The decades-long defence program said to cost up to $368 billion would result in Australia buying three US second-hand Virginia-class vessels, with the first due in 2032, and the delivery of domestically produced nuclear-powered submarines to replace ageing Collins-class submarines.
It was agreed to in 2021 under former Liberal prime minister Scott Morrison, the Biden administration in the US and then-UK leader Boris Johnson.
The agreement sank an existing $90 billion deal with France and soured Australia's diplomatic relationship for a time.
Despite the bruises of recent history, it doesn't mean Labor cannot look elsewhere for submarines again, former Australian Defence Force chief Admiral Chris Barrie says.
"The truth is that if we were to go buying ... conventional submarines off the shelf we could probably replace the Collins fleet much more quickly," he said.
Admiral Barrie joined former Labor minister and Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett at the National Press Club on Wednesday, handing down the final report from a crowdfunded AUKUS Public Inquiry.
The report has delivered 16 recommendations for the government including the scrapping of the AUKUS Pillar I submarine program, reviewing Pillar II and taking the whole initiative to a royal commission.
Mr Garrett said a key concern was the lack of detail regarding Australia's role in nuclear waste disposal.
"For First Nations peoples in particular, with a history of suffering the impact of British nuclear testing in South Australia, this omission is galling," he said, noting the lack of debate.
"I'm a member of a political party where vigorous debate is, or should be, part of the ordinary course of discussing issues of importance.
"Where was the vigorous debate in the caucus? Where was the vigorous debate in the cabinet?"
It wasn't unprecedented for governments to walk back major defence projects upon winning office, Admiral Barrie said.
"(Labor) could easily have said in 2022, we need to look at this thing that we fell in with under the subterfuge of Morrison and assure ourselves that this is a sensible thing for government to do, so that horse has bolted," Admiral Barrie said.
The former defence chief conceded the window of opportunity had closed for the easy way out, but warned the community sentiment would shift if Labor can't justify the cost during a period of heightened cost of living.
"When people in communities find out we're paying money to the UK and US now to build their submarines, and there's no guarantee of returns for the billions of dollars we've already spent. Then they get angry," he said.
"It will take determined leadership and a process to get to the answers we need, but you know what? Change is afoot, and it could happen tomorrow."
The press club was full of supporters eagerly interjecting in support of the speakers with protesters outside echoing calls to distance Australia from the US and the AUKUS project.
The inquiry was largely ignored by the Albanese government, with no sitting MPs attending any hearings or providing a submission.
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