Australian politics is often misleadingly described as “rancorous.” To be sure, there is no lack of ill will among the Australian political elite. But there is a near-complete absence of genuine political debate.

High-profile fights are usually either cheap point-scoring in the lead-up to elections or intraparty power grabs. On the key issues the two major parties are usually in agreement, and the media generally toes the line. The situation has been no different throughout the discussions on the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine deal with the United States and Britain.

But the bipartisan consensus found itself caught in flagrante last week when the deal’s details were announced in San Diego. Former Labor prime minister Paul Keating, in an AUKUS-centered interview at the National Press Club, attacked his own party for entering into the deal. A head-kicker from the right-wing faction of his party, famous for slinging insults, Keating lambasted the Australian government, opposition, spy agencies, and media for adopting a policy of military containment against China. AUKUS, he argued, wastes money, peels away Australia’s sovereignty, and needlessly provokes its largest trading partner.