RAUKUS! - The Great AUKUS! RIPOFF!

The new submarines AUKUS was going to supply the Australian Navy were wholly based on the the 7 British Astute class submarines which came into service between 2010 and 2024. "The Astute-class submarines serve as the direct technological blueprint and operational bridge for the trilateral AUKUS submarine program however proposed AUKUS submarines being larger in size with enhanced capabilities and technology. 

The current UK 7-boat Astute-class fleet forms the foundation for the upcoming SSN-AUKUS class, which will entirely replace the current Astute class in the UK Royal Navy by the late 2030s." The UK's seven Astute-class submarines cost a total of £12.2 billion, placing the average cost at around £1.74 billion per boat. 

The three upgraded second hand Virginia Class Nuclear Submarines Australia was to get as part of AUKUS cost between 2.8 to 4.3 billion to make with the latest currently still under construction for the US Navy with the newest updated technology costing the US Navy just 3.5 billion. Virginia class Submarines inclusion in AUKUS brought the entire AUKUS sub acquirement to 8 Submarines.

AUKUS is set to cost Australia 368 billion dollars for just 8 Submarines in total. 46 billion per submarine. For that price clearly the newer SSN-AUKUS class submarines must have far superior capabilities and technologies which also for that price must be going into the refitted Virginia Class Submarines. 

Australia seems to be paying at least 20 times the cost for each submarine in the AUKUS deal with the offered being watered down at each stage to something lesser. Even the newest most up to date brand new US Virginia Class Submarines being built is costing the United States just 3.5 billion.  Australia will pay 13 times that amount for refitted second hand Virginia Class Submarines.

 The AUKUS proposal is now through slight of hand to supply potentially all second hand submarines and forgo the jobs and growth benefits promised to build the five new SSN-AUKUS Class submarines in Adelaide.

 

AUKUS agreed to pay 4.7 billion to renovate an American shipyard to fit out the AUKUS subs however details of exactly what work is going to be done where is sketchy however this investment probably was limited to the three second hand Virginia class subs in the original deal being 'refitted' or in probability having the really good stuff taken out and limiting the Australian offer in comparison to US UK subs full capabilities. 

The latest proposal to save money by acquiring second hand subs does not acknowledge that three of the 8 subs were originally going to be refitted second hand Virginia Class Subs. Does this mean that the deal now proposes that no new subs are to be built? Which AUKUS country has five seconds hand Astute class Submarines that it no longer wants sitting around? 

In fact the entire fleet of the UKs seven Astute class submarines which only came into service between 2010 and 2024 are currently all in dry dock and out of service. 

Deidre Chambers, What a coincidence.   

Does this mean Australia will now inherit a second hand fleet that has so many problems the UK cannot even keep one of them at sea, while the UK uses our money to fund and keep the SSN-AUKUS class subs it originally planned to build and share with Australia? What catastrophic problems does the Astute Class Sub have? What will it cost to overcome these? Politicians and the press have so far failed to ask these questions.

Why are our politicians not explaining the exact details of what has transpired and why they are hailing the cost savings of an entirely second hand fleet of submarines? Why can't they name the second hand subs we are to be given? Surely they know these basic details or they do not want us to know until it is too late to stop yet another great ripoff. It truly is a RAUKUS at Australia's Expense.

What about the thousands of jobs promised as part of the deal when we were set to build our five of these subs in Adelaide? Has that deal gone south now as well? 

What overpriced obsolescence are we buying? Should we deport those who continually put Britain's Interests over Australia's, back to Britain?

Unfortunately Australia is lumbered not only with AUKUS however the architect of the worst deal ever is Scott Morrison and we are stuck with him as well.

And of course we now know Evangelical Christian Scott Morrison was doing God's work as prime minister (and making these decisions) which meant he didn't hold the hose in Australia's darkest hour. 

Instead he prepared for the apocalypse initiating AUKUS and spending a further 450 billion on second hand military equipment from his evangelical counterparts in the USA instead of 177 million for the aerial fire fighting service Australia wanted and needed. I have no doubt Scott Morrison knows what the Yinon plan is and that the excess billions wasted on AUKUS went towards it. 

Is Australia prepared for the setting up of new bases which will house thousands of US and UK military personnel? Are Australians aware of the rise in Sexual Assaults that communities living next to similar facilities around the world have experienced? 

Will AUKUS now seek to gaslight the proposed International Nuclear Waste Dumps to be built in Australia's Remote Communities? Tellus have already formulated plans to turn an old mine into the world's nuclear waste dump before Australia has any need for such a facility. They propose importing nuclear waste from all over the world to be permanently stored here. 

AUKUS will create the need for such a facility and Tellus who have contracts with the 'Joint' US Australia military facility Pine Gap a joint project with our American allies on Australian Soil which the US Military kicked us out of decades ago and have been trespassing on as unwanted tennants ever since. Will the joint AUKUS partnership fair any better? Not likely.

