30/05/2026
"This is not an Australian story. Forget Garden Island; think Okinawa."
Arthur Rorris, Labour Council Secretary. Today's illawarramercury
THE CIRCUS IS BACK IN TOWN.
"Back in 2023, the federal Labor Government made a decision that would hang around its neck like an albatross. Instead of abandoning Scott Morrison’s AUKUS folly, Labor doubled down. They locked themselves in, despite mounting doubts over the project's viability, growing uncertainty within the US alliance, and fierce local opposition—particularly in the Illawarra, where Port Kembla was flagged as the likely site for an East Coast nuclear base.
The local pushback was so powerful and widespread that you would expect the Federal Government to tackle the criticism head-on. You would think they would lay their cards on the table and win hearts and minds using facts, logic, and rational argument. Instead, the defence establishment took the coward's way out. They assumed the fetal position, closed the doors, lowered the blinds, and refused to answer the doorbell. Their message was simple: nothing to see here, and no decisions will be made regarding an East Coast base until the 2030s.
If you genuinely wanted to deliver an unprecedented and challenging 10 Billion Dollar project on time and on budget, what would you do? For most people, that is not a trick question. Yet Defence bosses and their Minister had a radical plan: do nothing. By delaying a decision for seven years, they left themselves less than a decade to quarantine land, masterplan a massive precinct, and build the infrastructure required to house permanent and visiting personnel, let alone the nuclear submarines themselves. It is the most ridiculous proposition to come out of the AUKUS train wreck—and that is saying something.
Of course, no one is shocked that politicians want to conceal the gory details of creating a nuclear target in our backyard, crowding out local industries, and risking radiation clouds over the third-largest population centre in NSW. What did come as a surprise, however, was the blunt honesty of the reports presented to the government regarding the Port Kembla option. Strongly opposed for public release by the Minns Government—whose cabinet has possessed these files since 2023—the documents were finally ordered for release by the NSW Parliament, following a persistent push by Greens MLC Abigail Boyd.
Dubbed here as "The AUKUS Files," these reports did not just vindicate AUKUS opponents; they raised the stakes regarding the sheer scale and the impact on our community. By impact, we don’t just mean a few extra cars on the road and longer queues at the footy. We are talking about the "displacement of residents and businesses" to accommodate a nuclear base footprint bigger than King Kong.
The bureaucrats aren’t playing around. They confirmed an AUKUS base would turn our town into a nuclear target, revealing the site would be "more than twice the size of the Western Sydney International Airport project" to accommodate a surface fleet alongside 4,500 visiting naval personnel.
Let’s say that again. A nuclear submarine base, 4,500 visiting sailors, and a naval surface fleet. Where exactly are we going to squeeze them in? Between the nation’s largest car import terminal and the steelworks? Could we make some space beside the floating LNG gas plant and the emerging hydrogen hub? Or how about sneaking the subs into the coal loader and hot-bunking them with coal ships bound for China?
This is not a garage job or a granny-flat extension for a few subs hanging off the No. 6 jetty. The Royal Australian Navy doesn’t have an extra 4,500 sailors and a surface fleet to spare for Port Kembla. This is not an Australian story. Forget Garden Island; think Okinawa. Consider what that would mean for our existing shortages in housing, healthcare, and infrastructure, let alone the risk to our health and security. Though I must concede, it's not all bad news: the risk of radiation poisoning in the Wollongong CBD is significantly reduced if there isn’t a strong southerly blowing.
Three years ago, I wrote in this publication that an East Coast base in Port Kembla was never truly intended for Australian submarines. Instead, it would be ceded to the United States Navy as a staging post for their 7th Fleet. Building submarines for Australia was never at the top of Washington's agenda; establishing a base for their forever wars certainly is. Current events illustrate this point in vivid colour and real-time."
