‘Throwing toothpicks at the mountain’: Paul Keating says Aukus submarines plan will have no impact on China

Former Australian prime minister also says Britain like an old theme park sliding into the Atlantic' compared to modern China

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The former Australian prime minister Paul Keating has denounced the US- and UK-backed plan for nuclear-powered submarines as like throwing a handful of toothpicks at the mountain", declaring Australia should avoid being drawn into a war with China.

The former Labor leader on Wednesday accused the major Australian political parties of losing their way on foreign policy, while dismissing the credibility of the UK's tilt" to the Indo-Pacific region.