PM vows ‘as much as possible’ of the AUKUS nuclear submarines will be built in SA

Scott Morrison has been forced to clarify comments that appeared to suggest Adelaide may lose the building work for nuclear-powered submarines.

Scott Morrison has promised the future nuclear-powered submarines will be built in Adelaide “as much as possible”, accusing Labor and independent SA senator Rex Patrick of “twisting” his words.

The Prime Minister on Thursday morning rushed to clarify his earlier comments that his opponents suggested had left the door open to building the $100bn-plus nuclear submarines offshore.

“Elections come up and people get a bit mischievous and sometimes can take things out of context,” Mr Morrison told FIVEaa radio on Thursday.

“We will build submarines in South Australia, and we will build as much of them in SA as we possibly can, and any suggestion that’s being made to the contrary is just frankly false and misleading.”

The Australian reported Mr Morrison said the “paramount goal” was not building them in Adelaide, but “to ensure we get that capability as soon as we can”.

Senator Patrick seized on the comments, describing them as “an utter betrayal of South Australia”.

Opposition defence spokesman Brendan O’Connor suggested Mr Morrison was “clearly walking away from his promise to build submarines in Australia”.

But on Thursday morning, Mr Morrison said his words were “taken out of context” and promised the work would be done in Adelaide.

“I wanted to be sure that … there was no doubt in the minds of people in South Australia, and that words wouldn’t be twisted,” he said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison took to Adelaide morning radio to clarify comments about the nuclear submarine build. Picture: Damian Shaw

“Of course we need to get the capability as soon as we can, but that doesn’t change our commitment to what we’re doing in South Australia at all,” he said.

“All I was saying (earlier this week) was consistent with everything we’ve said – and so they are going to be built in South Australia.

“The question was, how much of that is going to be built in South Australia, and my answer to that is as much as we possibly can.”

Mr Morrison said the nuclear reactors could not be built in Adelaide. Instead, they will be imported from the US or Britain to be installed on the boats.

The federal government has come under fire from SA’s defence industry after it cancelled the $1.3bn Sky Guardian drone program, dumping about 150 SA jobs.

Last September, the $90bn Attack-class submarine program was scrapped in favour of a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS security pact with the US and Britain.

Addressing the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, Premier Peter Malinauskas expressed concern about the likely $5.5bn cost to unwind the complex contract with Naval Group.

“That’s a lot of money to spend on literally nothing, apart from delay,” Mr Malinauskas said.

“But nonetheless, yes, the submarines should be built in SA.”
The Premier said SA should be “actively ambitious” about expanding to local industry to build the boats at Osborne.

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Originally published as PM vows ‘as much as possible’ of the AUKUS nuclear submarines will be built in SA