Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The successful delivery of AUKUS, the technology sharing agreement, is of vital national interest and it is only fitting that there be a bipartisan group in this place to support it—an AUKUS caucus, if you will. As we know, pillar 1 of AUKUS will see Australia take delivery of three US Virginia class submarines by the 2030s and the first SSN-AUKUS built in Australia delivered in the early 2040s. To launch the AUKUS caucus this evening we will have a decorated Australian Navy submariner, Commodore Peter Scott (Retired), who will speak with us about his journey through the Australian submarine force and his work with the British submarine force and the American submarine force.

Over a decorated 34-year career, Commodore Scott served in 10 submarines. He commanded three of them. He passed the most demanding military commanding course in the world and served as the head of the profession of the Royal Australian Navy elite, which is the submarine arm. During that time, his character was forged by the challenges of naval service, success and failure as a leader and life-threatening traumas. Along the way he also endured personal battles with self-doubt, addiction, depression and anxiety. That is a leader—somebody who tells their story about the submarine force.