Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price supports local submarine build

Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price backs nation’s local shipbuilders to deliver the new AUKUS fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.

Minister Melissa Price says she wants Australian jobs to be at the centre of the new AUKUS alliance. Picture: Sean Davey.

Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price has backed the nation’s local shipbuilders to deliver the new AUKUS fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, despite some of Australia’s most experienced political and foreign policy leaders calling for a local build to be re-examined.

Former deputy prime minister John Anderson and ex-­defence secretary Dennis Richardson told The Weekend Australian on Saturday they were sceptical of Australia’s local manufacturing capacity to handle the new fleet, due by 2040.

And former prime minister John Howard called on the Morrison government to consider the lease of nuclear subs from the US and Britain to fill the current defence gap.

The defence industry has hit back at suggestions it cannot handle construction of the ­nuclear submarines, with Australian Industry and Defence Network chief executive Brent Clark calling them “ludicrous”.

Ms Price, promoted in Scott Morrison’s cabinet reshuffle last Friday, and adding science and technology to her portfolios, said she wanted Australian jobs to be at the centre of the new AUKUS alliance. “I have full confidence in the Australian defence industry to deliver. We already have world-class naval vessels being constructed and maintained here at home and that will continue,” she said.

“The stakes are high. Our priority is to have a superior submarine capability for our region.

“Our strategic circumstances have deteriorated. That is why we must make decisions that are in our national interest. And I want Australian jobs and capability to be at the forefront of this new era in our naval capability.”

The Prime Minister’s switch to the US-UK nuclear submarines over a now-dead $90bn French deal for conventional subs has been widely praised by former prime ministers and the security establishment. But there are long-running concerns among foreign policy analysts that the building of submarines in Adelaide under both deals is more focused on local jobs than national security needs.

Mr Howard said on Saturday he believed the government should look at leasing subs from the US or UK so they arrive as an Australian capability before the near 20 years envisaged in the government’s current thinking.

Another former prime min­ister, Tony ­Abbott, also strongly backs leasing, and Ms Price on Sunday said it was still an ­option.

Mr Clark, whose group represents more than 1000 small and medium-sized defence industries, said other Western countries showed middle powers like Australia can produce their own boats.