If any of you are interested in finding out more about this independent Inquiry, wish to donate or write a submission, this is the link: https://aukuspublicinquiry.com/#submissions
It says:
The AUKUS deal was conceived in secret and with deception — and continues to be shrouded in secrecy despite the incredibly high stakes and massive cost. Our government has already spent $10 billion of our taxes on US and UK shipyards at a time when much of the world is in conflict and Australians are suffering from a cost-of-living crisis.
A group of former MPs, retired military and naval officers, leading strategists and academics, human rights lawyers and union leaders are committing to an independent Public Inquiry into AUKUS. This Inquiry is coordinated by the Australian Peace and Security Forum (APSF) — ensuring it is grounded in expertise, independence, and a commitment to serious evidence-based examination.
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Why is there a donate button for a public inquiry?
Ok, if you scroll all the way to the bottom of the site.
“A non-partisan, civil society inquiry into Australia’s nuclear submarine partnership. Auspiced by the Australian Peace and Security Forum. Funded by Australia’s civil society.”
So not government backed in any way. I bet this confuses a lot of people. I dislike how it is named and presented, seems deliberately misleading.
Ok, if you scroll all the way to the bottom of the site.
In fairness, at the very top of the page they have “AN INDEPENDENT PUBLIC INQUIRY …” and then the first text below the navigation bar is “INDEPENDENT CIVIL SOCIETY REVIEW”.
To me the words “independent public inquiry” typically means something that is started/funded by government and then run by an independent agency or board to investigate the thing they are set up to do.
The fact that they call it different things on the same page doesn’t exactly help with clarity.
If they weren’t asking for people’s money, I wouldn’t care at all. But I suggest anyone that donates figures out what their $$$ will be actually spent on before they send any (let’s hope it’s not to pay Peter Garrett).
This can be found on the website:
We need funding for travel for commissioners and expert witnesses, event spaces for public hearings, accommodation and logistics, and documentation and public reporting. Every contribution helps bring accountability to the largest defence decision in Australia’s history.
and on the fund-raising site:
We need funding for, travel for commissioners and expert witnesses, event spaces for public hearings, accommodation and logistics, and finally documentation and public reporting
It didn’t come across that way to me but I can understand how it might be confused. A public enquiry just means that it is open to the general public. Perhaps they should have advertised it as an Independent Public Inquiry which is what it is. In any case, it’s an important initiative imv.
