Dutton says he planned to buy nuclear subs from US
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has revealed he had been working on a plan to fast-track Australia’s acquisition of nuclear submarines before the end of the decade, amid rising regional tensions.
In an opinion piece in The Australian on Thursday, the former defence minister said that before the federal election in May, the Defence Department was investigating purchasing two Virginia-class nuclear-Āpowered submarines from the US by 2030.
The arrival of the submarines would be at least 10 years ahead of schedule, compared with being built in Australia.
Dutton wrote the American submarine was the best option to prevent a capability gap following the retirement of the Collins-class submarines from 2038.
āI believed it possible to negotiate with the Americans to Āacquire, say, the first two submarines off the production line out of Connecticut,ā he wrote.
āThis wouldnāt mean waiting until 2038 for the first submarine to be built here in Australia.
āWe would have our first two subs this decade. I had formed a judgement the Americans would have facilitated exactly that.ā
Dutton wrote Australia needed nuclear-powered boats because ādiesel-electric submarines would not be able to compete against the Chinese in the South China Sea beyond 2035ā.
Defence Minister Richard Marles told The Australian his government was ācompletely committedā to delivering eight nuclear submarines, which the nation is set to acquire under the AUKUS security pact.
Earlier this week, it was revealed a Chinese military fighter jet dangerously intercepted a RAAF plane conducting routine surveillance in international airspace on May 26.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government would āstand upā for Australiaās national interest.
āWe want to see a de-escalation of tension in the region,ā he told KIIS radio.
āItās not in anyoneās interests for instances like this to occur.
āIt was a breach of the way that these things are normally done, so weāre very concerned about that.ā
Chinaās growing interest in the region was also on the agenda of Albaneseās bilateral meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo earlier this week.
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