The Albanese Government has cranked up funding for AUKUS to $18 billion over five years, largely as a tribute payment to President Trump.
This represents an additional $6 billion compared to last year's budget for nuclear-powered submarines. This AUKUS cost will keep growing year by year, with a total project cost now hitting $375 billion.
This is funding that will not be going towards the things the public needs, like dental and mental health into Medicare, public housing or funding public education.
This budget also sees the Albanese Government paying $1.6 billion to make a nuclear submarine base for the US off the coast of Perth at HMAS Stirling.
Labor has also budgeted to pay $445.4 million as a payment to "sustain" nuclear submarines over the next five years, which are submarines we don't have. This funding will likely instead sustain US nuclear submarines, having Australian taxpayers subsidise Donald Trump's military.
There will also be $28 million to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for "international policy advice and diplomatic support for the nuclear-powered submarine program." Effectively, funding to send diplomats to beg Donald Trump to give us nuclear submarines.
Largely due to AUKUS, the total Defence budget is now almost $59 billion a year and now makes up 6.6% of all Government expenditure.
David Shoebridge, Greens spokesperson on Defence, said: "On the same day that Donald Trump and his mates shared secret war plans with a journalist on Signal, the Albanese government decided to double down on AUKUS, adding an extra $6 billion to the forward estimates.
"Why on earth, in the middle of a cost of living crisis, as the climate crisis gets worse, is the Albanese Government choosing to dump billions more into nuclear submarines we will never get?
"It is all part of this dangerous escalation in the region. Australia is rapidly militarising and becoming an arm of the US military. This isn't keeping anyone safe.
"This budget has the Albanese Government paying $445.4 million over the forward estimates to 'sustain' US nuclear-powered submarines, and another $1.6 billion to build the US a nuclear submarine base off Perth. This only makes us less safe.
"Millions of Australians can see that AUKUS is sinking, but Labor and the Coalition keep pouring Australia's treasure into it in the doomed hope it will make Donald Trump play nice."
