AUKUS Plan a ‘Huge Moment’ in Australia’s Defence History: Minister

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Richard Marles, during Question Time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Nov. 29, 2022. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles has said that the AUKUS deal will be one of the nation’s most significant national security decisions in decades as the federal government is set to unveil its nuclear submarine plan in March.

Marles has also assured Australians that the nation will not be left with a capability gap as the ageing Collins-class submarine fleet nears retirement, reported The Age.

“We know, this is a very significant procurement,” Marles said in reference to Australia’s plan to acquire U.S. nuclear-powered submarines as a stopgap that is predicted to cost at least $100 billion (US$71.2 billion).

“It’s a very big step the country is taking. We get a huge capability which is transformative in terms of our strategic posture, in terms of being able to be taken seriously.”

Additionally, Marles is expected to receive recommendations from the nuclear-powered submarine task force and the final version of the government’s Strategic Review of Australia’s defence forces in the first week of February.

“I think this is a huge moment in Australian defence history,” Marles said.

“What I can say is that the body of work for both exercises is on track and, therefore, near completion.”

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

Marles added that he had “a weight of responsibility” to ensure that the decisions on Australia’s national security, such as AUKUS, would be correct given the enormous costs involved as well as the failure of previous plans to update Australia’s current submarine fleet.

“[T]he decisions we’re taking will have a very big impact on the nature of the country for a long time to come,” Marles said, reported The Age.

“I feel really confident that we’ll be able to make decisions in a way which is in the best interest of the country.”

Final Submarine Model

Marles said that the final submarine model would involve significant input from both the UK and the U.S., adding that AUKUS was a “genuine three-country collaboration.”

“That’s what’s now going to happen in terms of technology, which was always at the heart of this, but also on the industrial side,” reported The Age.

While Marles has not specified what proportion of the submarines would be built in Australia—after the acquisition of the U.S. submarines is used as a stopgap to replace the current Collins-class fleet—he said that the Osborne Naval Shipyard in Adelaide would be a significant stakeholder.

“We must develop an industrial capability in Australia. That’s the only way this can work, and that’s what will be expected of us by both the UK and the U.S.,” he said.

“The bottom line here is that making a nuclear-powered submarine is a huge thing to do. There’s no global showroom with these things on offer. There’s no stockpile of them.”

Additionally, Marles will provide the government’s cost estimate of the submarine program and outline how Australia will comply with its nuclear non-proliferation obligations.

In an op-ed, Foreign Minister Penny Wong argued that Australia’s plan to acquire nuclear submarines does not risk its nuclear non-proliferation obligations.

“That assertion misses a crucial fact: the submarines we propose to acquire are nuclear-powered, not nuclear-armed,” she opined, adding that Australia’s proposed nuclear-powered submarines will not carry nuclear weapons.

“Other countries in the Indo-Pacific have been operating nuclear-powered submarines for decades—this is not a new capability in the region,” she wrote.

L-R) Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrive for a joint news conference after the 32nd annual Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations at the U.S. State Department Dec. 6, 2022 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

“All three AUKUS partners have pledged to uphold our legal obligations. And we understand that acquiring this critical capability comes with a responsibility to strengthen even further the non-proliferation regime.

“In both our endeavours, to enhance Australia’s defence capability and to support practical action on non-proliferation and disarmament, we seek the same goal—a peaceful, stable and prosperous region.”

Chinese state-run media Global Times has previously criticised the AUKUS deal saying that the pact is used as a tool to stir trouble and create “suspicion” about the Chinese regime’s intentions.

However, there have been growing concerns over Beijing’s encroachment in the Indo-Pacific in recent years.

Former U.S. Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, who served as secretary of the U.S. Navy during the Trump administration, said in November 2022 that the U.S. Navy should provide more help to defend Australia’s waters until it acquires its own nuclear submarines in response to the rising threat from Beijing.

Headed to France

Both Marles and Wong will fly to France next week for a “2+2” meeting in an effort to repair a diplomatic rift after the previous Morrison government sensationally ditched a multibillion-dollar order for French submarines.

As part of the arrangement, Australia will pay France-based Naval Group $555 million euros (AU $848 million).

The move had triggered an unprecedented diplomatic rift with France’s recall of its ambassadors from Canberra and Washington.

In November 2022, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there was no rift between the two countries after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the G20 in Bali.

However, days later, Macron said AUKUS risked a “nuclear confrontation” with Beijing.