Scott Morrison splashes $10bn on submarine base

Scott Morrison will warn Russia and China are threatening the global world order as he unveils plans to build a $10bn nuclear submarine base on the east coast.

Scott Morrison will accuse Russia and China of aligning to reshape the international order to create a ‘transactional world, ­devoid of principle, accountability and transparency’. Picture: Gary Ramage

Scott Morrison will warn an “arc of autocracy” is threatening the global world order as he unveils plans to build a $10bn nuclear submarine base on the east coast of Australia.

The Prime Minister will use a speech to the Lowy Institute to ­reveal the government has identified Newcastle, Port Kembla and Port of Brisbane as potential locations for the first new major ­defence base built in Australia since the Robertson Barracks in Darwin in the 1990s.

Initial works are expected to be completed by next year, paving the way for a final decision on the location to house submarines ­acquired under the AUKUS agreement.

With national security poised to be a major election issue amid the growing geopolitical instability, Mr Morrison will declare Australia faces its most difficult and dangerous security environment in 80 years.

He will accuse Russia and China of aligning to try and reshape the international order to create a “transactional world, ­devoid of principle, accountability and transparency”.

“A new arc of autocracy is ­instinctively aligning to challenge and reset the world order in their own image,” Mr Morrison will say.

Describing the Indo-Pacific as the centre of geopolitical competition, Mr Morrison says autocratic states want to create a world where other nations will be forced to give up their sovereignty and liberty for “respite from ­coercion and intimidation”.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will likely be a “bloody and protracted conflict” with the strategic consequences to “inevitably stretch to the Indo-Pacific”.

“This is not a world we want for us, our neighbours or our region. It’s certainly not a world we want for our children,” he will say.

“Our rules-based international order, built upon the principles and values that guide our own ­nation, has for decades supported peace and stability, and allowed sovereign nations to pursue their interests free from coercion. This is now under assault.”

Mr Morrison’s description of an “arc of autocracy” is reminiscent of former US president George W. Bush calling Iran, North Korea and Iraq an “axis of evil” in 2002 as the threat of terrorism reshaped geopolitics.

Evoking his controversial “negative globalism” speech delivered in 2019, Mr Morrison will on Monday say global institutions have facilitated the autocratic ­assault on the world order.

“The well-motivated altruistic ambition of our international ­institutions has opened the door to this threat,” he says.

“Just as our open markets and liberal democracies have enabled hostile influence and interference to penetrate into our own societies and economies. The hope that such inclusion and accommodation would lead to some reform or moderation of these regimes or assist us in tackling the big global economic and environmental challenges, has been disappointed.”

The new submarine base will not affect the future capacity of Fleet Base West in Western Australia, which is home to the ­Collins-class fleet.

Both the west and east coast bases will house nuclear subs ­acquired from either Britain or the US under AUKUS.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton said on Sunday that the government would decide “within the next couple of months” what submarines it would acquire.

He said the subs would be in Australia “much sooner” than 2040 and there would be a plan to provide capability in the interim.

He said he was concerned by the “alliance” between China and Russia and claimed Beijing was “amassing nuclear weapons”.

Mr Dutton left the door open to providing aid or direct military support to Taiwan if it was invaded by China, warning there was a “cost of inaction”.

He signalled his belief in a Cold War-era domino theory that Russia and China would expand their territorial ambitions if they successfully invaded Ukraine and Taiwan.

“The question is, as it is in the Ukraine at the moment, if it’s ­Taiwan does it just stop there?” Mr Dutton told ABC’s Insiders program.

On Monday, Mr Morrison will say the Russian invasion of Ukraine was a “major wake-up call” for Europe and he urge Western nations to put “petty differences aside” to unite against the autocratic threat.

“Australia welcomes signs of a more concerted, tough-minded European approach to autocrat adventurism,” he says.

He will also reveal Australia has fast-tracked the approval of 1700 humanitarian visas for Ukrainians and “have begun preparations to address likely demands on our humanitarian and broader migration program”.