View
comments
Former prime minister Paul Keating has slammed the new nuclear submarines deal between the US, UK and Australia, arguing the US military can't beat a bunch of Taliban rebels in pick-up trucks.
In a damning assessment of the agreement jointly announced this morning by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Mr Keating said the deal represented a further 'dramatic loss of Australian sovereignty'.
Mr Keating, the famously acid-tongued Labor PM from 1991-1996, released a statement that questioned the wisdom of Australia locking in its military equipment and defence forces with the US to counter the growing power of China.
'If the US military with all its might could not beat a bunch of Taliban rebels with AK-47s rifles in pick-up trucks. what chance would it have in a full-blown war with China, not only the biggest state in the world but the occupant and commander of the biggest land mass in Asia,' Mr Keating wrote.
Paul Keating, who was prime minister of Australia from 1991-1996, released a statement questioning the wisdom of Australia's announcement of a nuclear submarines deal with the US and UK early on Thursday morning
'If the US military with all its might could not beat a bunch of Taliban rebels with AK-47s rifles in pick-up trucks. what chance would it have in a full-blown war with China,' Mr Keating said in the statement
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announces the nuclear submarines agreement with the US and UK this morning
Mr Keating said Australia had experienced difficulty in running 'a bunch of Australian built conventional submarines'. 'Imagine the difficulty in moving to sophisticated nuclear submarines, their maintenance and operational complexity'
Mr Keating said Australia had experienced difficulty in running 'a bunch of Australian built conventional submarines'.
'Imagine the difficulty in moving to sophisticated nuclear submarines, their maintenance and operational complexity,' he noted.
He said Australia would make itself 'hostage' to the US maintaining a supply chain across 'the whole
