WAWAN – Wollongong Against War and Nukes
As part of the AUKUS agreement, the Australian government has committed to the building of an East Coast nuclear-powered submarine base. We must stop this aggressive and dangerous plan.
Not in Port Kembla! Not anywhere!
Latest news from WAWAN
May 22, 2026The federal government has spent years hiding the true cost of the AUKUS pact from the Australian public, pursuing plans behind closed doors while dodging questions about exactly where they plan to park submarines fuelled with highly enriched uranium.
Now, the veil of secrecy has finally cracked.
Thanks to pressure from Greens NSW MLC Abigail Boyd, the NSW Cabinet Office and Premier’s Department have been forced to table highly restricted documents from 2022–2023. These papers reveal exactly what state and federal bureaucrats have known all along but would not admit publicly:
Port Kembla is the prime target for an east coast nuclear submarine base, and if it goes ahead, there will be massive consequences for our local community.
People will be evicted from their homes to make way for the base.
A base would make Port Kembla a target for foreign adversaries.
There is a real risk of nuclear accidents.
In the event of a nuclear accident, an evacuation zone would extend at least 1.4km from the site, including most Port Kembla homes.
Those who remain within 15km of the base could be offered a one-off payout to convince them to accept the base, suggested at $8,125 per household.
The community and public services would be swamped by thousands of military personnel.
The government was planning to announce a site at the end of 2023, for a base to be fully operational from 2040.
While the government has gone quiet for the last couple of years, neither state nor federal politicians will rule out Port Kembla.
While a lot of content in these secret documents has been redacted, read on for some of our key takeaways.
Calculating the sacrifice of Port Kembla
The documents weigh up the destruction of our community against global war games. The NSW Government crunched the numbers on our lives, and the result is insulting.
The secret Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) spans a 50-year period (2024–2073), with base construction projected to run until 2050. The “best-case scenario” cooked up by the government, Scenario 1, which jams both the nuclear submarine base and a surface fleet into Port Kembla while diverting all container freight to Newcastle, boasts a net present value of just $424 million over 50 years.
Over half a century, that is absolute peanuts. It doesn’t even cover a fraction of the hidden costs. The analysis explicitly admits that it does not consider:
The billions needed for additional state-owned major road and rail infrastructure to support diverted freight.
Compensation to the current port operator.
The cost of relocation for residents evicted from their homes.
The economic costs to local businesses and workers displaced by the military takeover.
Worse still, the documents show that from 2054 onwards, the base creates more economic costs than benefits. The profits and wages dry up, but the heavy toll on local households remains permanently high.
The documents say “The relocation of NSW residents represents a net cost, which may be borne by the resident or by NSW Government through financial compensation. Displaced NSW residents may also result in frictional unemployment, which will involve lost wages and may also involve additional re-training costs.” No detail is given regarding what areas, or how many households would be evicted to make way for the base.
Local residents will be forced to make way for thousands of military personnel. Investment NSW documents state “The establishment of a base will be catalytic for the selected region – There is an estimate of four thousand defence personnel that will serve on the base.”
Evacuation Zones and Nuclear Disasters
For years, WAWAN has been called alarmist for raising a red flag about nuclear safety. Yet, the government’s internal Draft Stakeholder Engagement Plan reveals a nuclear accident is a real and serious concern.
In the event of a nuclear incident involving the submarines’ highly enriched uranium reactors, the plans mandate two zones requiring evacuation within 1.4km downwind of an accident. Depending on the direction of the wind and where the accident occurs, the evacuation zone could encompass most residential streets in Port Kembla.
The bureaucrats openly acknowledge that Wollongong residents have a massive “Willingness-to-Accept” (WTA) hurdle. Why? Because the report states plainly that “residents are likely to perceive the East Coast Naval Base as a source of risk due to there being nuclear reactors on board the submarines and the military base being a potential military target.” Using post-Fukushima data from the UK, the government estimates that property values within 15km of the nuclear base will plummet by at least 2.5%. To try and buy social license, the plan suggests a one-off compensation payout of $8,125 per household, cold comfort for local residents faced with a massive military zone on their doorstep.
