The AUKUS Forum continues to amaze. Its latest initiative endeavours to extend AUKUS submarines to rockets. Or at least get on the AUKUS gravy rocket. What’s the scam?
The scam is the many ways a private group of AUKUS enthusiasts is endeavouring to get its hands on some of the $368B earmarked for the AUKUS adventure. It’s all for the common good, of course, supporting Anthony Albanese’s vision of “a transformational movement for our nation.”
So far, the AUKUS Forum – led by “industry specialist” Michael Sharpe and a board including ex-politicians Joel Fitzgibbon and Arthur Sinodinos – has launched AUKUS-related development initiatives in the Banana Shire (where a source tells us they have just added an AUKUS youth group), Bathurst (even further from port), and an Indigenous group in Ann Arbor (Michigan – on Lake Erie at least). Not to mention its recent satellite offshoot.
What, then, could be a more natural next step than rockets? The AUKUS Forum recently launched its Missile Corp, focusing specifically on companies in Arkansas (US) – some 450 miles from the nearest potential submarine rendezvous point of New Orleans.
Never shy of ambitious announcements, Michael Sharpe declared, “True to our slogan ‘More Than Submarines,’ Arkansas is leveraging its strengths across industries to support AUKUS Pillar Two, unlocking opportunities in artificial intelligence, autonomy, advanced cyber, hypersonics, underwater capabilities, quantum technologies, electronic warfare, and information sharing.”
What will they think of next?
AUKUS waste plans. The hitchhiker’s guide to nuclear approvals
