Former Prime Minister Paul Keating has labelled the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal, signed by Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak and Anthony Albanese, as the ‘worst deal in history’. Australian, American and British officials have said China’s military is a key reason for Australia needing nuclear-powered submarines but Keating firmly disagrees.

Ben has called out Mr Keating for continually turning a blind eye to China’s aggression and obvious human rights.

EDITOR’S NOTE:
An earlier version of this article stated that Mr Keating ‘was on their payroll’. This article has been updated to clarify that the reference to ‘payroll’ was intended to refer only to Mr Keating’s past advisory role with the China Development Bank, as stated in the audio clip that was embedded with the original article. www.2GB.com apologises for any unintended suggestion that Mr Keating was at any time paid by the Chinese government. If any such suggestion was conveyed by the earlier article, www.2GB.com withdraws such suggestion fully and without qualification and apologises to Mr Keating for any harm caused.

The former Prime Minister was an honorary member of the Bank’s International Advisory Council, an appointment he held from 2005 until he resigned in 2019. 2GB wishes to clarify that Mr Keating was only ever paid a small fee by the China Development Bank and did not receive ‘a big pile of money from China’ as previously stated in the audio clip previously embedded in the original article. 2GB and Mr Fordham withdraw any unintended suggestion that what Mr Keating was paid by the China Development Bank had any impact on his views on policy, and accept that this was not the case.