United Kingdom Foreign Secretary David Cameron and Defence Secretary Grant Shapps in Adelaide AUKMIN meeting

Adelaide will host a former UK prime minister for a crucial summit about the $368bn nuclear-powered submarine project.

A top-level Adelaide meeting headlined by former UK prime minister David Cameron is set to kickstart nuclear-powered submarine work by announcing the $368bn AUKUS project’s shipbuilder.

Government House on Friday will host the United Kingdom Foreign Secretary, Mr Cameron, and Defence Secretary Grant Shapps for high-level talks with their Australian counterparts, Penny Wong and Richard Marles.

The annual Australia-United Kingdom Ministerial Consultations, known as AUKMIN, will include a visit to Osborne Naval Shipyard, where nuclear-powered submarines will be built under the AUKUS security pact.

The United Kingdom’s former prime minister, David Cameron, leaves 10 Downing Street after being appointed Foreign Secretary in a Cabinet reshuffle. Picture by Carl Court/Getty Images

It is expected the ministers will then announce BAE Systems Australia as the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine builder – as The Advertiser revealed in February.

The shipbuilder will then help design a Training and Skills Academy at Osborne, in Adelaide’s northwest, to produce the thousands of workers needed for the highly complex project.

Mr Marles, the Defence Minister, is a keen Geelong fan, posing the prospect of Mr Cameron and Mr Shapps being hosted at Adelaide Oval for Friday night’s Crows v Cats game.

UK Secretary of Defence Grant Shapps (right) and Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz (second right) greet and chat with British and Polish troops. Picture: Wojtek Radwanski / AFP

Revealing the Adelaide AUKMIN meeting to the Sunday Mail, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Adelaide was “obviously critical” to the two nations’ relationship.

“We face a challenging and rapidly changing world – and the United Kingdom is one of Australia’s closest and most enduring partners,” he said.

“Adelaide is obviously critical to this relationship. When work begins on the construction of our nuclear submarine fleet, South Australia will be at the forefront of that exciting endeavour, and the jobs it will create.

“AUKMIN is an opportunity to strengthen our work in key strategic areas, including AUKUS and identify new opportunities for collaboration.”

Mr Albanese will welcome the UK ministers to Canberra on Thursday, before they travel to Adelaide on Friday for talks on AUKUS and deepening co-operation in defence, climate action, clean energy, and cyber and economic security.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas speak to workers on a Collins Class Submarine at the Osborne Naval Shipyard. Picture: David Mariuz

Premier Peter Malinauskas said the Adelaide talks were “an opportunity for a significant demonstration of progress” on the AUKUS submarine program.

“Every time we have a significant meeting or announcement like this, it gnaws away at the critics that AUKUS has, until, eventually, people will appreciate that this is a project that is happening and is a monumental opportunity for the state,” Mr Malinauskas said.

“We’re looking forward to significant progress in terms of AUKUS this year. We know that the federal government has committed to announcing who the submarine builder will be this calendar year.

“That’s critical in advance of the development of Training and Skills Academy to be built at Osborne, which we want to see progress on by the end of the year in terms of its design and construction.”

BAE, which is designing and constructing Hunter Class frigates at Osborne, has been the overwhelming favourite to build AUKUS submarines.

The UK government last October awarded the firm a $7.62bn contract to design the SSN-AUKUS submarine and build supporting infrastructure at its Barrow in Furness shipyard in northwestern UK.