Anthony Albanese’s salty response to Paul Keating as Peter Garrett says AUKUS nuclear deal ‘stinks’

Labor infighting over the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal has escalated as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hits back at Paul Keating and Midnight Oil’s Peter Garrett rejects the $368 billion plan.

Following ex-Prime Ministers Keating and Malcolm Turnbull’s criticism of the deal on Thursday, Midnight Oil rocker and ex-Environment Minister Peter Garrett declared the subs deal with the US and UK “stinks”.

“I do not share Keating’s good-natured view of China or his contempt for Labor ministers, but he is right,” he said.

“This deal stinks of huge costs, loss of independence, weakening nuclear weapons security and more.”

Albanese on Tuesday announced the costly deal with the United States and the United Kingdom that will secure eight high-tech submarines for the country over the next 30 years.

On Wednesday, Labor legend Keating described AUKUS as “the worst deal since the First World War” by his political party.

On his return from a work trip to India and the US, Mr Albanian criticized Keating for his criticism of his former party.

“I’m sorry that Mr. Keating has made such a strong personal statement against people,” Albanese told 3AW’s Neil Mitchell.

“I don’t think that does anything but belittle him, to be honest. But that’s a decision he made.’

Mr Albanese argued that Australia’s relationship with China is markedly different from three decades ago.

“The world has changed,” he said.

China has changed its attitude and position in world affairs since the 1990s, when Paul Keating was active in politics, as a parliamentarian and as a leader.

“My job is to rule Australia in 2023 based on what we see as the facts before us.”

He argued that the deal – first struck by predecessor Scott Morrison – was a momentous occasion for Australia and would improve the country’s national security at a time of heightened global tensions.

Secretary of State Penny Wong also defended her party’s decision. She said ‘Keating has his views, but they belong to a different time in content and tone’.

“We are not facing the region of 30 years ago. We are not facing a region that we hope to have. We are facing the region of today and we must work towards the region we want for the future.’

Former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull appeared on ABC Radio to express doubts about the deal, but apologized for not being able to “express his concerns as colorfully as Paul’s”.

“The reality is this will take a lot more time, cost a lot more money – involve a lot more risk and cost a lot more money than if we had gone ahead with the submarine project we had with France, which Morrison recklessly canceled.” he said.

Mr Turnbull also expressed doubts about the UK’s ability to stick to their end of the deal – which means building a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines should start by the end of this decade.

“The bottom line is that their economy is sick. It has fundamental, sort of existential problems,” he said.

“You have to wonder if Britain will be able to sustain the investment in its navy and its army for years to come, given the huge demand they have elsewhere.”

The UK economy has been hit repeatedly by Brexit, Covid, the war in Ukraine and the instability resulting from constant leadership changes.

Despite his reservations, Mr Turnbull noted that the AUKUS deal is ‘done and done’.

“I don’t think there’s a way back,” he said

Mr Turnbull, who served as Prime Minister from 2015 to 2018 as leader of the Liberal Party, also questioned whether a thorough risk assessment had been carried out.

This is not a criticism, it is an observation of reality. Each new class of naval ship carries enormous risks,” he said.

But he dismissed Mr Keating’s description of the deal as ‘the worst since WWI’, arguing: ‘I wouldn’t believe that. My concerns are more limited.’

Mr Turnbull said there had not been enough discussion beforehand about the pros and cons of the deal.

Morrison deceived the French, deceived the Americans, shocking things. He did it all in secret. He brags about it… He had an obsession with secrecy.

“There has not been a fully transparent public debate on these issues. We have been caught up in this hoopla and anyone who voices concerns is implied that they lack patriotism.

“I think there are big problems.”

Yet the criticism pales in comparison to Mr Keating’s remarks on Wednesday.

During an appearance at the National Press Club on Wednesday, the famous sour-tongued ex-premier took lashes at Anthony Albanese, Richard Marles, Penny Wong, US President Joe Biden, intelligence agencies and pretty much any reporter who dared ask him a question.

‘Because I have brains. Mainly,’ he said. ‘And I can think. And I can read. And I read every day.

“I mean, why would China want to threaten… What would be the point? They get the iron ore, the coal, the wheat.

What would be the point if China wanted to occupy Sydney and Melbourne? Military?’

‘And could they ever do it? Could they ever bring the numbers here? It would take an armada of troopships to do it.

‘So you don’t need a briefing from the bland security services we have in Canberra to tell you that. I mean, I know you’re trying to ask a question, but the question is so stupid it’s hardly worth answering.’

Mr Keating accused the Albanian government of accepting the $360bn deal negotiated by the previous Morrison government in just 24 hours.

“How would you do this in 24 hours?” asked Mr. Keating.

“You can only do it if you don’t have the powers of observation to understand the weight of the decisions you have to make.

“It’s what other people call incompetence. I might call it “trying.”

Mr Keating called it the worst decision by a Labor government since World War I, when Prime Minister Billy Hughes supported conscription, saying the whole deal was based on the false idea that China posed a direct threat to Australia.

“This is a distortion and it’s not true,” Mr. Keating said of this idea. “The Chinese have never suggested that they would threaten us or said so explicitly.”

Mr Keating scoffed at the idea of ​​the submarines protecting Australia from a Chinese invasion.

“The idea that we need U.S. submarines to protect us, if we buy eight, three are at sea,” he said.

“Three are going to protect us from the power of China. Real! I mean, the mess of it. The garbage.’

Mr Keating argued that all the deal did was pull Australia into the strategic orbit of the US to maintain their dominance in the Asia-Pacific region but leave the national interest in ‘deep doo-doo’.

Mr Keating also took aim at Defense Secretary Richard Marles and Foreign Secretary Penny Wong, saying the AUKUS deal was a failure of strategic thinking.

All three countries are confident that they will continue to meet nuclear non-proliferation requirements.

But Beijing Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin attacked the agreement for its “stilted rhetoric to mislead the world” regarding nuclear non-proliferation.

“The US, UK, Australia and the IAEA Secretariat have no right to make a deal among themselves on security issues related to cooperation with AUKUS nuclear submarines,” he said.

“Security issues related to nuclear submarine cooperation must be jointly discussed and decided by the international community.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said Mr Keating’s comments showed divisions within the Labor Party over AUKUS.