![]() Viability was an open question, too, in light of Britain’s economic woes: “Is Britain going to be financially strong enough to be our partner in a submarine project of this significance?” What would the hundreds, if not thousands, of Australians trained up on nuclear technology do once they finished their military service, given the country has no nuclear industry? Turnbull asked. No words were minced: “Signing the country up to the foreign proclivities of another country-the United States, with the gormless Brits, in their desperate search for relevance, lunging along behind is not a pretty sight.”Īnother former prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull of the Liberal Party, also chimed in with concerns, though he put them slightly more delicately. The decision to purchase nuclear-powered submarines-at a cost of up to 368 billion Australian dollars ($245 billion)-would invariably draw Australia into any potential conflict between the United States and China, he warned. That tripartite deal, details of which were announced with fanfare just two days earlier, was “the worst international decision by an Australian Labor government” since conscription was attempted during World War I, Keating said during an appearance at Australia’s National Press Club. ![]() That was until last week, when Keating publicly condemned the AUKUS defense pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for signing it. But few thought he would ever turn this skill on his own political party, the Australian Labor Party, which finally seized government in 2022 after a decade in the wilderness. Even among Australia’s roll call of opinionated former prime ministers, Paul Keating stands out-not least for his unmatched ability to dress down those who oppose him.
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