Premier Peter Malinauskas rebukes fellow Labor premiers over waste from AUKUS boats

Premier Peter Malinauskas has rebuked fellow Labor premiers over waste from AUKUS boats as he tours the UK’s huge nuclear submarine shipyard.

Premier Peter Malinauskas has hit back at fellow Labor state leaders demanding nuclear waste from AUKUS submarines be dumped in SA, accusing them of debasing the nation-building endeavour.

During a lightning visit to the shipyard producing the United Kingdom’s nuclear submarines, Mr Malinauskas said Australian nuclear-powered submarine construction was about national security and demanded “a mature, considered approach from all concerned”.

Touring BAE Systems’ Barrow shipyard, Mr Malinauskas declared “the sheer scale of this facility blows your mind” and enthused about the satisfaction of working on “a nation-building enterprise” enjoyed by its 11,000 workers

He said interstate bickering over nuclear waste storage years in the future “debases the size of the challenge and the opportunity that we have here at home”.

Asked about Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews declaring “the waste can go where all the jobs are going”, Mr Malinauskas said this was not a mature response.

“That implies that somehow this isn’t a national endeavour,” he said.

Premier Peter Malinauskas has hit back at Victorian Premier Dan Andrews, demanding nuclear waste from AUKUS submarines be dumped in SA.

“What should inform the judgment about whether nuclear waste goes isn’t some domestic political tit-for-tat, or some state-based parochialism, it should be about what is in the nation’s interests.

“We are building submarines in South Australia because we are the best place in the nation to do this. What should inform whether nuclear waste goes is where it is in the nation’s interest.”

Mr Malinauskas toured BAE Systems shipyard, in northwestern UK, on Thursday after landing in London early that morning.

The Barrow yard has been making nuclear submarines since 1960, after the UK inked a deal to share United States technology in 1958.

The 152-year-old shipyard has more than 11,000 workers – employing about 30 per cent of the town’s population of 60,000.

Last year alone, 2500 people were recruited to the shipyard.

Mr Malinauskas toured the shipyard and Submarines Academy for Skills and Knowledge, a BAE learning centre that teaches 1500 vocational and degree-based apprentices.

“The sheer scale of this facility blows your mind. It sincerely is mind-blowing walking out into that first main hall to see the size and the scope of the work being undertaken to deliver the United Kingdom its nuclear submarines – it’s pretty exciting,” he said.

“But it’s particularly exciting knowing that this is opportunities coming South Australia’s way.”

Premier Peter Malinauskas and UK Defence Procurement Minister Alex Chalk at the Barrow-in-Furness nuclear submarine shipyard operated by BAE Systems. Picture: Paul Starick

BAE Systems’ Barrow shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness, United Kingdom. Picture: BAE

UK Defence Procurement Minister Alex Chalk said his nation was “absolutely clear” that SA would meet the challenges of developing a skilled workforce to produce AUKUS submarines at Osborne Naval Shipyard.

“We will play our part in supporting you and the enthusiasm that exists here in Barrow to help on that enterprise is clear,” he said.

“But … this is not a one-way street. We recognise there’s a huge amount of expertise in South Australia which we will benefit from here.

“Being more than the sum of our parts is ensuring that we have a combined industrial base, a combined supply chain – that’s what creates the resilience that allows us to develop our submarines today (and) you to develop your submarines.”