A nuclear submarine shipyard earmarked for Osborne, South Australia, is to get an extra $4.6 billion tipped into it.
With $3.9bn already allocated to the Adelaide-based yard in February, total public spending on it now stands at $8.5bn.
The Australian Naval Infrastructure (ANI) yard will be used to build conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines.
The Department of Defence says ANI has already awarded $1.9bn in contracts for the project which should create nearly 10,000 jobs for just South Australia.
Already 1100 workers are working on building the new yard including 100 workers on a new training academy; 400-500 to build testing facilities and 500 designers and project managers to plan and design the new yard.
The training academy is on track to open by March 2028 and should house up to 1000 submarine and shipbuilding recruits as well as life-sized mock-up subs and training prototypes.
OFF TO THE US: Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy flew to the US late last week to talk to government, congress and industry leaders about AUKUS. He was to visit the Hll shipyard in Charleston, South Carolina, to inspect sub building and to visit Australian Navy students at the AUKUS Nuclear Power Training Unit, and visit a missile factory in Tucson, Arizona.
SOVEREIGN NUCLEAR CAPABILITY
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles says that the extra spending “is another important step in building the sovereign capability Australia will need”.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas says the scale of the project “is difficult to comprehend”.
“The submarine yard will be 10 times bigger than the existing shipyard,” he says.
“This project will dwarf the delivery of a non-stop South Road and New Women’s and Children’s Hospital combined and it is already happening.”
Conroy says the academy “will play a vital role” in developing the highly skilled workforce needed to sustain the submarines and for other naval shipbuilding.
SA Defence and Space Industries Minister Chris Picton calls the new yard “one of the most significant defence undertakings in Australian history”.
Osborne is also home to a $11bn refurbishment of the Navy’s six Collins-class submarines which are undergoing major upgrades to extend their operating ‘life’; work has started on the first sub, the HMAS Farncomb.
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