Australia's recently announced deal to buy three nuclear-powered submarines from the United States "must be the worst deal in all history," former Australia Prime Minister Paul Keating said on Wednesday, The Hill reported.
Keating said that the agreement, which could cost Canberra as much as $245 billion, would not serve a useful purpose.
"The only way the Chinese could threaten Australia or attack it is on land," Keating said at a National Press Club event, The Associated Press reported. "That is, they bring an armada of troop ships with a massive army to occupy us. This is not possible for the Chinese to do."
Keating, who led Labor in the early 1990s, added that the deal was the worst international decision taken by his party in more than 100 years, according to The Hill.
"The idea that we need American submarines to protect us," Keating said. "Three are going to protect us from the might of China. Really? I mean, the rubbish of it."
The agreement was formalized earlier this week in San Diego by President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and is part of a partnership between the three countries, called AUKUS, created in September 2021.
Albanese praised the submarine agreement as "the biggest single investment in Australia's defense capability in all of our history."
In addition to selling Canberra at least three Virginia-class submarines, the deal includes the U.S. enhancing training with Australian submariners, starting to carry out submarine patrols in Australian waters, and helping the country in building its own nuclear-powered submarine.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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