In the fracas that accompanied the cancellation of the French submarine contract, one important issue was elided: where the AUKUS submarines would be built. Even before the type of submarine has been decided, both major political parties committed to build the submarines in Adelaide, with an open-ended promise to maximise Australian content.

Nuclear submarines are not only a different technological proposition from the French submarines, but a vastly larger undertaking. This decision cannot sensibly be based simply on the idea that it would be nice to have a domestic high-tech industry.