Why are Australians being gaslighted into paying for the cost and infrastructure of American Evangelicals apocalyptic vision of going to war with our greatest trading partner China? 

With B-52 bases in our top end and The real possibility Trumps America First policy written into the AUKUS deal that Australia will only get the submarines if America can produce enough subs for itself first. A task which has an uphill battle as current production is at 1.1-1.2 subs a year not the 2.3 subs a year needed to meet the deal. 

The Guardian reports, 'Arthur Rorris, secretary of the South Coast Labour Council, which opposes the establishment of a nuclear submarine base at Port Kembla, said that the proposed base was never intended for Australian submarines, rather it “would be ceded to the United States Navy as a staging post for their 7th fleet”.'

Seventh Fleet is the largest of the U.S. Navy's forward-deployed fleets. At any given time there are 50-70 ships and submarines, 150 aircraft, and more than 27,000 Sailors and Marines in Seventh Fleet. With at least 21,000 of those soldiers men the once quiet streets of Port Kembla will change to the shore leave capital for the US Navy and all that goes with becoming host to a foreign Navy.

It makes sense to do more business with your biggest customer and instead of the rip off AUKUS Australia could have Chinese Type 093 and 094 (Shang-class) nuclear-powered attack submarine which is estimated to cost between $800 million and $1.5 billion per unit to build and is the most heavily armed submarine in the world. The 8 AUKUS subs are costing on average 45.5 Billion. Per submarine. 

It carries dozens supersonic anti-ship missiles, torpedo's ballistic missiles and has all the latest tech. It is badass and the Chinese are currently building 5 submarienes a year which would speed up delivery as AUKUS production flounders while the USA can't meet domestic orders.

Support Us on Patreon here

Why all Australians should be millionaires - Stolen Sovereignty

 

How is it possible that Australia gives away its mineral wealth to companies for so little that Qatar who produces the same amount of oil and gas makes $26.6 billion or $26,600 Million and Australia makes just 800 million?

Since writing this article due to increased production and oil prices as well as the fact Australia gives away 56% of its oil and gas away for free the loss each year compared to what we should be getting for our resources has grown to 86 billion a year as Punter Politics covers in their video.

How irresponsible is it that Australian tax payers miss out on revenues for what they own and get only a fraction of what their minerals are worth in levees. Oil and Gas 7% Iron Ore 3.5%. Indeed when the Sydney Morning Herald openly reports on Australians great minerals robbery you know if something is up and it is pure robbery.

"An Oxford University expert says Australia would be $90 billion better off if it adopted European-style resource tax policies and argues the Turnbull government has given up on collecting a meaningful amount of revenue from some of its most valuable resources."

"In one of a suite of new submissions to a Senate inquiry, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies academic Juan Carlos Boué warned unless Australia "radically overhauled its fiscal regime" it would have the second lowest share of government revenue from oil and gas in the world."

In stark contrast the Norwegian government who charges over 80% has just managed to obtain enough cash reserves to make every citizen a millionaire (150,000AUD) and they own 2% of the worlds shares and have the best schools in the world. We in Australia should be rich like they are in Norway, this could have been us.

Staggeringly Australian Politicians at state level give gas away for so so little that the Japanese government makes more money on its import tax on our gas than the Australian government does exporting it.

Japanese Schools, Hospitals, Universities healthcare etc gets more benefit from our gas than Australians do.

Not only that Japanese factories and steel mills can buy Australian Gas for 40% cheaper than Australian companies can in Australia. This despite the transport costs. This makes Australian steel noncompetitive because we are in effect subsidizing foreign factories. Our politicians allow this. Some estimates are its 60% cheaper in Japan who then exports Australian gas to third countries at full price and massive profits where the Financial times reports this is to support US hegmony and influence in the region at Austtalias expense.

Car manufacturers and other industries will predictably locate closer to the source of cheap steel and energy putting Australians out of work with every car manufacturer in Australia now closed.

Iconic Australian company Brick Works is considering just that and could move offshore to Japan for the cheaper Australian Gas which is resulting in more Australian job losses. The threat of limiting exports without explicitly stating that other countries get our gas cheaper then Australian companies seems like a misnomer at best and remains just a suggestion printed in the media which Anthony Albanese has so far been very quiet on.

Silence also on matters such as Julian Assange and any criticism on his predecessors hundreds of billions military spending on obsolete tecnology and second hand equipment has crippled the governments ability for large scale growth projects such as the green economy and Australia lagging behind the world in high speed rail whilst China thanks to cheap Australian resources has built its entire highspeed rail network in just 12 years .

The 2020 Defence strategic update (DSU) reaffirmed and adjusted the 10-year funding model to 2029–30 at a total cost of $575 billion.

