“But whichever way you cut it,the building industry in this state,around submarine capability,is going to be fundamentally important to getting that capability and getting it quickly.”
Nuclear submarines secured under the AUKUS deal were vital for the country’s clout in diplomacy and trade,Marles said,while insisting that Labor would preserve local jobs following the scrapping of the French submarine deal in 2021.
Marles said the South Australian defence industry was fundamental to boosting Australia’s military muscle while the government searches for stop=gap solutions until the nuclear-propelled submarines pledged under the US and UK agreement were operation late next decade.
The defence industry is “totally central” to how Australia is “taken seriously in the world”,Marles said on Thursday following a meeting of 21 manufacturers,including Austal,Boeing and BAE Systems.
“Submarines really matter and having the capability in respect of submarines going forward really matters,and to do that we are going to have to go down the path of nuclear propulsion,and AUKUS is the mechanism which is going to deliver that for the country.”