Anthony Albanese says Paul Keating ‘entitled to views’ over latest AUKUS spray

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Paul Keating is “entitled to his views” but suggested they are outdated, after the Labor stalwart said Australia risked becoming the “51st State” of America under the AUKUS deal.

In an interview with ABC’s 7.30 on Thursday, the former Labor prime minister — a vocal critic of the trilateral pact — gave a scathing critique of the revamped AUKUS deal, saying it risked Australia’s “military control” being handed over to Washington.

He took aim at Mr Albanese, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles, accusing them of being a “sellout” to traditional Labor values in the government’s defence and foreign policies.

“This is a party which has adopted the defence and foreign policies of the Morrison Liberal government,” Mr Keating said.

He labelled the US as “an aggressive ally”, and said Australia was better “left alone than being protected” by Washington.

Mr Albanese said Mr Keating was entitled to his express his views, but would not sway him or his government given they did not reflect the modern era.

“Paul was a great prime minister, and that ended in 1996. My job as Prime Minister is to do what Australia needs in 2024,” Mr Albanese said.

“The world is different. The world has changed between 1996 and 2024, and my government is doing what we need to do today.”

A new agreement was signed between the AUKUS partners on Thursday, regarding the transfer of naval nuclear technology.

But despite the White House saying the revamped AUKUS agreement included undisclosed “political commitments”, Mr Albanese denied there were extra commitments.

“I am not sure what you mean,” he said in response to a question.

The latest agreement has raised eyebrows about whether radioactive waste from the US and the UK would be transferred to Australia.

Mr Marles had earlier tried to alleviate fears, saying there was “no chance” of that happening.

“We are responsible for our nuclear waste... The first moment that we need to dispose of our own nuclear reactors will be in the 2050s, so we have time to get that right. But that’s the only nuclear waste that we will be disposing of,” he said.

Mr Marles had also weighed in on Mr Keating’s comments about Australia losing its autonomy under the AUKUS pact.

“It’s a line, but it’s nothing more than that, and it’s not a fair characterisation of what we’re doing,” he said.

“I don’t agree with it, but I absolutely acknowledge that as a former prime minister, as a great Labor prime minister, Paul Keating has a right to express his views in the public discourse, and that’s what he’s doing. You won’t hear any criticism from me of him. That said, obviously the views that he’s expressed I happen to disagree with.”