remain neutral, everything we possibly can to avoid being nuclear targeted.
PS, if you think we can afford to be nuclear targeted please feel free to visit ‘The Peace Park’ in Hiroshima.
Pine Gap is a top-tier, first-trike target. Alice Springs will be one of the first places to disappear from the planet in any nuclear conflagration.
I can remember when Mal was PM. He seemed to spend most of his time trying to keep his disorderly ducks in order and I found him generally lacking in the statesmanship stakes.
Good on him for finding his voice now, but I would have preferred more of it when he had a hand on the levers.
AUKUS is dead. Surely we can bury it and save our hard earned dollars.
No one is going to withdraw billions from the American government now that money is gone, the contract never guarantied submarines and without America they are useless, it was a donation for special treatment that was ridiculous, all we can hope is once just once the people responsible will get what they deserve, whats the penalty for throwing away billions in tax payers money, not much normally still we can hope.
The 2 major parties are the only people in Australia who believe in AUKUS. Don’t vote for either of them at the upcoming election!
Two party politics has stuffed Australia, Greens or independents
Yep…
That’s what we’re hoping for: minority Labor government, and a large enough complement of Greens and Teals to wake up Albo. What a disappointment. And as for that s**t-eating grin he displayed while holding up a packet of Tassel salmon recently, words fail. I was genuinely embarrassed.
Yes, vote Green or independents. During a round table meeting to discuss an independent for Moncrieff, Angie Bell, the NLP member apparently overheard a comment regarding China’s absence from war. She pushed through a gap and denounced us all as ‘communists’ then railed against our interest in independent candidates in other Gold Coast electorates saying that ‘her ‘best friends’ could lose their jobs, that is their electoral seats.
Say no more!
You’re right on!
Correct, We are going to be ‘milked’ based on a mindset that we are a target – whats the evidence for that?
Richard Marles is only interested in the glory of being DP and MOD – full of self interest which has a lot to say about being a servant of the people?
Con job and three cheers to Malcolm for calling this bullshit out.
The problem with this article is that the real problem with AUKUS is the looney who first agreed !
under westminster rules the government has to accept what has been agreed to no matter how stupid and fawning it was
But they have a very good reason to break contract now, given the chaos in the US government and its unfriendly tariffs.
Nothing to stop the deal being dumped assuming the French deal sets the precedent. Then again, we could always ask the USA if we could be the next state of the Union. That way the US Navy would be ours too. Happiness!
On 29th Jan this year Australia made a first payment of A$500 million to the US as part of the AUKUS deal. There’s no relying on a US under Trump and no further payments should be made without something to show for them. AUKUS was a very dubious agreement from the beginning and as Jane said, what’s to stop us dumping it just like we dumped the French agreement….Oh, of course, we’ll have extra tariffs placed on our exports to the US!
So how does that idea fit with Morrison’s stupid repudiation of the French subs deal? Governments clearly are not bound by their predecessors agreements and can change them, if they are prepared to wear the potential odium.
Oh well, post Marles’ outcomes in Geelong post election, he can resign and go to work for Trump and Hesgeth he’d fit right in.
Marles is at the very front of the conga line of sycophants to the US. What an embarrassment he is to Australia.
absolutely spot on John
Nailed it! A weaker man never stood upon a lecturn. Sycophantic dribble
Insist on a discount to the submarines equal to the cost of the tariffs.
OR, I think the Chinese make some nice submarines… The French also do, but we are not so welcome there, or maybe we are now that ‘murica has turned against us.
Not true, Bob. The Minions of Murdoch also wave the flag for AUKUS and force feed their “patriotism” to the rest of us.
AUKUS was NEVER a good idea. Another brain-fart from Scotty from Marketing, it was devoid of common sense, and showed no potential at all other than to cost the Australian taxpayer far too much. Albo should have pulled the pin on it as soon as he took office – sadly, he didn’t. Subsequent events have confirmed that we should be out of it. Hopefully, we’ll get a result at the next election which will force the issue. Can’t see that happening if Dutton and his no-hopers get back into power, though …
Hear-hear, Bob
In order to defuse the wedge that Morrison had planned, Albanese supported the AUKUS deal before the last election. I expected that he would, after winning the election, quietly let it lapse. But no! I was aghast when he confirmed that support and appointed the mealy-mouthed Marles in charge of the future negotiations it entailed. I remain hopeful that a minority government after the next election will instil some sanity into the equation before it is too late.
I can’t believe that Marles is so easily manipulated. He’s been useless as Defence Minister because of this.
