Details of new Australian maritime command emerge at conference
The admiral in charge of Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine program has warned the massive project will be slow, expensive and likely to suffer setbacks. The blunt assessment came on the closing day of an International Defence Conference in Perth that has been dominated by AUKUS discussions.
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00:00In resources-rich WA, there's another sector where business is booming, as defence industry
00:09gears up for the arrival of nuclear-powered submarines.
00:13Creating from the ground up something that we haven't had in Western Australia before
00:17or anywhere in the country, and it's high-tech and it's multi-generational, it's a huge opportunity.
00:23An international military conference in Perth has wrapped up with a local AUKUS update.
00:29We will see Virginia-class submarines operating from HMAS Stirling within three years.
00:35There will be no capability gap.
00:37But the Australian Submarine Agency boss warns this country's push to acquire its own nuclear-powered
00:43boats will be trickier.
00:45It's not easy, it's not quick, nor is it cheap.
00:52There will be setbacks, but we need to have the confidence to see this through.
00:57Publicly, officials here are sounding positive about the highly complex nuclear submarine
01:03endeavour.
01:04But in a city that describes itself as the gateway to AUKUS, some local concerns are
01:10emerging.
01:11Visiting American and British companies are privately worried that the infrastructure
01:16needed in and around Western Australia's Garden Island Naval Base is taking too long to build.
01:23I think preparations are going well, but we can always do more to explain the benefits
01:28of AUKUS better to that community and make sure they are able to share in it as well.
01:33From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.
01:38But winning over these locals is unlikely.