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AUKUS inquiry in Sydney
Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told the AUKUS Public Inquiry at NSW Parliament House in Sydney, Australia on Aug. 10, 2026 that Australia will become more vulnerable and less safe unless it changes its policy course.
“"We have virtually no agency -- no independent agency at all,"”
Turnbull said the partnership had made Australia even more dependent on the United States and that whether Australia would eventually receive planned nuclear-powered submarines depended on decisions taken and industrial developments in the United States and the United Kingdom.
He warned, "We have virtually no agency -- no independent agency at all," and said the pact involves "a massive sacrifice of Australian sovereignty."
The inquiry schedule says four more hearings will be held in three different cities across Australia before a report is produced by October, with the review examining whether AUKUS will jeopardize Australian sovereignty and whether it will make Australians safer.
Turnbull: no submarines
At the same public inquiry, Turnbull argued Australia is unlikely to ever see the three second-hand Virginia-class boats it has been promised under the AUKUS deal.
He said a future US president must certify that the sale of the boats "will not degrade the United States undersea capabilities" and told the inquiry, "In what political fantasy land is a president going to do that if they’re already short?"
The West Asian report also said Australia has already handed over about US$2 billion to help expand US submarine production, while Turnbull said the United States had been forecasting production rates would increase "for years" but that the outlook was now "looking like a vertical take-off."
The Guardian reported that Catherine King, the federal transport minister, called in Airservices Australia chief executive officer Rob Sharp in Canberra after Sydney airport chaos, with two staff stood down while they completed standard post-incident drug and alcohol testing.
Public concerns and stakes
China Daily said the AUKUS inquiry is examining sovereignty, safety and other concerns over the trilateral security pact with the United Kingdom and the United States, including Australia's acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines.
“"give everyday Australians the opportunity to ask questions and be heard"”
At the Sydney hearing, Peter Garrett, the inquiry's lead commissioner, told China Daily it wanted to "give everyday Australians the opportunity to ask questions and be heard" on the "largest-ever defence decision, AUKUS, that any Australian government has made".
China Daily also said the inquiry is looking at an estimated A$368 billion ($260 billion) price tag and whether AUKUS is "locking Australia further into the US war machine at the expense of our independence as a middle power."
The Guardian’s afternoon update added that the political fallout from Sydney airport chaos began on Monday when Catherine King called in Rob Sharp, while the same update said Turnbull told the public inquiry that the Aukus deal with the US and UK will probably result in no submarines at all for Australia.