A Priority Military Target
Perhaps the most chilling admission in the entire cache of documents is the explicit acknowledgement of the existential threat this base poses to the Illawarra. The papers state in black and white:
“In the event of a military conflict the could be a target for Australian military adversaries… residents in proximity will perceive the ECNB as a risk to their community’s health and the local environment.”
They know that putting a base here draws a massive nuclear bullseye over Wollongong. They know it turns our port and homes into a priority strike zone for foreign adversaries.
Not here, not anywhere
While local MP Paul Scully and the NSW Labor Government publicly claim that “no work is being undertaken” on this matter, these secret documents prove that blueprints have already been drawn up to sacrifice the Illawarra for the AUKUS war machine.
Until Port Kembla is ruled out, it remains on the table.
We refuse to let Port Kembla be militarized and placed under a permanent nuclear shadow. Abigail Boyd’s revelations have given us the smoking gun. The politicians know the massive consequences and the risks, and they know the danger they are exposing us to.
It is time to escalate our resistance to an AUKUS nuclear submarine base in Port Kembla and anywhere on the east coast. We don’t need it and we don’t want it. Let’s continue building a peace movement that makes an east coast nuclear submarine base impossible.
Read the cabinet documents here […]
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April 18, 2026IPAN (Independant and Peaceful Australia Network) is bringing the US filmmaker Abbey Martin and her latest film “Earth’s Greatest Enemy” to Australia in July. WAWAN will cohost a screening and Q&A with Abbey on 28 July at the Fraternity Club in Fairy Meadow at 6pm.
“Earth’s Greatest Enemy” deals with the critical current issues of war, the US military in particular, and the massive environmental and climate impact to our planet and peoples that this has. Watch the TRAILER and a great INTERVIEW with Abbey which gives you an idea of what to expect at the screenings and Q&A sessions.
Book your ticket here […]
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April 18, 2026Anti-war and environmental groups are invited to contribute to a fantastic Sunday afternoon planned for the Servo in Port Kembla. Given the state of the world where money and resources get poured into war and munitions manufacture rather than dealing with the environmental catastrophe we’re living through, we call on you to help turn this around.
Happening on 31 May from 12 noon until 4pm, there will be music, kids activities, food and drinks, stalls and screenprinting.
Save the date, contact us and come to one of our joint organising meetings. […]
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April 18, 2026WAWAN will be having a contingent at this year’s May Day March in Wollongong. We invite all of our members and supporters to join us and mark this important day of the working class, internationalism, and socialism. Meet us on the corner at Lowden Square at 5pm Friday May 1st. […]
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April 9, 2026WAWAN members were proud to march alongside 150 protestors who rallied for refugee rights in Wollongong on Palm Sunday. Organised by the Refugee Action Collective Illawarra, this was one of the biggest Palm Sunday rallies for some years. Thanks to the organisers and to everyone who came out to defend refugee rights and say no the wars that force people to flee. […]
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January 5, 2026After the United States bombed Venezuela on Friday 3 January and kidnapped its elected president, WAWAN called a snap action opposing this war crime.
More than 30 people attended the rally outside local Federal Member for Cunningham Alison Byrnes’ office at 9am on Monday 5 January, where we made speeches and held placards opposing US state terrorism and calling on Australia to condemn these illegal attacks. 3 police monitored our action from across the street, but did not interfere with our action.
The rally was attended by journalists from the Illawarra Mercury and ABC Illawarra.
