AUKUS is a classic case of the “tail wagging the dog.” On the back of lies, a constructed inevitability of future conflict, and political ambition, Fowler shows how the Morrison government might have put the future of Australia’s national security at risk.
Andrew Fowler’s book Nuked: The Submarine Fiasco that Sank Australia’s Sovereignty critically examines the decision by the Australian government—under the leadership of Liberal Prime Minister Scott Morrison—to enter into the most expensive military acquisition agreement in Australia’s history. On 15 September 2021, Australia signed a new trilateral security agreement with the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK), known as AUKUS. The selling point—Australia would acquire nuclear-powered submarines to replace its ageing Collins-class conventionally-powered fleet. The cost? $368 billion—and possibly, the sovereignty of the nation.
Amid a deep web of lies, deception and media spin, Fowler painstakingly unpacks the extensive efforts that Prime Minister Scott Morrison took to deceive the French government as he concocted a highly secretive plan to acquire nuclear submarines. A mission that, Fowler suggests, has not only led to a massive financial commitment but has ultimately “sunk” Australian sovereignty.
Fowler is well placed to offer such a deeply penetrating account into Australia’s decision to enter AUKUS. He is an award-winning investigative journalist having previously worked for the ABC’s Four Corners and Foreign Correspondent programs. Through interviewing many of the main people involved and talking to sources in Paris, London, Washington, and Canberra, Fowler pieces together a devastating account of Australia’s latest military acquisition agreement.
Key themes
Throughout the book, Fowler addresses several key themes from the Liberal Party’s long-term desire for closer ties to Washington, to the incremental loss of Australia’s sovereignty in the alliance, and the secrecy around the chain of events that led to the scuttling of the French submarine deal and negotiations for AUKUS.
Liberal Party and US alliance
Central to the story is the long running narrative within the Liberal Party of Australia’s deep want to become increasingly tied with the US, despite the lack of guaranteed reciprocity.
From the activation of ANZUS after 9/11, to Australia’s unquestioned following of the US into Iraq, to Howard’s “captain’s call” on the F35 Joint Strike fighter, Fowler argues that successive Australian governments—particularly conservative Liberal governments—have often made questionable foreign policy decisions to bolster the relationship with the US.
To this end, he shows how even in the lead up to the signing of the French submarine deal, there was a push among conservative elements of the Liberal party to instead go for the inferior Japanese option because that would enable closer cooperation in US-led naval missions.
One of the other interesting issues pointed out was the degree to which the Labor party felt hamstrung by the agreement. According to Fowler, this was largely due to the Labor Party’s fear of being accused of being weak on matters of national security. So, pushing back on the agreement was a political minefield ahead of the 2022 election.
Loss of sovereignty
Key to the book is an analysis of the impact the AUKUS deal has on Australia’s sovereignty. Fowler begins by unpacking the somewhat lop-sided history of the alliance as military cooperation grew closer—noting that the Australian government has not always been fully aware of the functions of major military installations like Pine Gap, whose operations, up until the 1970s, had been kept from the government. Similarly, he touches on the use of other military infrastructure through different parts of Australia that are used to relay battlefield commands, and possibly in the future—a nuclear strike.
Fowler makes the case that while there are numerous instances in Australia’s history in which sovereignty has been challenged by alliance partners, AUKUS takes this problem to another level. Citing a lack of expertise in nuclear trained operatives, the lack of a domestic nuclear industry, and an acquisition contract in which Australia essentially ceded all negotiating rights, Fowler argues that Australia’s future defence will essentially be at the mercy of the US—a situation that Australia would not have found itself in under the French agreement.
Secrecy and issues in foreign policy decision making
Perhaps one of the most significant issues raised has to do with the level of secrecy and lack of oversight that is evidently possible in the making of Australian foreign policy. Fowler shows how Morrison went about sowing seeds of doubt in the agreement with the French, and used the media to create a sense of urgency by inflating the possibility of conflict with China so that the AUKUS announcement would be received with irreverence. In doing so, it evaded public debate—and even debate within his own government by keeping the prospective deal secret even from Barneby Joyce, then leader of the Nationals—on an issue that would ultimately come to undermine Australia’s sovereign capabilities for decades to come.
Conclusion
Nuked is essential reading for researchers and the broader public alike. Fowler challenges the unquestioning faith in the US alliance held by many on the political right and advances a compelling narrative of Australia’s loss of sovereignty as it edges closer and closer to the US.
The book comes during a critical period in the Australia-US alliance. When written, President Joe Biden was in the White House. While many of the book’s criticisms speak to issues around the decimation of Australian sovereignty resulting from AUKUS, the re-election of President Donald Trump certainly amplifies the need for a critical re-evaluation of AUKUS as the US seems set on departing from its democratic ideals.
Significantly, he raises important questions not just about the viability of AUKUS moving forward, but of the processes of future military acquisition and the significant gaps in checks and balances when it comes to foreign policy decision-making. The broader implications of AUKUS are immense. Given the current political climate and the growing concerns around the viability of AUKUS, the importance of this book has grown.
Overall, Fowler provides the reader—whether an academic or lay person—with a well-written, comprehensively researched account of the events that resulted in the sinking of the French submarine deal through stealth-like manoeuvring to establish AUKUS.
This is a review of Andrew Fowler’s Nuked: The Submarine Fiasco that Sank Australia’s Sovereignty (Melbourne University Press, 2024). ISBN: 9780522880311.
Dr Morgan Rees is a Lecturer of Policy and Politics at the Queensland University of Technology’s School of Justice. His research is primarily in US and Australian foreign policy with current projects looking to examine the future of Australia-US relations in the context of the rise of Trump and an increasingly inward looking US.
This review is published under a Creative Commons License and may be republished with attribution.