AUKUS is a disaster. Labor should never have agreed from the outset. If I was capable of recognising this when Morrison told the nation about AUKUS, then surely the then Opposition should have had the guts to deny the approval. But then Albanese is such a pathetic wimp, he was too utterly gutless to disagree. As PM, he should have said no to it. This is a massive amount of money better spent on French nuclear subs and the rest for other defence spending.
I have a lot of time for Turnbull. He deserved better in his time as PM.
A retired admiral recently outlined the path for Austrlua’s defence in regard to a submarine capability. GO BACK TO THE FRENCH, get 12 subs for under the price of AUKUS and get them on time. They are smaller, demand less crew, can take 20 or so marines and can stay under until the food runs out. It would be just reward to Macron to compensate for Morrison’s disgusting behaviour when he scuttled the original French deal instead of reappraising his requirements with the French on their viable nuclear option.
It sounds appealing, go back to the French but the question really is, do we need subs at all? I think the answer to that is no. The Australian navy is supporting non-government developers of undersea drones which make much more sense for us being essentially the defensive materiel we need. As someone wrote elsewhere recently, Australia has a problem crewing one submarine(?) because Australia’s young men, and presumably women, don’t fancy being confined to a tin can underwater for long periods, and forget ‘the Hunt for Red October’, the Netflix series ‘Das Boot’ there is the story of the Argentinian sub which went missing with all hands. I would like to hear former Senator, former Submariner Rex Patrick’s thought on this
Marles is either stupid or duplicitous. He’s a Geelong Grammar boy so no surprise that he loves the golf courses available to him in the US, and all that attention with Marines saluting left and right. And he gets VIP flights on RAAF planes out of Avalon,just down the road, saving him that precious hour or so driving to Tullamarine.
As for Morrison, can anyone name one, just one, policy that has been to Australia’s benefit?
Lets hope enough Teals will tip up the parlmentary process.Its all awful
Not letting politicians hold hoses?
In many ways Paul Keating was rignt on…….Bring back the old boys NOT Howard or Morrison.
I think Marles plays it both ways- not that smart and in the wrong portfolio- I support the centre left but Marles is a weak link in Labors armour…
Marles is my MP and is about as useful as pockets in a Jacky Howe (singlet) unless the Geelong Football Club want a few more federal $ for Pork Barrel Park.
I think I read that the Chinese frigate who recently circumnavigated Australia had more firepower than any of Australia’s decrepit naval ships and could have sunk the lot of them. Our replacement ships are still in the design stages until 2026, well done Richard! And as for this forelock tugging towards the Yanks, it makes me feel sick. Give up on the subs, re-tender and look favourably at the Japanese or India. Australia needs allies in its geographic part of the world, not an America run by an Orange buffoon & I don’t mean an orangutan who surely take umbrage at the comparison.
Surely it’s time to ditch AUKUS before wasting any more money – and, more importantly, time – on it. Start urgent discussions with the French and Japanese about alternatives for our submarines.
AUKUS is a farce whereby Australia gives money to the US with the slimest of chances of subs in return.
Such a dud deal.
Get out now while we are only half a billion behind and talk to the French again via Turnbull.
(Not forgetting the $835M break fee to the French.)
The AUKUS deal is far too expensive for Australia and according to some defence experts, of dubious benefit by the time we start to take possession of the subs, if the USA doesn’t pull out of the deal before us, that is. The money could be better spent of defence assets that would be more suitable to our defence, such as drones and a beefed up missile defence programme. In both of these cases, there is no reason why Australia shouldn’t be building drones and missiles. We have the technological know how, we want to expand our manufacturing base and we might feel a tad more secure not having to completely rely on the USA for the supply of our major weaponry .
So many good points here.
The AUKUS deal is a total dud, and probably so is the idea of subs at all.
It appears that what we’re going to need is to be agile and everywhere.
Aukus = the biggest con job that that useless w@nker Scumo ever got us into. Paying the septic tanks 800 mil recently is dead money. We won’t get a piece of rusted metal back for it. You watch.
AI can find any submarine so advancing technolgy makes AUKUS a useless investement
An article from Peter Briggs, a retired Royal Australian Navy rear admiral
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/11/aukus-ssn-submarine-program-plan-b-australia-uk-us-trump-alliance
is well worth reading.
Had Labor the courage, prior to the last election, it would have scuttled AUKUS, anything initiated by Morrison should have had alarms bells ringing! But no, Labor decided to play it safe (and it has continued in that way ever since, which may-well be its downfall this election). Brigg’s article is exactly what speaking truth to power is about. Marles hasn’t a clue, Albanese is a rabbit in the headlight, and Dutton’s mouth works in the same way as Trump’s: idiotic statements, lies and total BS.
