MELBOURNE -- Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese avoided an embarrassing party revolt against the AUKUS security agreement during the national conference of his Labor Party on Friday. But some party activists believe that opposition to acquiring nuclear submarines under the pact with the U.S. and U.K. will only grow amid public doubts about the costs and benefits of Australia's largest defense project.
A motion supporting the nuclear-powered submarine program, whose estimated price tag is 368 billion Australian dollars ($235 billion), was carried by a majority of the 402 delegates during Labor's three-day conference in Brisbane. The conference, which is held once every election cycle, is an opportunity for Labor delegates to vote on the party's policy platform.
