A shipyard in Perth's south will house a multi-billion-dollar defence precinct for continuous naval ship building and to service AUKUS submarines. The Commonwealth has committed an initial $127 million, with estimates the project could end up costing as much as $20 billion.
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00:00Defence Industry Minister Richard Miles flew to Western Australia to make the announcement
00:06alongside Premier Roger Cook.
00:08They travelled down to Henderson in Perth South, where the Defence Precinct will be.
00:13Mr Miles says it will create 10,000 jobs and represents the single biggest defence industry
00:18offering to Western Australia since Federation.
00:21The Defence Precinct will build new landing craft for the Army and new frigates for the
00:26Navy.
00:27After years of lobbying by the WA Government, the Commonwealth has also agreed it will be
00:32where Australia's future nuclear-powered AUKUS submarines will be maintained, with
00:36several dry docks to be built.
00:39The submarines will be based at the nearby HMAS Stirling naval base, which is also due
00:43to undergo major expansion.
00:45Mr Cook says it's a game-changer and the new defence industry will rival the state's
00:50massive resources industry in terms of economic activity and jobs.
00:55But the Coalition's Defence Spokesperson Andrew Hastie was more critical, saying the
00:59initial $127 million offering from the Commonwealth showed a lack of commitment and kicked the
01:05project into the long grass.
01:07But the State Government says it will create jobs for generations, and once it's built,
01:12the new Defence Precinct will represent the biggest naval maintenance hub in the Southern
01:17Hemisphere.