Jeff, I was contemplating contributing to the readers’ comments but your perspective mirrors my own position perfectly.
Marles lacks the requisite spine, insight and intellect essential for his increasingly demanding and crucial position. Ever perceptive Hugh White, during a quite recent radio interview, appeared to suggest something similar.
Having said that, the other mob’s Defence Minister alternatives – Andrew Hastie, or perhaps even ‘young fogey’ James Paterson – both appear cut from a similar cloth.
Yes, the eminently coherent and cogent Briggs (Guardian) AUKUS analysis should be saved for future reference and possible deployment by anyone wishing to refute the patently disadvantageous – especially to Oz -AUKUS scam.
it is now up tp Albo to come up with an answer to the idiotic policies of the orange nut case., before we vote
Don’t hold your breath on that one!
And where is Scott Morrison now? Worked his way into a lucrative lobbyist / strategic consultancy gig with American Global Strategies .
“AGS advises and advocates for our clients by assessing global geopolitical opportunities and risks, developing smart strategies that assist clients as they navigate U.S. government processes, policies, and regulations, providing guidance on international business transactions and assisting on crisis management situations domestically. Our firm provides a fresh and thoughtful perspective on our client’s most pressing issues.”
No doubt a nice little earner to get a quid after blowing $368 billion of ours – a gold pension for him would have been cheaper. .
Morrison never understod SHAME…………or much lese except his own interests.
The ALP/LNP duopoly is the cause of every political problem that currently ails us: Climate Crisis, Housing Crisis, Energy Crisis, Foreign Policy Crisis…. The Definition of Insanity: Voting for the same Pollies every time and expecting a different outcome
#VoteGreen to get out of AUKUS. #Auspol
🎯🎯
To which I could add Gambling crisis, Environmental crisis, ICAC Corruption crisis, Electoral reform inertia, Tax reform failure, growing inequality, the disgrace of the First Nations dispossession. The list just goes on and on. They are just a club, scratching each other’s backs. Lusting for power for power’s sake, not to actually do anything useful with it.
My husbands thoughts exactly, John!
It should be acknowledged that Paul Keating forcefully made known his concerns about AUKUS at the time.
Thanks for this excellent summary of the appalling situation Australia finds itself in where we are at the mercy of the erratic whims of spoilt child.
Could the many retired US military now employed by Oz defence as consultants have anything to do with Australia’s slavish adhesion to the USA however misguided it is? How many wars started by the USA have Australians died in? What did we gain? Is the USA really a friend? Don’t expect answers!
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had a courageous PM & Cabinet who’d be honest with the Australian people and call things as they are: the US is no longer our friend and ally, if it ever was, and we no longer share values with this emerging fascist kleptocracy. We will never see the submarines because the US can’t meet its own needs, let alone ours, and Trump’s behavior to date suggests he would never release them anyway. Yes, we’ll take a hit by dumping AUKUS, but it’s better for our security to get it sorted out now. But no, they cower in the corner and continue mouthing platitudes, putting the country’s security at risk just so they won’t be seen to have backed the wrong horse. They don’t even consider that the electorate might reward them for strong and principled leadership. I know I’m dreaming ……
Don’t forget Pine Gap and the takeover of our Northern Territory by Marines-on-rotation. We have lost our sovereignty.
I overlooked American defence items purchased by us (eg fighter planes and no doubt submarines, in the unlikely event that they ever turn up) which we learn recently can be instantly disabled by Washington choosing not to authenticate various software tokens.
SED
Well said.
It’s time Australia woke up to the fact that that as an ally, the US is our enemy.
We need to cut our losses, dump AUKUS and buy subs off Sweden or anyone else and place a tariff on Pine Gap.
To be fair to Marles, we cant expect him to be critical of AUKUS in public. It will depend on what Govt does rather than says. Yes I think we should take a leaf out of the Trump playbook and start being a bit more transactional – no more money for AUKUS, no fancy US defence toys until we get a bit more respect. Perhaps “pausing” intelligence cooperation – ie Pine Gap. Interesting that Zelensky appears to have a win – intelligence cooperation and aid is to be restarted after the spat they had and the US is asking Russia at accept a ceasefire. Trump really is chaotic – destroying America at a rapid rate
Bravo Malcolm. I can’t wait for you and Paul to team up and argue AUKUS; sad reality is that it has a long way to go before sensible minds will prevail.
On another note, I’m appalled with Kim Beasley in his role as Chair of the War memorial happily accepting coin from arms manufacturers and feeling no need to repent.
