SA senator Rex Patrick’s bold call to change submarine plans as China threat moves closer

As Beijing moves in on the Solomons, SA senator Rex Patrick says Australia does not have the time to wait until 2040 for nuclear-powered submarines.

The federal government must abandon its nuclear-powered submarine program and purchase 20 conventional boats instead, independent Senator Rex Patrick says, as experts suggest the nuclear option may not be necessary if Australia goes to war in the South Pacific.

As the alarm bells of war ring over China’s security deal with the Solomon Islands, Senator Patrick is urging both Labor and the Coalition to “abandon” Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s “flawed and irresponsible” nuclear submarine program after the May election.

The SA senator is pushing for the federal government to instead purchase 20 “air-independent”, conventionally powered submarines off the shelf from another country to be built in SA, with the first operational in 2026.

“The change in circumstances in the Solomons demands this,” Senator Patrick, a former submariner, said.

SA senator Rex Patrick says Australia can’t wait until 2040 for new submarines. Picture: Matt Turner.

Australia’s plan is to build eight nuclear-powered submarines in Adelaide under the AUKUS security pact with the US and Britain. But the first boat won’t enter service until about 2040 if the program runs on time.

“We’ve got Chinese warships regularly watching ‘Talisman Sabre’ war-games off the coast of Queensland, we just had an RAAF surveillance plane lit up by a laser from a Chinese warship,” Senator Patrick said.

“And it now looks like the Chinese will soon have a regular, if not permanent, presence in the Solomon Islands. The Chinese are not waiting until 2040.”

Air-independent submarines, such as Japan’s Soryu class, can operate without having to snorkel – a key feature they share with nuclear-propelled boats.

But air-independent boats, powered with fuel cells, do not have the same speed, range and deep-ocean performance as nuclear submarines.

Marcus Hellyer, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, warned against shaping defence acquisition policies “around one particular” event – but agreed the AUKUS submarine schedule was “completely out of sync with our strategic environment”.

The Japanese Soryu class submarine uses air-independent propulsion technology.

Dr Hellyer also argued nuclear-powered submarines, which don’t require refuelling so they can stay at sea for longer, might not be that necessary as the threat of war moved closer to home.

“If where you’re going to be operating is much closer to home, such as the South Pacific and potentially the Solomon Islands, then that (nuclear) advantage is not so crucial,” Dr Hellyer said.

“If you’re operating in archipelagic environments where there are lots of islands, small, conventional submarines are really hard to track and can be very potent.”

The Defence Department was contacted for comment.

Last September, Mr Morrison abandoned the French Attack-class submarine program to instead build nuclear-powered boats that can operate at high speed for longer periods.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton said it was time to “prepare for war” after the Solomon Islands inked a security agreement with Beijing.

“The only way you can preserve peace is to prepare for war and to be strong as a country, not to cower, not to be on bended knee and be weak,” Mr Dutton told Nine’s Today Show on Monday.

[e-mail]

Originally published as SA senator Rex Patrick’s bold call to change submarine plans as China threat moves closer