Marles insists AUKUS milestone won't force Australia to accept foreign nuclear waste (2024)

The defence minister insists Thursday's milestone agreement on AUKUS does not oblige Australia to take nuclear waste from the United States or the United Kingdom.

Australia and the US made significant progress on Thursday towards acquiring nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS agreement, in a deal that included undisclosed "political commitments" to Australia's partner nations, the US and the UK.

Critics of the nuclear submarine plan claimed that the deal would eventually oblige Australia to take high-level radioactive waste from the US and UK.

Defence Minister Richard Marles insisted on Friday morning that was not the case.

"Nuclear waste won't end up in Australia, other than the waste that is generated by Australia," Mr Marles said.

"That is the agreement that we reached with the UK and the US back in March of last year, and so all this is doing is providing for the legal underpinning of that."

Mr Marles said there would be "no circ*mstance" where Australia takes waste from any other country.

Instead, Thursday's agreement would allow for the transfer of nuclear naval technology to Australia, including restricted data never shared outside the US and UK.

The agreement also progresses plans to transfer second-hand US Virginia-class submarines to Australia, while its own submarines are being built.

Nothing unusual in undisclosed 'additional political commitments' on AUKUS, says PM

The government however has been pressured to further explain the details of the deal formalised on Thursday.

US President Joe Biden's letter to Congress on the agreement said it provided "additional related political commitments", but did not detail what those were.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton challenged the government to explain the political commitments made to the US.

"It's certainly an unusual statement, and I think the prime minister should provide an explanation as to what Australia has signed up to," Mr Dutton said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there was nothing out of the ordinary in the agreements the federal government had made.

"We have agreed to have nuclear-powered submarines, that is what we have agreed to, and the transfer of technology that is related to that," Mr Albanese said.

"There aren't extra political commitments, I'm not sure what you mean.

"There will be no nuclear [waste] transfer from either the US or UK."

The Greens say legislation already before parliament would allow the UK and US to dump high-level nuclear waste in Australia from their nuclear submarines, an issue the Labor-led inquiry into the proposed laws recommended amending to prevent.

Mr Marles also defended himself after Labor luminary and vocal critic of the AUKUS deal Paul Keating repeated his criticisms of the program and the minister.

Mr Keating claimed that the Albanese government had sold out Labor values by adopting AUKUS from the former Morrison government, and said Mr Marles's comments while in the US would make "any Labor person cringe".

Mr Marles said that criticism was "not fair", but said Mr Keating had a right to express his view.

In Taiwan, reaction from some corners was scathing.

Former US ambassador to Palau US John Hennessy-Niland, who was the first US ambassador to visit Taiwan since 1979, said Mr Keating was living in the past "and never changes".

"Keating reveals his true colours when he talks about 'party values' should be paramount but what about Australia's national interests?” Mr Hennessey-Niland told the ABC.

Wen-Ti Sung, from the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub, said partnerships like AUKUS were essential to preventing future conflict.

"Forward defence planning in concert with like-minded democratic partners is how countries have managed to deter and prevent major wars," he said.

"Long-term partnership building with at least one superpower has been the cornerstone of Australian foreign policy ever since World War II, namely ANZUS. There is no clear reason why Australia should be abandoning its almost century-long partner.

"Facing an increasingly strategically uncertain world, Australia needs to develop more partners, not less."

Director of international affairs for Taiwan's opposition Kuomingtang Party, Alexander Huang, said the island's first priority was preventing conflict through both deterrence and dialogue.

Mr Huang declined to comment on Mr Keating's "disagreement with Prime Minister Albanese and his cabinet".