Building Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine fleet under the AUKUS defence pact will require 20,000 jobs over the next 30 years.
Details of the employment boost came in federal government analysis as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrived in the US city of San Diego to officially announce the AUKUS deal, the Australian Financial Review reports.
The government data showed that its peak of construction, AUKUS will support 8,500 direct jobs.
The majority of those will begin in South Australia, where the submarines will be built. There will also be jobs created in Western Australia as well as eastern states.
Albanese, speaking from San Diego alongside the Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, said AUKUS was a “new dawn” for the Australian Defence Force.
“A very big day for Australia and a good day,” Albanese said.
“A new dawn in San Diego and a new dawn for Australia’s defence policy tomorrow.”
He will be joined on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) by US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to chart the next step in Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine program.
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According to leaked details, from the next decade, Australia will purchase between three and five current US Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines before it starts submarines in Adelaide, based on a British design but with American technology.
From 2027, the US will begin deploying nuclear submarines in Perth as a stop-gap measure.
The Australian Navy will in the next week begin a huge recruitment drive hoping to train hundreds of submariners to man the fleet.
The AUKUS alliance was set up in 2021 to counter China’s assertiveness in the region, with the US and United Kingdom agreeing to provide Australia with the capability to deploy nuclear-powered submarines.
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