00:00A public inquiry funded by the public and by members of the public and
00:08organisations that believe we need to know more about AUKUS with commissioners
00:14drawn from the public with a keen eye on wanting to understand and hear more
00:20about people's views about AUKUS and supported by the public who are coming
00:26in today in large numbers to both ask questions, make submissions formally, speak
00:33to us and add to our learning and understanding about the AUKUS deal. The
00:39largest ever defence procurement undertaken by any Australian government, a deal
00:46initially conceived in secrecy by Prime Minister Morrison, agreed to in effect by
00:53Prime Minister Albanese, which commits $368 billion of taxpayers' funds to the
01:03purchase and delivery of three second-hand nuclear-powered submarines and
01:10potentially another four or five nuclear-powered submarines yet fully
01:16designed, not yet built, which may arrive if they arrive at all in the middle of the
01:222050s. We have had fantastic hearings right around the country and this one in
01:28Wollongong is particularly important because with documents that were released
01:33to the public under Freedom of Information request, Port Kembla was identified as a
01:40possible submarine-based site and that warrants us being here as commissioners to
01:47hear from the community and to consider the implications of the AUKUS deal as far as it
01:53relates to the people of the Illawarra, particularly Port Kembla and Wollongong.
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