Sydney, Aug 3 (IANS): Dozens of protesters, including members from the local activist group Sydney Anti-AUKUS Coalition, gathered at the Sydney Town Hall Square on Saturday to demand that the Australian government reject the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines.

They also reject the Australian opposition's proposal for nuclear power reactors on sites, Xinhua news agency reported.

Peter Murphy, convener of Sydney Anti-AUKUS Coalition, said in his speech at the rally that the AUKUS Pact between the United States, Britain and Australia was a super-secret project to have Australia acquire nuclear-powered attack submarines, as well as to jointly develop hypersonic missiles, cyber warfare, quantum computing and Artificial Intelligence weapons.

According to a statement publicised by the protesters, they gathered to remember victims of the US atomic bombs that exploded over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and remember all victims of nuclear war preparations.

The protesters marched to the Defence Plaza Sydney after the gathering, with banners that read, "Australia says No to AUKUS, No to NATO, No to War", "Down with the AUKUS Nuclear Submarine Deal," "Scrap AUKUS Now" and "No to Nuclear Subs."

Dennis Doherty, co-ordinator of Sydney Anti-AUKUS Coalition, told Xinhua that the nuclear industry, the nuclear weapons and the nuclear submarines will harm Australia.

"We want to live in friendship with all people in our region. And that's why it's a bad move to have nuclear-powered submarines, because it's a threatening move which will increase tension in our region when we need to decrease tension," he said.