反对党国防事务发言人詹姆斯·帕特森将一项针对“奥库斯”（AUKUS）的非官方调查斥为“骗局调查”，指责发起该调查的一群学者和前官员对这项价值3680亿澳元的潜艇协议持有“预设立场”。
Opposition defence spokesman James Paterson has branded an unofficial probe into AUKUS a “sham inquiry”, accusing the group of academics and former officials behind it of having a “predetermined view” of the $368bn submarine pact.
“奥库斯”是澳大利亚21世纪国防战略的核心，旨在为海军装备八艘核动力潜艇，使其与英国和美国海军完全互操作。第二支柱侧重于共享尖端军事技术，包括人工智能驱动的武器系统。
AUKUS is the centrepiece of Australia’s 21st century defence strategy, aiming to arm the navy with eight nuclear-powered submarines fully interoperable with the UK and US navies. A second pillar focuses on sharing cutting edge military technologies, including artificial intelligence-powered weapon systems.
该调查以缺乏透明度为由，于6月启动，核心问题为：“‘奥库斯’能否保障澳大利亚人的安全，代价几何？”根据刚刚发布的最终报告，答案是否定的。
Citing a lack of transparency, the AUKUS Public Inquiry launched in June with the core question: “Would AUKUS keep Australians safe, and at what cost?”It would not, according to the inquiry’s freshly published final report.
但帕特森参议员周四表示，报告作者——其中包括音乐家、前工党部长彼得·加勒特——在调查伊始就已知晓他们将得出何种结论。“这是一群从一开始就对‘奥库斯’持有预设立场的人，”他对News24表示。“他们搞了一场骗局调查，以制造一份虚假报告，但你本可以在六个月前就问问这些人对‘奥库斯’的看法，他们会告诉你完全一致的内容，也就是报告里写的东西。”
But Senator Paterson said on Thursday the report’s authors – which include musician and former Labor minister Peter Garrett – went into the inquiry knowing what they would find. “This is a group that had a predetermined view about AUKUS from the very beginning,” he told News24. “They conducted a sham inquiry as a way of manufacturing a faux report, but you could have asked these people six months ago what their view was on AUKUS, and they would have told you exactly what they’ve said in the report.”
帕特森参议员指出，他们周三在国家新闻俱乐部发布报告时表示，“中华人民共和国没有称霸我们地区的野心，也不构成对澳大利亚的国家安全挑战”，此举“粉碎了他们自身的可信度”。“没有任何严肃、知情的国家安全专家会认为这是真的，”他说。“通过在这一问题上暴露他们的天真，我认为我们可以摒弃其余的调查结果。”
Pointing to their unveiling of the report at the National Press Club on Wednesday, Senator Paterson said “they shredded their own credibility by saying that the People’s Republic of China doesn’t have ambitions to dominate our region and doesn’t pose a national security challenge to Australia”. “There is no serious, informed national security expert who thinks that that is true,” he said. “And by revealing their naivety on that issue, I think we can dismiss the rest of the findings.”
该调查的委员由资深学者组成，包括前国防军首长、退役海军上将克里斯·巴里。
The inquiry’s commissioners are made up of seasoned academics, including former defence chief and retired admiral Chris Barrie.
但大多数人与和平运动有关联，并有公开质疑美澳同盟的历史，其中一人还是著名的反核倡导者。他们发现，AUKUS 通过使“澳大利亚成为核目标”并加速“地区军备竞赛”，增加了“与中国发生战争的风险”。他们还发现，它通过让美国和英国核潜艇轮流部署在西澳大利亚，削弱了澳大利亚的主权；可能比预期多花费数千亿澳元；并引发利益冲突。
But most have an association with peace movements and a history of open scepticism for the US alliance, with one also a prominent antinuclear advocate. They found AUKUS increased the “risk of war with China” by making “Australia a nuclear target” and accelerating “a regional arms race”. They also found it eroded Australia’s sovereignty by rotating American and British nuclear-submarines through Western Australia, would likely cost hundreds of billions more than expected and invited conflicts of interest.
他们提出了 16 项建议，第一项就是“终止 AUKUS”。AUKUS 旨在遏制中国的侵略行为。近年来，北京加大了在台湾周边的军事演习力度，与菲律宾海军舰艇的冲突已成为常态化事件。去年，一支中国军舰编队环绕澳大利亚一周，并在东海岸实施实弹演习。针对去年的演习，国防部长理查德·马尔斯拒绝证实这些演习是否以澳大利亚城市为目标。
They made 16 recommendations, with the first one being to “terminate AUKUS”. AUKUS is intended to deter Chinese aggression. Beijing has ramped up war games around Taiwan in recent years, while clashes with Philippines naval vessels have become a daily occurrence. Last year, a flotilla of Chinese warships circumnavigated Australia and carried out live fire drills off the East Coast. Pressed on the drills last year, Defence Minister Richard Marles would not confirm whether they targeted Australian cities.