AUKUS windfall set to put further strain on tight WA jobs market

The plan will cost well over $10bn and will generate around 10,000 jobs, making it the biggest defence commitment in Western Australia since Federation.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles with WA Premier Roger Cook among other VIPs visiting the Australian Marine Complex in Henderson, south of Perth. Picture: Paul Garvey

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Recruitment is shaping as one of the biggest challenges facing Australia’s naval expansion, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said, as the government unveiled plans to pump billions of dollars into a major new defence facility in Perth’s south.

The new precinct at Henderson will ultimately be the maintenance facility for Australia’s new fleet of AUKUS nuclear submarines, as well as the construction site for the navy’s future general purpose frigates and army landing craft. It will be the biggest naval maintenance hub in the southern hemisphere.

The government has committed $127m for studies and early works, with the eventual development likely to cost well over $10bn. That, Mr Marles said, would make it the most significant defence industry commitment to Western Australia since Federation.

The facility is expected to support 10,000 jobs, although Mr Marles acknowledged finding that many workers in a state with near full employment would be “one of the great challenges” of the project.

“We know that there are challenges here in terms of the resources sector, but we are confident that with the appropriate investment in training we can find the people and train the people necessary in order to develop this industry,” the Defence Minister said.

WA is already rolling out dedicated training programs aimed at building the skills needed for the industry.

WA Premier Roger Cook said the state hoped to attract people from interstate and overseas to help fill the void.

“We think that we’ve got the skills and the experience to be able to stand up this workforce, but we will need to obviously have skilled migrants coming to Western Australia, particularly from the east coast,” he said.

Mr Cook said the commitment would bring tens of billions of dollars of investment into WA and deliver an industry that would rival the state’s dominant resources sector.

While Mr Cook and his predecessor Mark McGowan promised to diversify the WA economy when first elected in 2017, the state’s economy has become increasingly reliant on mining.

“This particular industry will rival the resources industry as one of our main areas for economic growth, for economic activity and for employment,” Mr Cook said.

Mr Marles, right, with Mr Cook. Picture: Paul Garvey

“What you will see created here are jobs that will last into the future; generation after generation of people undertaking their entire careers through apprenticeships, senior work and management, all in this particular precinct. It doesn’t matter which way you cut this, the scale of this project is daunting and it’s mind-boggling.”

The commitment to WA follows years of aggressive lobbying by the state for a bigger share of defence spending.

WA Defence Industries Minister Paul Papalia said the facility would make WA the powerhouse of Australia’s defence industry. He said the prospect of working on nuclear submarines was likely to appeal to many younger people entering the workforce.

“Our own Virginia-class nuclear submarine is the apex predator of the ocean. If you’re in the military, if you’re even thinking about going into the military, you want to go in the best possible equipment that you’ve got, the best available, the most impactful, the one that generates or projects power on behalf of the nation in the most effective way. These things are going to draw people to them,” Mr Papalia said.

While the plan for the precinct was welcomed by the Coalition, which had previously committed billions for a dry dock at the site, opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie said the $127m committed over the next three years was barely enough to get works under way.

“The Defence Minister, alongside his part-time Defence Industry Minister, likes to make big defence announcements. However, they are all feathers and no meat,” Mr Hastie said.

“Labor consistently fails to match their announcements with adequate funding or planning. Unfortunately, this announcement looks like just another empty Labor promise.”

The feasibility study confirmed on Wednesday will only be completed by 2027, the same year that the first US and UK nuclear submarines are due to start rotations through the nearby HMAS Stirling naval base as part of the AUKUS agreement.

Mr Marles defended that timing, telling reporters Australia did not have to have contingency maintenance arrangements in place by 2027 as part of AUKUS. Instead, AUKUS would require Australia to have timing around those plans by the time the rotations begin.

He also downplayed the prospect of a second Donald Trump presidency derailing the AUKUS plans, noting the agreement had enjoyed support from “across the entire political spectrum of the United States”.

“If you actually look at the voting actions of everyone across the American political spectrum, it demonstrates support for AUKUS,” he said.

“We will watch what happens in America. (The presidency) is obviously a matter for the American people, but we do so with a sense of confidence that whatever the outcome there will be support for AUKUS.”