News live: Marles says Australia has ‘absolutely not’ made commitment to back US in event of Taiwan conflict

Key events

Marles says the decision to store the waste generated by the nuclear subs somewhere in Australia is not in breach of ALP party platform.

Look, this is a big commitment that we’ve made. It forms part of being the responsible and nuclear steward that we need to become, not just in terms of disposal of the waste, but the handling of the nuclear material right through the life of it and it is a heavy responsibility to become that steward, but part that have is to be responsible for its ultimate disposal.

It will require a purpose-built facility. As you said, the first reactor will be disposed of in the mid 2050s, so we have time to get this right.

Speers reads Labor’s part platform to Marles, which says:

Labor will prohibit the establishment of nuclear power plants and all other stays of the nuclear fuel cycle. The platform says you remain strongly opposed to the importation and storage of nuclear waste that is sourced from overseas in Australia.

After a pause, Marles says a defence capability is different from a civilian nuclear industry.

I think both of those statements go to different questions that have arisen over the years. We are not talking about establishing a civil nuclear industry, and nor are we talking about opening Australia up as a repository for nuclear waste from other countries. What we are talking about here is being responsible nuclear stewards for the nuclear material that we are using for the specific pup of naval propulsion and it is important as a nuclear ward that we do that. As I said, we’ve got time to get this right and we will.

And that’s a wrap.

On the $368bn price tag of the submarines, Marles said the government has sought to be transparent with the Australian public about the cost of the project.

Historically governments have done is supply the acquisition cost, like the purchase of a car, without having to talk about what is costs to run that car, but given the nature of this capability and so much of the cost comes in the running of it, what we’ve done is given all of it.

Marles provides a few numbers breaking down the cost over the lifetime of the project.

Having this capability over the course of its life is 0.15% of GDP. Now, that’s against a backdrop of a defence budget which is at 2% of GDP growing to 2.2, so this is less than 10% of the defence spend, and for that, we get the most transformational capability of our defence force, a dramatic increase in our potency, this is easily in the context of defence spends the best value money of 0.15% that we will spend.

Marles insists any submarines in Australia’s fleet will be kept under the control and direction of the Australian government.

He notes that Australian sailors are currently serving aboard British and UK vessels as part of a skills-sharing rotation.

He says Australia would not automatically commit these submarines to support the US in any future war, and says the decision to enter a conflict will be up to the government of the day.

If there was a point in time in the future where there was a conflict in the world, where there was the prospect of one of these submarines with Australians on board entering it, that is obviously going to be a matter for the government at the time.

Of course, with the anniversary of the Iraq war this week, history suggests there is a gap between intention and what actually happens at the time.

Marles says Australia has ‘absolutely not’ made commitment to back US in event of Taiwan conflict

Marles is looking to play down the question of Australian involvement in any invasion of Taiwan by China.

Speers:

Just on this point – in return for access to these Virginia Class subs, has Australia given the United States any sort of commitment, explicitly, implicitly, that we will be there in the event of a conflict over Taiwan?

Marles:

The answer to that is of course not. Of course not. And nor was one sought. I’ve listened to that conjecture from a number of commentators. It is plain wrong.

Speers:

No quid pro quo here over the access to the Virginia Class subs?

Marles:

Absolutely not. And I couldn’t be more unequivocal than that.

Richard Marles points to Australia’s importation of fuel as a key strategic issue – he notes that in the 1990s Australia had eight oil refineries producing fuel, but today there are two.

Most of our liquid fuels, most what we need we import from Singapore. One trading route right there which goes to the heart of our economy.

For what it’s worth, the majority of Australia’s oil supply is calculated by including all the fuel that is current in cargo ships on the water and bound for Australia. It could also be addressed by massively investing into renewable energy.

But Speers is trying to pin Marles on who the government believes is “threatening” Australia’s trade lanes – he’s implying that this is China, but he’s looking for Marles to confirm it, but Marles is talking around the issue.

There is an assertion of a sovereignty in respect of the South China Sea which is not consistent with the UN convention of the Law of the Sea, and international courts have made that point. So we observe that.

We observe the fact that in the year 2000, China had six nuclear-powered submarines, by the end of this decade, they will have 21. In the year 2000, they had 57 surface ships. By the end of this decade, they will have 200. This is a very big military build-up.

Speers asks whether this is an arms race – but Marles doesn’t take the bait.

It shapes the strategic landscape in which we live. And now in saying all of that, we want the best relationship with China that we can have.

Richard Marles says Australia needs nuclear submarines for the same reason Australia needs submarines:

A cursory glance at our geography, where we are, an island-trading nation, located a long way from the places that we export our product to, means that we are really dependent upon those trading routes.

Once you think that we are a country which needs to have a submarine capability, what becomes clear, not so much in 2023, but as we project through the 2030s and into the 2040s is that the only capable long-range submarine that will be able to effectively operate is a nuclear-powered submarines

And the reason for that is because diesel electric submarines are able to be on target for a time-frame measured in days before they then had to go to the surface, recharge their batteries by using their diesel engines - that is a noisy thing to do, it is called snorting.

