Crowd-funded AUKUS inquiry led by Peter Garrett and Chris Barrie urges Australia to scrap the submarine deal

A crowd-funded public inquiry into AUKUS, chaired by former Labor minister Peter Garrett and former Australian Defence Force chief Admiral Chris Barrie, has urged the federal government to scrap the nuclear submarine program. The inquiry is not a government inquiry. This report draws on the Sydney Morning Herald, AAP and the Guardian. ## The report The final report, launched at the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday 4 November, makes 16 recommendations, AAP reports. They include ending the AUKUS Pillar I submarine program, reviewing Pillar II and holding a royal commission. The report calls AUKUS "the worst, riskiest and most costly defence decision ever made by an Australian government", the Guardian reports, and also calls for the suspension of US submarine operations near Perth, the Herald reports. The program is said to cost up to $368 billion. ## Garrett and Barrie "Conceived in secret, Aukus has spurned established defence and parliamentary oversight practices," Garrett said, the Guardian reports. He also criticised the lack of detail on nuclear waste disposal, AAP reports. Barrie said, "The Aukus submarine plan is not tenable," the Guardian reports, and urged Australia to recalibrate its relationship with China and invest more in diplomacy, the Herald reports.