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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tours the BAE Systems shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness,England,where the UK’s first AUKUS submarine will be built.Credit:Jenny Magee

The pair spoke to staff and apprentices at the shipyard,where Australians will train to build the SSN-AUKUS submarines as part ofthe historic $368 billion program. The core of the defence technology sharing alliance is for America and Britain to help Australia build at least eight nuclear-powered – but not nuclear-armed – attack submarines.

Albanese said the AUKUS pact – which will see a new model built at Osborne shipyard in Adelaide by the 2040s – was not just about the common interests of Australia,the UK and the US to uphold the international rule of law,but about “jobs and more jobs”.

“It’s about something more than our national security;it’s about jobs and economic prosperity,” he said.

Albanese saidAustralian workers would be involved in exchanges with Britain and vice versa and insisted that his government had been upfront and transparent about the costs of the project. He said the new submarine workforce would bring a huge benefit to South Australia,similar to how the car industry drove Australia’s post-war economy.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was joined on the visit by Britain’s Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.Credit:Jenny Magee

Wallace joked with Albanese at the training facility that he was worried that Australia would “steal our workers” while also expressing his belief the first of the new class of subs would be designed and ready in the 2030s “to see off threats that are approaching us”.

Wallace said the bulk of the design of thenext-generation submarine would be finished in three to four years and insisted the project would remain on a tight timetable to avoid any backlog of submarine orders.

He warned that cost blowouts would be inevitable because the submarine project would take 20 to 30 years,adding it was impossible to predict an accurate price because of uncertain costs and inflation.

“We are confident we can deliver,we need to ensure there is no backup in the queue,it is in my interests as well as Australia’s interests that we are on time and on budget;we need the services of the submarines too,” Wallace said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with workers on his tour of the BAE Systems shipyard.Credit:Jenny Magee

“These submarines will protect the Euro-Atlantic region for decades to come and with their interoperable submarine design,will ensure mutual compatibility with our Australian and US allies alongside supporting jobs across the UK and demonstrating the experience and skill which embodies British industry.”

Albanese spoke to local apprentices Maddison Baillie,16,and Jacob Gillibrand,17,who showed him how to bend a metal pipe at 90 degrees using a vice.

“That’s pretty good,that’s a success,” he said while inspecting his work.

He went on to test the connectivity of electrical cables and asked worker Stuart Porter,39,an apprentice electrician,how he ended up in the job. He told Albanese he used to be a teacher but swapped careers to become an apprentice electrician at BAE.

“What made you do that? The fact this has given you more career opportunities,that’s fantastic,I love it,” Albanese told him.

Apprentice electrician Nicole Baker,18,told him:“I’m a local from Barrow,my dad does this,but not for BAE,and I wanted to do the same as him,” she said.

Albanese confirmed that the Australian government would buy three or more submarines from the US to ensure there would be no capability gap before the AUKUS submarine is ready.

The US would be on rotation in the region in 2023,while the British subs would undertake the rotation from 2026.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news,views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletterhere.

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