Australia seeks Aukus submarine deal to ‘better ensure a strategic equilibrium’, foreign minister says

Australia, a ‘middle power’ like most nations in Southeast Asia, ‘will never seek to acquire nuclear weapons’, says Foreign Minister Penny Wong

As China’s mission to the UN condemned the submarine deal by the Western allies, Wong says that the submarines will ‘help keep the peace’ in the region

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Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said of the submarine deal: “We seek to acquire this capability in order to help keep the peace. We want a peaceful, stable, prosperous region, as Singapore, as Malaysia, as Indonesia do.” Photo: AFP

Published: 5:13pm, 14 Mar 2023Updated: 12:07pm, 15 Mar 2023

Australia is seeking nuclear-powered submarines to “better ensure a strategic equilibrium”, its Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Tuesday, a day after a plan to acquire a fleet of up to eight such submarines was announced.

The leaders of the United States, Australia and Britain on Monday unveiled details of the agreement to provide Australia with the attack submarines, a major step under the 2021 Aukus partnership aimed at countering China’s naval dominance in the Indo-Pacific.

The deal is forecast to cost Australia up to A$368 billion (US$245.3 billion) between now and the mid-2050s.

From left: Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in San Diego, California on March 13, 2023, unveiling the next phase of the Aukus nuclear submarine programme. Photo: Bloomberg

“We don’t seek to acquire this capability to do anything other than to seek to better ensure a strategic equilibrium,” Wong told CNA in a wide-ranging exclusive broadcast interview. She was responding to a question on how she would reassure neighbours amid concerns.

Explaining the motivation behind buying the nuclear-powered submarines, she noted that the country is a “middle power” like most of the countries in Southeast Asia.

“We seek to acquire this capability in order to help keep the peace. We want a peaceful, stable, prosperous region, as Singapore, as Malaysia, as Indonesia do,” she said.

She added that Australia is acquiring this capability “transparently”, pointing to briefings that the country has provided to regional leaders.

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