The Aukus nuclear submarines will cost us up to 368 billion the price of almost 44,000 median priced Australian homes and they will be built in the UK and Australia however it is not clear how much of the building process will occur in Australia with the announcement of the deal made in a US shipyard, i suspect the lion share of jobs won't be Australian and who will be in command of them as the UK subs will have commanders from UK and USA rotating on them and based in Western Australia as detailed in the link above. Its not clear if Australian commanders will ever command our subs. Similarly the UKs Trident Nuclear Weapons system it is currently renewing for almost 200 billion pounds involves leasing the missiles from the Unites States.

Is it any wonder that the entire Australian car manufacturing business has closed down and cars now come from areas like Japan which are closer to cheaper steel and gas thanks to us giving away minerals and gas for so cheap. TOYOTA made cars in Australia from 1963 and has now done exactly that closing their Australian factory and moved back to Japan and the entire 100 year old Australian Industry now closed.

The ailing Australian steel industry has to compete with the fact a South Korean company can mine our iron ore for 3.5% of what it is worth and pay no Australian Business tax at all. (Free Trade is certainly free on our account) It then produces cheaper steel with cheaper Labor and poor environmental controls for cheaper Japanese and Korean cars. Australians lose out.

Notably the media blame a lack of investment for the steel industries demise, not the fact we give away steels raw materials Iron ore and gas to make it far cheaper for foriegn industry than Australian companies can access it. Often Australian Unions are blamed by politicians and the media who receive money from the Oil and Gas lobby and Australian Workers are asked to lower their pay and conditions as a result. Instead of the Government who are meant to represent us by asking that we get our fair share for our minerals that every citizen jointly owns, they remain flaccid on the issue. In August 2024 Iron Ore was trading at a record high of over 100 dollars a tonne but as we only charge 3% mineral tarriffs and the so called Australian company BHP is 95% foriegn owned don't expect much if that money to be spent locally. Gina off shores her wealth.

Meanwhile the bosses lay off hundreds of Australian Workers every year without showing the real reason for Australian Steels demise. They hide this fact because they are playing a double game. At home they claim to be an Australian company interested in the future of Australian Steel and in fact Blue Steel operate numerous steel mills over Asia and India probably supplied by cheap Australian Gas And Iron ore whilst eroding Australian workers job prospects, pay and conditions.

So this is the robbery we all face. Our birth right of golden soils and wealth for toil whilst big business betray and dessert us. Even BHP have used a tax haven to deny your children the schools university and health care we all deserve by avoiding billions in tax. Hundreds of companies who earn over 200 million a year pay zero tax.

So think about this the next time the government talks about cash only welfare cards or immigrants, boat people or Muslims or when they finally announce a re tinker of the snowy mountain scheme for their green credentials. That’s what they want us to be talking about instead of the great robbery going on which has ripped us all off not only from cash wealth but the services and education we all deserve. In Qatar all healthcare is free as is University and they pay nothing for electricity water and gas. They are the wealthiest country on the Planet

Please share this article widely and book a meeting face to face with your state and federal representatives. Call them repeatedly. After all If you were being robbed of your wallet you would do something and call the police. Failing to act now may see us all have to also pay for the cleanup costs for their mess and it is clear that the mining companies have no intention of sharing any of the profit. Or cleaning up the mess as this video shows.

The 56 billion dollar clean up bill left to the tax payer to decommission hundreds of oil platforms left at sea by profitable oil companies has also been lumped on the Australian tax payer. Platforms left by companies like Woodside who are more intent on stealing East Timor's oil and gas than cleaning up their own mess in the Bass Straight. Woodside says it cannot decide whether the stolen East Timor gas should be processed on a platform in the Timor Sea or piped back to Australia for processing however one thing is guaranteed is that neither countries citizens will see very much from this resource and Woodside will not pay for the clean up of the used oil platform in the Bass Straight or in Timor.

BHP when ordered to cleanup it's oil platforms, then merged its oil assets with Woodside and then handed a less than expected amount over for the cleanup. Obsolete platforms are usually sold to a shell company which then folds  to magic the cost of cleanup away from otherwise profitable companies, leaving the taxpayer to foot the Bill.

Meanwhile Gina Reinhart Australia's richest and perhaps most unkept woman gives out meatpies at polling booths promoting her beloved Liberal National party. An insulting offering for someone who takes so much who also has not shared any of her vast wealth with any of us or her half aboriginal sister. or her other step relations. She expects Africans to work for 2 dollars a day and criticises the Australian worker. She is unlikely to share much with any Australians let alone indigenous first people, nor apologise for her fathers vile views on aboriginal people he made as head of the company.

