Labor's vote for secrecy follows both the UK and the US undertaking reviews into the AUKUS agreement, and ignores the chronic supply and logistical issues with the nuclear submarine programs in each AUKUS country.
The Inquiry proposed by the Greens would have allowed a Senate committee to take for public submissions on all aspects of the AUKUS deal, including environmental impacts, defence impacts, costs, and independence.
Senator David Shoebridge, Greens spokesperson on Defence and Foreign Affairs, said:
"AUKUS is a $375 billion nuclear-powered raid on Australia's public wealth."
"The fact that the Albanese Government have voted for secrecy in this multi-decade, multi-hundred-billion-dollar gamble shows contempt for transparency and the very real concerns of the Australian public.
"The Albanese Government has already begun handing over the first $10 billion to the US and UK as part of AUKUS, without any binding agreement to either get submarines or a refund when it all unravels.
"The US is producing barely half the number of submarines needed to make AUKUS viable, and the UK's nuclear program is in meltdown.
"Ignoring these critical supply failures in our AUKUS partners is not a credible defence strategy. But instead of a hard-headed review the Albanese Government's response is to close its eyes and wait for the next photo op.
"Polling from the Australia Institute shows that Australians want a more independent foreign policy, not to align ourselves closely with US President Trump.
"Only 8% of people strongly agree with Defence Minister Richard Marles when he talks of our "shared values" with the United States.
"AUKUS is a limitless drain on our public funds that makes Australia less safe and even more dependent on Washington.
"Today's vote shows how out of touch the Canberra national security bubble is from ordinary Australians who don't like Donald Trump, don't want war with China and want their Parliament to fund Medicare and public schools before nuclear submarines."
Read the full inquiry terms of reference here.
