Australia’s youngest Senator, Jordon Steele-John, is well known for his campaign which led to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. But apart from his concern about peaceful inclusion for people with disability, the Australian Greens Peace and Nuclear Disarmament spokesperson is very clear about the need for peace at an international level, and has been an outspoken critic of the AUKUS nuclear arms deal. How does the new Australian-United Kingdom-United States alliance highlight the democratic deficit in Australia, especially when it adds to what some sense as the rising militarism? Today Understorey’s Adrian Glamorgan brings us the first part of an extended interview with Jordon Steele-John about Australia’s engagement with AUKUS and why it is may be a dangerous and costly distraction from the real enemy ticking away at humanity: the urgent need for action on climate.

Photo: Jordon Steele-John/Greens' peace sign, arranged by A Glamorgan