Marles says nuclear submarines have the capacity to remain underway for “months at a time” with the “Only limitation is really the food for the crew”.

The question is one forced by Paul Keating’s intervention into the debate this past week: Australia’s leadership now has to lay out the rational for why submarines are needed from first principles.

Wong among 'finest foreign ministers': Farrell

The trade minister, Don Farrell, also pushed back at Paul Keating’s critique of Aukus. Farrell said Keating’s criticism of Penny Wong was “completely unfair”; Farrell said Wong was emerging as “one of the finest foreign ministers” he’s witnessed throughout his life.

The Coalition’s defence spokesperson, Andrew Hastie, was also up on Sky News.

Hastie said he would “temper” Farrell’s enthusiasm about the stabilisation of the relationship with China with a dose of realism. Hastie argued Australia had been a good neighbour in the region, but China was pursuing a huge military buildup.

Hastie argued those who claimed Aukus increased the risk of Australia being targeted or attacked were “foolish”, because China had already subjected Australia to economic coercion.

He said the deal would demonstrate that Australia “can stand up for ourselves” and “will make us stronger in the future”.

Subs and relationship with China not mutually exclusive policy goals: Farrell

The trade minister, Don Farrell, has described Aukus as a “sensible” arrangement for the strategic circumstances Australia faces in 2023 - but played down the potential impact on the overall project to “stabilise” the relationship with China.

Farrell told Sky News he was hopeful that the nuclear-powered submarine project would not have an impact on planned trips, including his open forthcoming visit to Beijing (date TBC).

He said he had a “warm and friendly” meeting, via video link, with his Chinese counterpart last month, and this was expected to be continued in person in Beijing:

We haven’t nailed down a particular date. The discussions have been going well at an officials level … the offer is still there to go, I’ve accepted that offer.

Farrell said Australia also would ensure its own national interest was protected. But he argued Aukus was not in contradiction to the idea of stabilising the political, diplomatic and trade relationship with China:

Everything is pointing in the right direction for a stabilisation of the relationship and I’d be very confident that that would continue.

For Daniel Hurst’s thorough analysis of the ramifications of Australia’s defence announcement:

American politics a matter for Americans: Don Farrell

The trade minister, Don Farrell, was first up on the morning political programs today. During an interview with Sky News, Farrell steered clear of Donald Trump’s claims that the former US president would be arrested on Tuesday:

No, look, I’ll leave American politics to the Americans and I’ll just be an interested bystander.

Asked what fears, if any, the Australian government about the potential for Trump being re-elected in 2024, Farrell said:

None whatsoever.

Farrell emphasised that US politics were a matter for the American people, but said the Australian government “would look forward to another four years” of the Biden administration, if that was the outcome.

Good news, everyone.

Australia swelters through heatwave

Parts of NSW are forecast to reach the low 40s as several fires continue to burn across the state.

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting Sydney to reach 32C on Sunday, while Penrith in the west is tipped to hit 40C and Richmond and Blacktown should reach 39C.

Parts of the lower and upper western regions are also forecast to hit 42C. It comes after NSW sweltered through a hot Saturday, with more than 50 fires breaking out across the state.

A watch and act warning was in place for the south-eastern town of Berridale on Saturday night, with residents told to take action to protect themselves and their properties.

A fire at Craigs Road in the southern tablelands scorched more than 3689 hectares and destroyed property and livestock, while the Sandy Creek fire in the Upper Hunter burned through 26ha.

Meanwhile, Victoria is in for a cooler day after temperatures reached the high 30s and low 40s on Saturday.

Residents along the Great Ocean Road in the state’s south-west were on high alert for much of the day, with a watch and act message in place for a blaze near Kenneth River.

Several other fires reached advice level before a cool change passed through the state on Saturday evening. Victorian temperatures should hover about the low to mid-20s for the rest of the week.

- AAP

Good morning

And welcome to another Guardian live blog.

A heatwave extending right across the country is expected to peak on Sunday with temperatures forecast to peak in the low 40s across parts of New South Wales. Sydney is expected to reach 32C with parts of western Sydney approaching 42C, while Victoria can expect a cooler day after temperatures hit the high 30s on Saturday. Across a large stretch of the rest of the country, temperatures in the upper 30s and low 40s are expected.

The NSW Liberal premier Dominic Perrottet will hold a rally in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith on Sunday in an effort to shore up votes in the marginal seat. Former prime minister John Howard is expected to attend the event being held six days out from voting day, with the seat currently held by Stuart Ayres who holds its with a 0.6% margin.

I’m Royce Kurmelovs, taking the blog through the day. With so much going on out there, it’s easy to miss stuff, so if you spot something happening in Australia and think it should be on the blog, you can find me on Twitter at @RoyceRk2 where my DMs are open.

With that, let’s get started ...