The potential location of a nuclear submarine base remains shrouded in secrecy as FOI requests are invariably denied, except when they are not. What’s the scam?
The scam is that on the one hand, Defence claims national security concerns, but when Chinese interests are buying up property next to Port Kembla, a possible submarine base location, they say they don’t even know about it.
Every time MWM seeks access to AUKUS documents under Freedom of Information laws, the response comes back from the Defence bureaucrats, “you can’t have the documents”.
To be clear, we don’t ask for documents revealing the maximum depth capabilities of a Virginia-class submarine, or Tomahawk missile launch codes, or the engineering specs for the nuclear reactors or the tactics used to covertly insert special forces. We ask for documents about where a high-level radioactive waste facility will be built or where in NSW a nuclear submarine base might be established.
We seek information about how the AUKUS program will interact with communities.
The last time we asked for documents related to the possible location of a nuclear submarine base at Port Kembla, they came back suggesting it’s all too sensitive.
Response to a Request for information on basing subs at Pt Kembla.
Imagine our surprise, then, that Defence knew nothing about the purchase of commercial property right next to the potential base by the family of a Shanghai businessman with connections to the Chinese Communist Party!
Response to a Request for information on property purchase.
Something doesn’t add up. Could all this be a secrecy scam (and FOI abuse) designed to protect politically sensitive information?
Election brinkmanship. Defence Dept mute on East Coast AUKUS bases
Rex Patrick is a former Senator for South Australia and, earlier, a submariner in the armed forces. Best known as an anti-corruption and transparency crusader, Rex is also known as the "Transparency Warrior."