CANBERRA (London Post with ABC News and AAP) By Dr. Majid Khan- Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has offered bipartisan support to pass budget savings the Albanese government will need to fund the massive submarine program, expected to cost more than $200 billion for at least eight submarines.
Albanese government to fund the submarine deal.He encouraged the government to “be up-front with the Australian people because it’s a costly process”.Mr Dutton says it would not make “economic sense” for Australia to make its own nuclear reactors for the submarines.Asked on the ABC’s 7.30 program if the Coalition was prepared to “think outside the usual partisan box” to help the government make budget savings in the national interest, Mr Dutton said:
“The short answer is, yes.
“There will always be points of difference. If there are different ways in which we can provide support to the government, we are happy to do that.”
The opposition leader cited the example of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the overall cost of which both sides of politics have said is on an unsustainable trajectory.
Mr Dutton said the most crucial period to focus on was securing funding for the AUKUS project over the next four years.
He said:“We would encourage the government to be transparent about the money that’s involved, be up-front with the Australian people because it’s a costly process.”
The details of the submarine deal will be unveiled by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday morning from San Diego.
Australian-made nuclear reactors would not make ‘economic sense’
A submarine moves through the water causing a massive wake behind it, some crew visible above deck.Peter Dutton says it’s “not realistic” for Australia to make its own nuclear reactors for the subs.(US Navy).Mr Dutton took over the position of defence minister while the details of the submarine program were still a closely guarded secret within government and the defence establishment.
“It was a compartmentalised arrangement … our thought all the way through was that the size of the US system would mean that it would leak at some stage, but fortunately, that didn’t happen,” Mr Dutton said.
Mr Dutton credited Anthony Albanese for supporting the project while in opposition. “They did so on the basis that it would not create a domestic nuclear industry,” he said.
He dismissed the idea of Australia building its own nuclear reactors for its future submarine fleet, saying it was “not realistic”.
“Honestly, it doesn’t make sense economically,” Dutton said.
The opposition leader was questioned about earlier comments by Vice Admiral Jonathan Meade, who heads the Australian Navy’s task force on the nuclear submarine project.
Meade said at 7:30 am last month that Australia had no plans to build its own nuclear reactor “at this time.” Mr Dutton responded by saying Mr Meade was “an Australian extraordinaire” and “no doubt he will have options for decades and decades ahead”.
