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

Australia

Bloomberg

Published: 9:37am, 16 Sep 2022

Why you can trust SCMP

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.

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.

Indonesia calls for tighter IAEA oversight on nuclear-powered submarines

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.

After IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi said he was satisfied with the Aukus partners’ engagement so far, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning accused the agency of turning “a blind eye” to international concerns.

The Albanese government has promised to revitalise Australia’s manufacturing industry as part of its policy agenda, pledging A$15 billion (US$10.1 billion) as part of a National Reconstruction Fund. Speaking ahead of the Aukus anniversary, Marles said it was important for Australia to have “sovereign capability.”

“We also need to ensure we have a pathway which builds the submariner crew, and which also develops the workforce that can build subs. To that end, it’s really clear that we will have to develop the capacity in Australia to build nuclear-powered submarines,” he said.

03:55

US, China, Russia, Britain and France pledge to only use nuclear weapons for defence

It is unknown what model of nuclear submarine will be chosen for the partnership, with Marles flagging the target of an early 2023 announcement. British Secretary of Defence Ben Wallace hinted at the possibility of an entirely-new design in a press conference with Marles during a visit to the UK in September.

“I think there’s a confusion as to somehow this is me trying to sell that submarine and the minister will go off to the United States and buy that,” Wallace said.

“But actually the ultimate is to get all of us to get through the 2030s where we produce a submarine that is in my view, truly collaborative, might have a bit of all three on it.”