Contributed by Joe Montero

Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton’s promotion of nuclear power flies against popular opinion. most people are very concerned about the problem of nuclear waste disposal. They should be. Nuclear power is not bad by definition. It all depends on whether it can be safely used. We do not have the capacity to guarantee this.

Dutton’s position flies in the face of this. He publicly said he wants to rip up Australia’s commitment to the Paris Accord and stop reducing carbon emissions.

There is even more at stake, and this is the part that there is still little discussion about. In today’s political environment, the shift towards nuclear has a military twist. Australia is presently cemented into a shift towards increasing use of military means by the United Sates and Great Britain in particular. Use of diplomacy to resolve international political differences has already given way to dependency on economic and shooting warfare.

Illustration by David Rowe

The nuclear issue is inseparable from this. Australia’s political relationship with the former colonial power and now the power in control of the largest slice of the Australian economy, bring enormous pressure to comply with their demands. One of them is to shift towards allowing nuclear capacity on Australian soil.

As key cheerleader for this alliance, Peter Dutton is happy to talk up the nuclear option, and to emphasise a demarcation between himself and Anthony Albanese. who is accused of not being enthusiastic enough about our alliance with the two western powers. Dutton wants to signal that he would make a better servant.

The call to turn to nuclear power fits into the perceived need to develop the capacity to service nuclear powered vessels stationed on Australian soil. The rise of a nuclear power industry coms with the need to build capacity to store radioactive waste. The United States has already cited Australia as a dumping ground for its own nuclear waste. And if this were to pass, Britain would likely join in.

Conditioning of the Australian population will open the door to stationing nuclear weapons on Australian soil. This fits into the objective of preparation for turning Australia into a launchpad for war against China.

Photo from Huntington’s Ingalls Industries: United States nuclear submarine USS Washington Virginia Class nuclear attack submarines patrol the Indo Pacific region and could soon be berthed and serviced in Australia

Parallel to the tilt towards the East via the Indo Pacific region, there is the tilt towards the north and east via NATO across the Eurasian landmass. This has inflamed tensions and led to conflict in Ukraine. A big part of this has been moving and building nuclear military capacity. A decision has now been made to provide hundreds of nuclear capable bombers for attacks on Russian territory.

The response of the Russians has been to warn that any threat of a nuclear strike will meet a similar response.

Israel’s holocaust in Gaza and effort to expand war into neighbouring countries is another part of this drive. It could not have happened or continued the involvement of the western powers in providing crucial support.

There has been bipartisan support from the Australian parliament for the United Sates and Great Britain at every turn.

The world is now closer to nuclear war than ever before. And this is relevant to the nuclear issue in Australia. It illustrates the hair trigger period into which we are moving.

All this is coming about because both the United States and Great Britain are in a situation where there global economic and political dominance is on the decline and that of the east in on the rise. An inability to accept change, drives toward an increasingly aggressive posture, and this make the world a lot more dangerous.

It’s foolish and dangerous for Australia to be tied to the desperate hope of old declining empires   to turn back the clock. Australia would do much better by calling for an end to the drive towards war, appeal for peace between nations and the right of all for self-determination, Peter Dutton’s cynical move to push the nuclear option must be thoroughly rejected and stopped. Nor must we allow this to slip in through the back door.

We must learn how to stand on our own two feet as a nation and ensure the capacity to make good decisions, and not merely let others make them for us.