For photographs of the speakout visit our Facebook page here. […]
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November 6, 2025Members of Wollongong Against War and Nukes will be in Newcastle from the 28th to the 30th November, attending the Rising Tide Protestival and flotilla to block the largest coal port in the world in Newcastle. The fossil fuel industry has deep ties to the military industrial complex, and we want to draw the links between climate destruction, war, and genocide – and the fights against them. We encourage all our members and supporters to come along! If you do, you can find us at the following events:
Find the WAWAN marquee (Friday arvo to Sunday midday)
Come talk about all the issues around War, AUKUS, and Nuclear – and their environmental impact. WAWAN, Hunter Peace Group and other activists will be there with information and inspiration.
Find us at the Militarism, Palestine and the Climate Crisis workshop (3:30pm – 5pm Friday 28th)
We will be speaking alongside other anti-war activists. […]
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October 7, 2025Visiting Fremantle WA in September gave an insight to their anti AUKUS struggles.
We joined about 40 activists protested outside the town hall before a “Community Consultation“ organised by the Australian Submarine Authority. The meeting was a farce, men in military uniforms replete with medals evaded concerns regarding nuclear safety, legal jurisdiction over American servicemen and environmental destruction.
Days later International Peace Day saw a large rally and march through Fremantle. Palestine was front and center and is an important cross over with the Anti War, Anti Nuclear and Anti AUKUS activism. Unionists for Palestine, Save Cockburn Sound and Climate Action had powerful links to make as well.
The existence of HMAS Stirling, huge dockyards serving naval vessels and facilities run by arms suppliers like Raytheon, BAE and Rolls Royce gives the busy industrial coast from Fremantle to Rockingham a very different feel to the Illawarra. Fremantle has been hosting submarines and US naval ships for 80 years.
Their struggle has a strong focus on opposing a US base, the threat of a Nuclear presence and the destruction of a beautiful and popular marine environment. But they are leaving no stone unturned and have a dedicated and articulate group of activists building a movement to cancel AUKUS, end the FPA and stop the 12 billion dollar Henderson military shipyard.
Thanks
Stop AUKUS WA (fb link)
Nuclear Free WA (fb link)
and
Rockingham for Palestine
for their time and solidarity.
– Peter […]
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September 24, 2025Forty local organisations and community groups are launching a joint Port Kembla Declaration opposing the establishment of a nuclear submarine base at Port Kembla, calling for the federal government to rule it out. The Declaration states… “We recognise the unique health and safety risks that come with nuclear-fuelled submarines, and the potential impact of a major or minor incident on the broader community and the environment we all enjoy… We are concerned by the lack of community consultation and fear the federal government will override local dissent to impose a nuclear submarine base, as well as a nearby site to store associated long-lived and hazardous radioactive waste from Australian, US or UK submarines. We will not let this happen.” It has been endorsed by union, health, faith, student, environmental, creative, service and social justice organisations, including three local ALP branches. Endorsers include the Maritime Union of Australia (Port Kembla), South Coast Labor Council, Illawarra Teachers Association, Southern Youth and Family Services, Good for the Gong, Healthy Cities Australia and the National Tertiary Education Union (UOW branch).Tina Smith, President of the South Coast Labour Council said “We reject the idea of turning our region into a frontline for war games or nuclear escalation. The risks—environmental, social, and strategic—are too great, and the community has not been properly consulted” Gem Romuld, member of Wollongong Against War and Nukes said “Port Kembla must never be sacrificed for AUKUS. The Illawarra community has a proud historic and ongoing movement against war and militarism.This Declaration makes it clear: we will not be sidelined for a nuclear submarine base.” Port Kembla remains a potential site for a nuclear submarine base. This Declaration comes as recent FOI revelations from former Senator Rex Patrick indicate a business case for a Port Kembla or Newcastle base is being prepared for the NSW Government, but with a high level of secrecy. Further, the federal government has recently announced a $12bn AUKUS spend on construction facilities for ships and submarines in WA, along with two payments of $800m this year to fund US naval shipyards, despite Trump’s ongoing review of the agreement. […]
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Port Kembla Declaration – Launched September 25th 2025
Remember Hiroshima: March for Peace – August 9th 2025
