Submission to the Public Inquiry into AUKUS
The Sydney Peace Foundation is dedicated to the promotion of peace with justice and to non-violent conflict resolution. We welcome the opportunity to make this submission to the Public Inquiry into AUKUS. We do so with significant concern as to what the AUKUS Agreement means for peace and security in Australia’s region.
The AUKUS Agreement, announced on 15 September 2021 without prior parliamentary debate, public consultation, or Treasury costing, represents one of the most consequential, expensive, and least scrutinised commitments in Australia’s history.
At an estimated cost of at least $368 billion over 30 years (and rising), AUKUS demands urgent, transparent, and independent review. It also requires that Parliament give due weight to the outcomes of this inquiry and to the concerns of a growing number of Australians who question the exorbitant cost of an Agreement that lacks accountability and erodes Australia’s independence, sovereignty and security.
Australia contributed to the drafting of the United Nations Charter which enshrines the global community’s commitment to the peaceful resolution of conflict, expressing its determination:
“to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.”
At this critical juncture in global affairs, Australia must look to reaffirm this Charter and the commitment to collective peacebuilding. We believe that Australia must move beyond the logic of militarisation and war preparation and consider, more broadly, what genuine collective peace and security mean for our region. Australia has long styled itself as a champion of international law and of strong multilateral institutions yet, as set out below, AUKUS does not sit well with this legacy.
Please read the full submission here: https://sydneypeacefoundation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Sydney-Peace-Foundation-Submission_Public-Inquiry-into-AUKUS.pdf