Anthony Albanese says Australia will not give US more money for nuclear submarines

There’s one thing Australia will not do to guarantee the purchase of US nuclear submarines, Anthony Albanese has declared, ahead of crucial talks with Joe Biden in Washington.

Australia is not planning to offer the US more money to guarantee our purchase of nuclear submarines, with Anthony Albanese declaring he is “very confident” a divided Congress will pass new laws needed to approve the AUKUS deal.

A growing number of Republicans have expressed doubts about delivering at least three Virginia-class boats to Australia in the early 2030s, given the slow pace of submarine production in the US.

But ahead of critical talks in Washington DC, the Prime Minister sounded an optimistic note on the laws progressing, which was matched by a key critic shifting in the wake of US President Joe Biden putting $US3.4bn on the table for the American submarine industrial base.

Australia has already promised to inject $A3bn into America’s submarine shipyards, an investment that is designed to help speed up production and pave the way for the transfer of nuclear-powered submarines down under.

Australia is not planning to offer the US more money to guarantee our purchase of nuclear submarines.

“We think our support is appropriate,” Mr Albanese told reporters, adding that Mr Biden’s new investment announced over the weekend showed he was “on the same page” for AUKUS to lift the capacity of all three nations involved in the pact.

“With the legislators that I’ve spoken to … they not only get that, they support it and they support it very strongly, and that has been across the board, whether they be Democrats or Republicans,” the Prime Minister said.

“When we’re talking about national security and defence, people want to get it right. I’m very confident of a very positive outcome, and that comes from the top in President Biden’s commitment to this, but it also comes from the engagement with Congress and senators.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier ahead of his high-level meetings with US officials in Washington. Picture: Getty Images

Republican senator Roger Wicker, the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, welcomed Mr Biden’s proposed spending boost in response to his push for extra investment to “retool our submarine industrial base“.

“We are way behind on submarines, and I was able to persuade the administration to add this component,” he said.

“And if we do that, we will be able to fulfil our obligations under the AUKUS treaty … and will have a much better chance at keeping the peace and preventing China from breaking out into a war. If we get this, it will be a victory for national security.”

‘TRULY UNBELIEVABLE’: QUESTIONS OVER BIDEN’S AUKUS BOOST

US President Joe Biden has unveiled a $US3.4bn spending boost for America’s submarine industrial base in a bid to sway Republicans who are threatening to block the AUKUS deal because of production delays.

On the eve of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s state visit to Washington DC, the President included the funding proposal as part of a $US105bn request to Congress that is focused on military aid for Ukraine and Israel.

Republicans have been urging Mr Biden to put more money on the table for submarine manufacturing if he wants them to approve new laws allowing the US to sell Australia at least three nuclear-powered boats in the early 2030s.

The US is currently only producing 1.2 new Virginia-class submarines every year, rather than the 2.5 needed per year to avoid shrinking their own Navy fleet when the sale occurs.

US President Joe Biden boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on October 20, 2023, leaving for Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP)

Mr Biden’s proposal would invest billions of dollars in America’s submarine shipyards, with new initiatives to grow the workforce, develop new suppliers and improve the use of technology to speed up production.

He is also seeking $US61bn for Ukraine and $US14bn for Israel in a package that requires the approval of Congress, which remains paralysed by Republican infighting over who should lead the House of Representatives after an unprecedented coup against the Speaker.

Republican senator Roger Wicker, who has spearheaded the mounting opposition to the sale of submarines to Australia, said the funding request was “a positive first step”.

“Inclusion of submarine industrial base funds is a welcome start to the process of fortifying our submarine maintenance and production capabilities, but it cannot stop here,” he said.

“As I have repeatedly said, our shipyards are under-resourced to meet the Navy’s urgent submarine requirements as well as meet the prospective demands of the AUKUS agreement.”

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the proposed submarine industrial base spending was “a key component to making our AUKUS agreement a success”.

Democratic congressman Joe Courtney, who heads up the congressional AUKUS working group, welcomed the budget request and said it highlighted the Biden administration’s “clear-eyed commitment to growing US undersea supremacy”.

“This request will not only help the industrial base increase production and capacity to ensure the Navy can meet its own fleet requirements but also position the AUKUS mission for success,” he said.

“With Prime Minister Albanese’s official visit to the United States in just a few days, President Biden is proving, once again, that the US has an unwavering commitment to the trilateral security agreement and maintaining peace in the Indo-Pacific.”

But the Carnegie Endowment’s senior fellow for Indo-Pacific security Ashley Townshend argued the President’s decision to allocate most of the package to Israel and Ukraine “couldn’t make it clearer where America’s priorities are and are not right now”.

“It will speak volumes in the Indo-Pacific where the goal is deterring a major war – and where the buck is always short. Truly unbelievable,” he said.

Originally published as Anthony Albanese says Australia will not give US more money for nuclear submarines