Unions, business line up to oppose submarine base in Port Kembla
Wollongong City councillor and Greens candidate for Wollongong Cath Blakey said the people of Wollongong would say no to a submarine base.
Story by Connor Pearce in the Illawarra Mercury, 14 March 2023.
Nuclear subs deal should 'send a shiver through Illawarra', Greens say
The people of the Illawarra were being "treated like mugs" by the lack of open information about a potential nuclear submarine base at Port Kembla, the Greens say.
The Greens said the submarines would force deep cuts to expenditure on essential services, while making the city a nuclear target.
"Wollongong is a city with 100 years of peace activism," Wollongong Greens councillor Cath Blakey said.
"We have stood up to pig-headed prime ministers in the past, and we will do so again to say we want a peaceful city, that we say no to nuclearisation of our Port. I'm dismayed that the Labor government is leaking information about the preferred location of the nuclear submarine base. It shows not only how much they take the Illawarra for granted, but also outright contempt for our community.
"They're refusing to provide any information about how the floating nuclear power plants would be managed, overseen or their reactive waste managed."
Greens Senator David Shoebridge blasted the Government for not being open with the population.
"This leaking of the Defence Department's preferred submarine base treats the people of the Illawarra like mugs," he said. "Locating a nuclear submarine base in Port Kembla makes the Illawarra a potential target for nuclear attack, all with zero public consultation around the risks to the community. With this one decision, Labor is mortgaging our future in order to stoke regional tensions with a dangerous escalation in regional defence spending."
Story by Ben Langford at the Illawarra Mercury, 14 March 2023.
Story by Ben Langford at the South Coast Register, 14 March 2023.
$368+ billion on submarines puts Illawarra at risk of nuclear attack while forcing funding cuts to the regions
Today’s $368+ billion submarine announcement should send a shiver through the Illawarra, with Port Kembla earmarked as the preferred base for the new nuclear-powered submarines.
Read moreAukus deal: US, UK and Australia agree on nuclear submarine project
No decision has been made on a future east coast submarine base, although Port Kembla near Wollongong, 100km (62 miles) south of Sydney, is thought to be a likely location.
A local official there said her community was worried by the possibility of a nuclear submarine base close by.
"It's causing alarm that it could make us a potential military target," Greens party councillor Cath Blakey told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"I think it's a potential sovereign risk to Australia to be hitching ourselves to the US and the UK."