Beazley’s tie was at least grey but its length may well have been exceeded Trumps. I think he sounded as if he’d lost the plot. What an incestuous old boys club the Australian War Memorial demonstrated itself to be but no, we certainly can’t afford to put any money into fixing veterans problems. Shocking waste of half a billion dollars. Thanks ScoMo and Brendan.
AUKUS was a wedge, and to trash Turnbull’s deal with the French it is since seen as a BiPartisan Superannuation deal with enough slush fund for all the Ex Pollies to get on board.
Maybe a Labor minority gov. after the election will have the courage to get out of AUKUS (or be forced to). To do so now guarantees the Coalition running a “Labor can’t be trusted with the security of the nation” line, and Labor don’t have anyone capable of arguing their case against Dutton and the Murdoch media prior to the election.
Albanese, Marles, Wong et al believe there is no longer a Left in Australia capable of doing them any damage. Wait til they see how many more voters are prepared to abandon Labor over AUKUS, Palestine, climate, dark money funding, integrity etc and general incapacity to face the real world. I would never have thought the Labor Party could become so spineless and parochial. Hopefully, after the next election, Greens and more progressive-minded independents will be in a position to put a bit of stick about in a minority Labor government and we’ll see some honesty, vision and character.
Albanese had a chance to walk away from AUKUS when he won government. He didn’t – for political reasons. I have voted labor on all occasions – if they pursue this America Alliance BS path – I will not again. Australia just doesn’t cut it in America. They simply don’t care.
Half of Labor has always hated this deal. Albo got wedged well and truly by Morrison. Just wish Labor would ditch this steal of Australian taxpayers money. It will cost us more to do so, but no doubtless will cost us less in the long run. Where’s our pride Australia. Maybe Australia will be the 51st State. Oops, if we aren’t already.
Great article David!
Why does Albo so insidiously accumulate baggage like this, tolerate repeated duds like Marles while crushing other ministers like Plibersek? Why does he ignore the wishes, wishes that would get him re-elected, of the majority of the population? Continuing the policy of the worst PM in Australias history!
Surely Toto has told him how spineless he appears to be. Perhaps a nip on the ankle might snap him out of his catatonic state.
As the Scarecrow in “The Wizard of Oz” sang – If I only had a brain. More fortitude is needed.
Canada has stood up to the bully.
Why can’t we?
This country must rue the day they supported the coup against Malcolm Turnbull.
Long may he continue to educate the electorate.
“Russia-friendly dictator running the US”
Aren’t journalists supposed to be informed about the issues they write about?
Only someone who doesn’t know what was discussed in the US. House Armed Services Committee’s meeting on 12 February and didn’t listen to (or didn’t get) what Hegseth’s said in the meeting with NATO Ministers of Defense in Brussels and in the press conference afterwards would think that Trump is Russia-friendly. Or was Clinton and the administration she served in ‘Russia-friendly’ when she hit that Fresh Start button with Lavrov in 2009? No, the US hit a brick wall and was playing for time. This is exactly what’s happening now. Trump is a dangerous buffoon with autocratic fever dreams, but when it comes to foreign policy he’s not that different to the presidents before him. It’s all about protecting American interests and Russia is still an enemy the US wants to destroy.
Now here’s a thought:
Firstly, we have heaps of US-made military kit (Joint Strike Fighters for starters!) which can probably be disabled by the US (no tech updates, spare parts, etc. at minimum and quite possibly some more sinister kill switch built in) and lots of US military here, and our people over there…in short, we’re HIGHLY enmeshed.
Secondly, there is serious expert speculation within the US that Trump really might actually be leading up to invading Greenland and then even Canada. By no means certain that this is the plan, and by no means certain that the US military would actually obey the orders – but it is by no means beyond the realms of possibility…
So, what would we do if we were faced with this in a year or so?
Are you scared yet?
I’m tired of the Murdoch influence. We should be more adult about who we let into our eyes, ears and heads. We’re allowing a very old, very controlling, very conservative, unattractive white man and his gormless offspring dictate our kids futures.
He was in but he’s now so out! Talk to young people. They are looking to their future. As we should all be.
Fuck Murdoch you ruinous old destroyer of dreams.
We can and should be so much better.
Turnbull continues to be the biggest relevance deprivation sufferer in Australia. Despised by the party he once led he has dined out off his phone call to Trump, from the moment he hung up 8 years ago.
It’s always been his judgment & ego .
Keating called him years ago on it. AUKUS was always a shit deal . Recall it was the dead cat Morrison threw across the table as a distraction at the time, as his prime ministership was bleeding out in the floor .
Trump is doing us a favour really. It’s well past time we toned down the fawning to Washington , for which we receive little in return.
Penny Wong has done a power of work in restoring our reputation in the Asia / Pacific & we would do well to keep it going .