Aussie nuclear submarine plan to create 20,000 jobs over next 30 years

Details of the massive workforce needed to build the nuclear submarine are about to be announced and one state will be a big winner.

Australia’s nuclear submarine plan will create a whopping 20,000 jobs over the next three decades in what the Albanese government is billing as the biggest industrial endeavour in our history.

A workforce strategy to recruit and train thousands of engineers, scientists, electricians, welders, metal fitters, project managers and more is due to be unveiled later this week after the long-awaited details of the AUKUS pact are confirmed on Tuesday in the US.

Up to 8500 jobs will be supported at the peak of submarine construction in South Australia, where Australia is expected to build British-designed submarines equipped with American combat systems.

Thousands more jobs will be created across the Defence Force and the public service.

Anthony Albanese landed in San Diego on Sunday ahead of the trilateral announcement at a naval base alongside US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

On his first trip to the US, the Prime Minister also has bilateral meetings scheduled with both leaders, with tackling climate change another key priority.

Anthony Albanese landed in San Diego on Sunday ahead of the trilateral announcement at a naval base alongside US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Mr Albanese and Mr Biden have been working towards a joint leaders’ statement on US-Australia climate co-operation, elevating it as a key pillar of the alliance.

Australia’s US ambassador Arthur Sinodinos said this month it would “provide a framework for not only how we keep each other honest on climate change … but also on how we can work better together”.

But AUKUS will be the primary focus of the trip after an 18-month study between the three countries to develop Australia’s “optimal pathway” to acquiring a nuclear-powered fleet.

This is tipped to be a three-phase plan with US submarines visiting Western Australia more regularly, Australia buying up to five Virginia-class boats from the US, and building next-generation British submarines in South Australia.

“This is about jobs … and Adelaide in particular will be a big beneficiary of this announcement, as well as Western Australia,” Mr Albanese said prior to arriving in the US.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy last month described AUKUS as “the greatest industrial undertaking Australia has ever conducted”.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy. Picture: Supplied

US politician Joe Courtney, the co-chair of the congressional AUKUS working group, said Australian workers would initially be involved in scaling up production at US shipyards.

“I think it’ll benefit Australia in terms of really getting a workforce that’s going to have the skill set to build its own subs,” he told the ABC.

“Everybody’s going to be sort of contributing to each other’s needs.”

Mr Courtney promised Australia would not receive “clunkers” from the US, amid speculation that the Albanese government would buy boats that were already in operation rather than new submarines straight off the production line.

Originally published as Aussie nuclear submarine plan to create 20,000 jobs over next 30 years