SA Senator calls for rethink on $89bn Future Subs in favour of Collins Class upgrades
Time has run out for Future Submarines, says an SA Senator, who has written that threats from China should make Collins Class upgrades our biggest priority.
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Australia must shift its focus off building the $89bn Future Submarines and rapidly upgrade its Collins Class fleet to be prepared for possible warfare “in the next few years”, a South Australian senator says.
Independent Senator Rex Patrick has also warned the risks and costs of shifting submarine maintenance and 700 shipyard jobs from SA to Western Australia are “now just too high” given rising tensions in Asia.
“With talk of conflict in the next few years, or indeed within the next 15 to 20 years, our sharp focus must not be on the Future Submarine program, rather the Collins Class submarine fleet,” Senator Patrick writes in The Advertiser today.
Despite the thousands of jobs and investment it would pump into SA, Senator Patrick warns the Attack Class subs could “prove a distraction from more immediate tasks” and should not be the current focus.
The senator has previously called for the Federal Government to investigate a Plan B, given concerns about cost and time blowouts, and contract disputes with Naval Group.
The first of the Future Subs will not be finished until 2034 or 2035 on the current timeline, while Australia’s six Collins Class subs are set to undergo massive upgrades from 2026 to extend their life.
Australia is already five years into the project, and breaking the Future Subs contract with Naval Group after just the basic design stage would cost about $140m, according to previous reports.
Senator Patrick’s call came after Defence Minister Peter Dutton last week said the possibility of a conflict over Taiwan should not be discounted and Home Affairs boss Mike Pezzullo warned the “drums of war” were beating.
It also emerged yesterday that top military commander Major-General Adam Findlay had briefed his troops in April 2020 that China was already engaged in “grey zone” attacks and they should be prepared for a potential future conflict.
Meanwhile, Senator Patrick said the Federal Government “must put to bed” the idea of shifting submarine maintenance from SA to WA.
“The rise in regional tension just strengthens the case and adds an immediate need for a decision from government so that all the stakeholders can get on with the job,” he said.
Defence analyst Marcus Hellyer agreed it would be a risk for Australia to rely only on the Future Subs and Future Frigates, given how long it would take to build them, with Taiwan “distilling as a tipping point”. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute expert said long-range bombers, being made in the US, could be obtained sooner and would be an effective deterrent.
Rex Patrick: We can’t afford to move subs to WA
By Rex Patrick
There’s not a week that goes by now without a warning of the rising tensions in Asia and what this might mean for Australia’s security, be it from Defence commentators, the Secretary of Home Affairs and even the Defence Minister.
That means the question of Defence Force readiness is becoming a critical one. And it is in that context that the Federal Government must put to bed the idea of shifting Collins class submarine full-cycle dockings (FCDs) from South Australia to Western Australia.
With talk of conflict in the next few years, even 20 years, our sharp focus must not be on the future submarine program, rather the Collins class submarine fleet. Indeed, the future submarine project could prove a distraction from more immediate tasks.
The good news is that Collins class submarine availability is at an all-time high. This is thanks largely to the 700 ASC workers at Osbourne.
The risks of shifting FCDs west are now just too high.
Ninety per cent of the SA submarine workforce have indicated they will not move to WA. With each engineer at ASC holding more than 10 years of Collins submarine knowledge, the effect of gutting the submarine enterprise of this would be catastrophic.
A reduction in submarine availability is something Australia cannot tolerate in a deteriorating security environment.
Noting the proposed move is in 2026, the year that extensive and complex Collins extension work is set to begin, we cannot afford to smash the FCD team. It would add an unacceptable level of risk when a response to strategic circumstances requires certainty.
It doesn’t make sense from a cost perspective either. We can’t afford to spend a billion dollars on shifting something; there is just so much more defence work we can do with that sort of money.
And if we moved the FCDs to WA we would co-locate all of our submarine maintenance and assets in one place, a single target. Does that make strategic sense? Definitely not.
The sensible decision is clear: FCDs should remain in SA. This has been the logical outcome from the very beginning. The rise in regional tension just strengthens the case and adds an immediate need for a decision from Government so that all the stakeholders can get on with the job.
There’s an old saying: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s especially the case for a critical set of defence assets when there are real threats to national security on the horizon.
Minister Dutton presents himself as a tough guy who can make hard decisions. This isn’t a hard decision and I’m calling on the new Defence Minister to make it now. To procrastinate further is not in Australia’s security interests.
Rex Patrick is an independent senator for South Australia
Man fronts court after allegedly firing weapon at house
A man has faced court for the first time after a shot was allegedly fired at a home in what police say was not a random incident.
Dazzling rip-off claims in SA dance costume dust-up
A South Australian woman has been slammed by an online calisthenics community who claim she ripped them off.