Australia to Spend Another $3.2 Billion to Set Up Aukus Shipyard

Richard Marles

Australia intends to plow more funding into a government-run shipyard in preparation for building nuclear-powered submarines, as the nation moves to upgrade its navy and expand domestic shipbuilding capacity.

The government will outlay A$4.6 billion ($3.2 billion) at the Osborne Naval Shipyard in the state of South Australia, Defence Minister Richard Marles announced Friday. That comes on top of A$3.9 billion announced in February.

The money will go to new infrastructure and the training of workers to eventually build submarines under the Aukus agreement with the US and the UK.

The planned submarine construction yard will be 10 times the size of the current shipyard, which is already building surface ships for the navy, according to Peter Malinauskas, the premier of South Australia.

“This investment is another important step in building the sovereign capability Australia will need to build, operate, maintain and sustain our future submarine fleet,” Marles said in a statement.

“The work underway right now at Osborne demonstrates that Aukus is on track and happening now, all while creating opportunities for Australian industry and workers for decades to come.”

Aukus is designed to check China’s military advance in the Indo-Pacific as Beijing’s military power swells alongside its economic strength. Agreed in September 2021, it has two pillars: Australia’s acquisition of conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines; and trilateral sharing of advanced capabilities including quantum computing, hypersonic and autonomous weapons, and AI.