The Australian transition to a greener economy by large scale investment in solar and wind farms which would bring down manufacturing costs and improve Australians living standards, could be funded by tarrifs which is essentially our payment for the resource we all own. If other countries can enjoy proper compensation for their resources it is confusing why our politicians do not do the same for us and create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the process

Australia instead allows companies to undertake large scale under water seisemic testing a process which blows up the ocean floor with explosives damaging the marine environment and is suspected to be involved in ever more frequent mass strandings of whales. Seismic testing has also effected our Lobster industry and destroyed fisheries where sustainable catches of whiting and flathead along with Australian jobs disappeared overnight and every blast killing vital zooplankton for a 1.2km radius. Then if oil and gas is extracted we get just 7% for the resource we all own at the cost of environmental and economic collapse.

None the less do not let common sense get in the way of a good profit see here how Australian Gas Limited (AGL) now plans to profit further from this corrupt market and build a gas import terminal to buy some of that er cheap Japanese gas originally from Australia and sell it back to us at a good price no doubt..... After all this shows the maturity of the Australian Market AGL's Australian director says.

Gough Whitlam Australian Prime Minister was intending to 'Buy Back the farm' and the key reason he was dismissed by the Governor General (who had been writing directly to Queen Elizabeth) is that he was a patriot and intended to seize back control of Australia's mineral wealth for all Australians which at the time were largely in the control of Rio Tinto of which the Queen was the largest private shareholder. Its time we finished what Gough Started and freed ourselves from our colonial overlords.

After all the Royal Family has earnt over 1 billion pounds from just two of its estates in Britain and under Queen Elizabeth's reign increased its income 16 fold so why they are allowed to also profit vastly from Australian resources is a distinct lack of political will and certainly not a Commonwealth.

This year Australia is forcast to sell 450 billion in mineral exports. That equates to 10,509 Australian dollars for every man woman and child in Australia in Just one year if we followed Norway and Qatars lead and charged just 60% tariff for our sovereign property. Currently we Charge between 3,5 % for Iron Ore and are the second lowest charging country in the world for our oil and gas at just 7% equating to just 875 dollars for each citizen averaging 5%. Even if we charged 30% That would be 5254 each.

What the Australian Government really needs to do is start to tap into our mineral wealth properly and build the green infrastructure and industry to sustain our future and build large scale housing for two generations of Australians who have been locked out of the housing market and trapped into the rental market and nationalize the assets sold off cheaply to corporations like power and water. We need to build our health care to the point its free and efficient and education is also free like it is in Qatar and provide Australian Children homes at the same price their parents brought them.

Encouragingly under the new Labor administration Queensland has took the move to charge 20% and 40% on coal valued over 150 and 300 dollars a tonne in July 2022 so better late than never however why the first 150 dollars a tonne is tarrif free is a mystery. This brings the tariff to double what other Australian states are charging however it has not prevented sales which are booming whilst giving Queenaland tax payers a 3 billion dollar windfall so far and a 12 billion windfall in the first year.

Until this change Chinese imports of Australian Coal enjoyed a 10% tarrif on import nos making the transaction more benificial for Chinese taxpayers then what Queenslanders were getting just 7% then 12% when prices were rose higher. Now due to better relations under the Albanese Labour government China has dropped its tarrif on Australian coal and numerous other products like wine, wheat, barley and cheese much to the relief of several Australian industries and normal relations are now resuming with our largest export trade market.

At the turn of the century the Australian Gold industry was 80% Austlerslian owned. It fell as low as 30% and now only half of our country's 26 Billion dollar gold industry is owned by Australians. We allow foreign countries to take our gold for a meagre 2.5% tariff netting taxpayers just 650 million a year. Canada Charges 20% which if we followed suit would net Australia 5.2 Billion That is 5200 million that could go into house building to ensure all Australians have affordable housing like the boomer generation enjoyed.

There have been many times the Australian Labor Party has tried to fix this issue to only be voted out after concerted campaigns by the LNP, the billionaire media, thinks tanks and lobby groups. 

It was shocking QLD recently voted to give back the 12 billion a year Labor had generated by increasing the Coal Royalties however millions were pumped into these nefarious organisations who repeatedly stated crime was rising when in fact it was decreasing under Labor. 

Like every attempt Labor has made to fix this issue it died in a coordinated media storm. Here Friendly Jordies captures that rich cyclic history in his video Who Really Runs this Place - Can Australia Tax its Mineral Resources. 

I do feel we need a fresh approach and tactics and that Labor should continue to force the change we all need. That will require the Australian public to become more aware of how we are being manipulated by oligharchs and to back Labor for a generation whilst recognising so called independents for what they are, and who finances them. I hope jordies expands more on what is to be done and that embraces both the tried and the untested.

Author : Paul Hanes is an occasional Citizen Journalist and Peace Activist.

Support our work on Patreon here

The Australian Government has decided to use the Australian Steel and Car Manufacture industries as a firing range completely destroying it.