Global Roaming with Geraldine Doogue and Hamish Macdonald

AUKUS doesn't only affect us. From the time that it was announced there were mixed reactions from our neighbours - some who wanted in, and some who thought it unwise and provocative. A big part of the fear - both regionally and within Australia - concerns the nuclear question. As the first non-nuclear country to ever acquire a conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarine, can we be confident of our own safety? And what happens to the waste that will remain dangerous for generations of Australians to come? *Correction: An earlier version of this caption suggested that Australia is acquiring a nuclear weapon, which is incorrect. The caption has been updated to reflect that Australia is acquiring conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines. GUESTS:Gareth Evans - former Australian Foreign Minister (1988 –1996).Maria Rost Rublee - Associate Professor of International Relations at Monash University, with expertise in international security and nuclear politics.Dr Evan Laksmana - Senior Fellow for Southeast Asia Military Modernisation at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).GET IN TOUCH: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

Former Prime Minister Paul Keating has said of AUKUS that "we don't need to be a pair of shoes hanging out of America's backside". Is that a fair characterisation of Australia's position vis a vis AUKUS? Are we getting the short end of the stick with this deal, and sacrificing our sovereignty to boot? GUESTS:Sam Roggeveen - Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program. He is the author of The Echidna Strategy: Australia’s Search for Power and PeaceMalcolm Turnbull - 29th Prime Minister of Australia 2015-2018.Richard Marles - the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Minister for Defence and the Federal Member for Corio.GET IN TOUCH: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

In this episode Hamish and Geraldine examine the strategic thinking behind AUKUS. If China has undertaken the most rapid military expansion of any country since WWII, how does the AUKUS pact factor into Beijing's thinking? And does a plan that ties us more closely to the United States make us more or less safe?GUESTS:Zhou Bo – Senior Colonel (Ret.) of China's People's Liberation Army, is Senior Fellow at the Center for International Security and Strategy, Tsinghua University. Vice Admiral Mark Hammond - Chief of the Royal Australian Navy.Hugh Jeffrey - Deputy Secretary Strategy, Policy, and Industry, Department of DefenceGET IN TOUCH: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

The plan for us to acquire nuclear submarines has been dubbed the 'Optimal Pathway', but achieving it will be no mean feat. In this episode we explore what the scheme involves, what the key challenges are to making it work, and we get some cold hard facts about what it is really going to cost us. GUESTS:Jennifer Parker - expert associate at the national security college ANU, an adjunct fellow at UNSW, and associate fellow at the Council on Geostrategy.Vice Admiral Peter Jones - a retired senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), who served as the Chief Capability Development Group (CCDG) from 2011 until his retirement in October 2014.Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead - the inaugural Director-General of the Australian Submarine Agency.GET IN TOUCH: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]