Prime Minister and Peter Dutton at odds over election promise

Peter Dutton and the Prime Minister are at odds over a major election promise, issuing contradictory statements just one day apart.

Scott Morrison has poured cold water on claims he is fast tracking Australia’s nuclear submarine program, in a major contradiction of his defence minister.

In a virtual address to the Lowy Institute, the Prime Minister outlined his plan to establish a new submarine base off Australia’s east coast.

It would be designed to support the fleet of nuclear powered submarines being acquired under the AUKUS agreement.

Three preferred sites have been chosen at Brisbane, Newcastle and Port Kembla following a defence review of 19 locations.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected to announce the plan in a major speech on Monday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Critics of the program, such as Malcolm Turnbull, had raised concerns over if it had been fast-tracked to win votes at the upcoming federal poll.

“I'm afraid Mr Dutton and Mr Morrison, (are) using national security very cynically, as a political exercise as a political wedge, rather than seeking to build the sort of bipartisan support that we need for major national security policies,” the former prime minister told ABC RN.

But just a day after Mr Dutton claimed a decision on a supplier could be made within months, the prime minister shot down any intention of a pre-election announcement.

“We don't anticipate that decision will be made before the election … and no-one should expect it to,“ Mr Morrison said on Monday.

Malcolm Turnbull has been a vocal critic of the AUKUS plan since it was announced. Picture: Richard Dobson

“This is a trilateral partnership, this is not a procurement contest — this is a partnership where the decisions are made together.

“But we have made a lot of progress.”

On Sunday, the Defence Minister said Australia would acquire capability “much sooner” than the expected 18 month timeline, leaving the door open to a pre-election announcement.

But by Monday morning, Mr Dutton had watered down the claim.

“I think we, at some stage, will have an announcement to make about which boat we go with once we’ve had the consultations with the US and the UK,” he told 6PR.

He said he wasn’t ruling out “anything” in terms of capability in the interim, and again insisted Australia would acquire the nuclear submarines “much more quickly than people are predicting”.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton has denied WA was snubbed by the deal. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

It comes as the government is fending off fury Western Australia was overlooked for the submarine base.

Addressing concerns on Perth radio, Mr Dutton reassured WA would remain as important as ever – especially with predicted increase in naval visits from Quad nations.

“I think the importance is greater than it’s ever been, to be honest; I think West Australia should be reassured of that,” he told 6PR.

However, he conceded, due to global uncertainty the government needed to extend its submarine capabilities to the east coast.

“You don’t want to keep all your eggs in one basket,” Mr Dutton added.

“We need to be arguing from a position of strength and we do that by spreading our assets, geographically and strategically.”

The creation of a new submarine base will be the first time a major new base has been built since Robertson Barracks was constructed in the Northern Territory in the 1990s, but this project will be bigger.

Royal Australian Navy submarine HMAS Rankin. Picture: POIS Yuri Ramsey/Australian Defence Force

Labor said it would reserve judgment on the proposal until it is briefed, but added any decision should be made with bipartisan support.

“This has the potential to span multiple governments and so we’d expect to be briefed on it, we’d expect to understand what he’s proposing here in this speech today,” opposition treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers told Nine.

“Ideally, it would be a bipartisan commitment.”

Mr Morrison said the government has authorised the defence department to immediately begin negotiating with the NSW and Queensland governments, and relevant local governments and authorities on the “enormous undertaking”.

This initial work is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

– Additional reporting by Melissa Iaria

Originally published as Prime Minister and Peter Dutton at odds over election promise