Opinion | Australia’s Aukus submarine deal with US, UK harks back to colonial vision of Asia-Pacific

Deal sees region as rightfully dominated by anglophone powers who enjoy a military advantage over others that live there

Australia incapable of imagining region not militarily dominated by US; deal also suggests we are still politically attached to United Kingdom

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Anthony Albanese, Australia’s prime minister, and US President Joe Biden in Sani Diego, California on Monday after announcing a new Aukus submarine deal. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 4:00am, 15 Mar 2023Updated: 5:33am, 15 Mar 2023

Much has been made of Australia’s renewed engagement with Asia and the Pacific since Labor came to power.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s “charm offensive” in the Pacific was seen as the beginning of a new process of listening to the region, not dictating to it. Labor’s Asia-Pacific policy has also been hailed as striking a balance between the United States and China.

In announcing the Aukus submarine deal in the US this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese emphasised it was aimed at allowing nations in the region to “act in their sovereign interests free from coercion” and would “promote security by investing in our relationships across our region”.

The reality of the submarine deal is not, however, in that spirit. Instead, it leads Australia towards half a century of armaments build up and restricts sovereignty within a US-led alliance aimed at containing China.

Worse, it harks back to a colonial vision of the region as rightfully dominated by anglophone powers who enjoy a military advantage over others that live there.

In the process, it has also deliberately endangered the spirit, if not the letter, of nuclear non-proliferation agreements and heightened what our neighbours see as a destabilising and unnecessary naval race that can only further provoke China.