South Australia to deliver nuclear-powered submarine build
South Australia will be the home of Australian nuclear-powered submarine construction, helping to deliver the single greatest upgrade for our Defence capability starting this year. Delivering on the Albanese Government’s commitment, Australia’s next-generation nuclear-powered submarines will be built at Osborne, South Australia.
This historic announcement is a unique opportunity for South Australia, which will deliver jobs and benefit the economy for generations to come. South Australian industry will see a major capability and capacity uplift as it takes its place at the forefront of one of Australia's greatest industrial undertakings.
This will see an estimated investment in South Australia of $2 billion over the Forward Estimates.
The Submarine Construction Yard created for the build of our next-generation nuclear-powered submarines will be almost three times larger than the yard forecast for the Attack class program.
The work in South Australia begins right away – we are already investing in the workforce required and putting in place the infrastructure to support the build. At its peak, up to 4,000 workers will be employed to design and build the infrastructure for the Submarine Construction Yard in Osborne, South Australia. A further 4,000 to 5,500 direct shipyard jobs are expected to be created to build nuclear-powered submarines in South Australia when the program reaches its peak – almost double the workforce forecast by the former Government for the Attack class program. This does not include the additional jobs created in the supply chain for the construction or sustainment of submarines.
The significance of this moment cannot be overstated. The AUKUS submarines will be the most complex machines that have ever been built in human history. And they will be built here in South Australia.
But it is not just the thousands of workers to be employed at Osborne who will benefit. This is a transformational opportunity to increase our economic complexity.
That means more highly skilled, highly paid jobs across our economy that will help lift the standard of living for generations of South Australians.
We now have a massive task ahead of us to prepare the highly skilled workforce to capitalise on this historic opportunity.
For more information, visit www.defencesa.com