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Australian Citizens Party
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Email Alert Wednesday, 17 June 2026
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AUKUS Public Inquiry hits the mark
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Aukus Deal: The Australian Citizens Party again urges all concerned Australians to engage with the inquiry through submissions and attend the public hearings listed on the inquiry website.
A Pact Signed in Silence, Paid for by the Public →
AUKUS was unveiled with the usual theatre — flags, speeches, and the promise of a safer future. But beneath the polished surface sits a familiar pattern, one I have lived through for decades: decisions made behind closed doors, scrutiny treated as a nuisance, and the public expected to accept whatever is handed down.
The submarine deal was sold as a strategic necessity. What we were not given was clarity. Costs ballooned. Delivery dates drifted into the fog of “future planning.” Oversight mechanisms weakened. And every time someone asked for details, the answer was the same tired refrain: national security, trust us, nothing to see here.
It is the same culture that allowed Telstra to withhold evidence during the COT arbitrations. The same culture that let bureaucrats decide what the public could and could not know. The same culture that punishes whistleblowers while rewarding those who keep the machinery of silence well‑oiled.
AUKUS is not just a defence agreement. It is a case study in how power behaves when it believes no one is watching. When governments close the doors, they don’t just hide information — they hide accountability. They hide the truth. And they hide the consequences until it is too late for anyone to intervene.
For decades, I have watched how secrecy corrodes trust. I have lived through what happens when institutions decide that transparency is optional and that ordinary citizens are obstacles rather than participants. AUKUS fits neatly into that long, troubling pattern.
A nation cannot claim to defend its future while refusing to face its past. And it cannot claim to protect its people while keeping them in the dark.
This is why absentjustice.com exists: to show, through lived experience, what happens when truth is treated as a threat, and silence becomes policy. AUKUS is only the latest chapter in a story Australia has been avoiding for far too long.
The opening hearing of the AUKUS Public Inquiry held in Melbourne on 11 June landed a powerful blow on the sham $368 billion submarines deal, which is evident in the reactions of the pro-war shills who spruik AUKUS.
The Citizens Party again urges all concerned Australians to engage with the inquiry through submissions and attend the public hearings → listed on the inquiry website.
Public Inquiry Exposes Cracks in the AUKUS Submarine Deal
The opening session of the AUKUS Public Inquiry, held in Melbourne on 11 June, delivered a blow that the architects of the $368‑billion submarine program did not expect. The reaction from the usual pro‑AUKUS commentators — defensive, rattled, and scrambling — says everything about how deeply the inquiry struck.
Australians who care about sovereignty, transparency, and national interest should take this moment seriously. The inquiry is open to public submissions, and its upcoming hearings are listed on the official inquiry website. Engagement matters.
The first witness to take the stand was former foreign minister Gareth Evans, and he did not mince words. He stated plainly that the AUKUS submarine plan was flawed from the beginning — and that the years since its announcement have only strengthened the case that Australia should walk away from it.
Evans raised two central concerns:
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Sovereignty: He warned that AUKUS risks binding Australia to decisions and dependencies that undermine our ability to act independently.
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Feasibility: He cast serious doubt on whether Australia will ever receive the promised submarines, whether the three Virginia‑class boats from the United States, given America’s production bottlenecks, or the future SSN‑AUKUS design, which he said would require “heroic optimism” to believe will ever materialise.
His testimony cut through the political fog. It confirmed what many Australians have suspected: the AUKUS submarine plan is a high‑risk, low‑transparency commitment with no guaranteed outcome.
The inquiry has only just begun, but its first day has already shifted the national conversation. It is now up to the public to ensure that the truth continues to surface.
Australians deserve the truth
about AUKUS
Will AUKUS keep us safe — at what cost?
