Having Australian Nuclear Subs Operational By 2030 is ‘Extremely Optimistic’ Says Defence Minister

A nuclear propulsion Ohio class submarine, the USS Florida sails on Jan. 22, 2003 off the coast of the Bahamas. Australia as part of the AUKUS deal will get the tech for nuclear powered subs. David Nagle/U.S. Navy/Getty Images

Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has said he believes the 2030 deadline for the country to have nuclear subs in our waters is “optimistic in the extreme.”

Marles who is also Australia’s defence minister said that he believed the deadline set by the previous Australian government was in the 2040’s rather than 2030.

“I think the truth of where the former government left us at the time of the election is that they were looking at a new nuclear submarine in the 2040s. That is where they were at,”  Marles said on the ABC’s Radio National on Wednesday.

“Now we will be looking at every option available to try and bring that time forward, but I think to bring it forward to eight years from now would be extremely optimistic.”

Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Richard Marles speaks at the Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on June 11, 2022. ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images

The Deputy Prime Minister admitted that this would leave Australia with a capability gap and that they were considering all possibilities to close the hole in Australia’s defence, including extending the life of the Collins Class submarines.

“We’re not ruling that out by any means,” he said. I think life-of-type extensions will play an important part here but we are very open-minded about whatever options there are in terms of close the capability.”

Concerned Nuclear Deal Sends Wrong Message

The comments from Marles come after one of Australia’s long-term Asia-pacific allies Malaysia has reiterated its concerns over the nuclear submarine deal to Foreign Minister Penny Wong who is currently on a diplomatic visit to the south-east Asian nation.

Malaysia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dato' Sri Saifuddin Bin Abdullah noted in a joint press conference with Wong on Wednesday that Malaysia highly values the regional peace and security of the ASEAN region.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, speaks next to Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah during a press conference at foreign ministry in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on Dec. 15, 2021. Jai Huzaini/Ministry of Foreign Affair via AP

“We want to maintain the South China Sea in particular and the region as a whole, as a region of peace, of commerce, of prosperity,” he said. “And we had a very candid discussion on AUKUS just now and I thank the Foreign Minister for explaining the current government’s position. And Malaysia’s position remains the same.”

Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had previously said in May that the AUKUS deal could have potential knock-on effects arguing that if China, for example, wanted to help North Korea buy nuclear-propelled submarines Malaysia could not “say no because AUKUS has set a precedent”

Wong who is making her first visit as Australia’s foreign minister to the country of her birth noted the Australian government considered it important to listen to the concerns of countries in the region, including Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia and that they would respond to them respectfully.

Australia Seeks to Keep Region Peaceful

However, she added that the deal was not going to turn Australia into a nuclear power.

“What we are doing is replacing an existing capability with a new capability and that is nuclear‑powered submarines,” Wong said.  “The propulsion system is powered by nuclear power. But we remain very clear that we do not seek, and nor would we ever seek, to have any nuclear capability on our submarines.”

Wong said that the government was aware that the region was being reshaped economically and politically and that Australia would always operate on the basis of keeping the region peaceful.

Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) from L-R:
Malaysia's Saifuddin Abdullah, Philippines' Teodoro Locsin, Singapore's Vivian Balakrishnan, Cambodia's Prak Sokhonn, Indonesia's Retno Marsudi, Laos' Saleumxay Kommasith and ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi pose for a group photo during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat in Phnom Penh on Feb. 17, 2022. Tang Chhin Sothy / AFP via Getty Images

“Australia will always operate on the basis that we have this objective: a region that is peaceful, a region that is stable, a region that is prosperous, a region in which sovereignty is respected, and, importantly, a region where rules enable some predictability to State behaviour and to the way in which disputes would be dealt with,” she said.

Meanwhile, a study by the Lowy Institute has revealed that 70 percent of Australians are in favour of the country obtaining nuclear-powered submarines.

Additionally, the institute revealed that the number of Australians who want defence spending to be increased has jumped 20 points since 2019 to 51 percent.

A previous version of the article stated that Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles was optimistic the subs would be in the water by 2030. This was incorrect and the Epoch Times apologises for this error.