Advertisement
A year after Aukus deal, Australia to boost skilled workforce to help build nuclear-powered submarines
- Defence Minister Richard Marles said a ‘significant industrial base’ will be established in the country to build the submariner crew
- China has fiercely opposed the security agreement between the US, the UK and Australia, saying it breached international nuclear non-proliferation treaties
Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
1
Australia will build up its industrial base and skilled workforce to help construct and maintain a future fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, the next step in the security partnership known as Aukus, which has been fiercely opposed by China.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said he wanted to create a “genuinely seamless defence industrial base” across the US, Britain and Australia, in comments to mark the first anniversary of the agreement.
“A significant industrial base is going to need to be built here, skills need to be acquired, and so there’s a human dimension to all of that and a workforce which needs to be built up,” said Marles, who is also the deputy prime minister.
Advertisement
Australia, the UK and the US announced the wide-ranging security agreement known as Aukus on September 15, 2021, under which the three countries would cooperate more closely on defence and research. Under the deal, the US and the UK agreed to work with Australia to help construct and maintain a fleet of nuclear submarines, rapidly growing Canberra’s military reach in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Aukus agreement has been criticised by some of Australia’s neighbours, with China in particular escalating its concerns to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Beijing argued that the agreement to give Australia nuclear submarine technology breached international non-proliferation treaties.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x