{"id":590960,"date":"2026-02-15T04:33:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T04:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/590960\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T04:33:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T04:33:18","slug":"prime-minister-announces-3-9-billion-down-payment-towards-30b-adelaide-submarine-shipyard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/590960\/","title":{"rendered":"Prime Minister announces $3.9 billion ‘down payment’ towards $30b Adelaide submarine shipyard"},"content":{"rendered":"

The South Australian and federal governments have released plans worth $30 billion for a shipyard in Adelaide that will build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS pact with the US and the UK.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that the Commonwealth would make a $3.9 billion “down payment” towards the work at Osborne, with the rest of funding to “flow continuously” over the rest of the shipyard’s construction, due to be complete in 2040.<\/p>\n

On top of enabling works worth $2 billion, construction has already started on a fabrication area worth $5 billion and a Skills and Training Academy worth $500 million.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The new fabrication hall for submarines will be 420 metres long \u2014 more than twice this one at the Osborne South shipyard. (ABC News: Stephen Opie)<\/p>\n

The shipyard’s developer, Australian Naval Infrastructure (ANI), a company owned by the federal government, estimated the next stage, an outfitting area, would cost $8 billion to build, while an area for consolidation, testing, launching and commission would cost more than $15 billion.<\/p>\n

The state government estimated at least 4,000 workers would design and build the submarine construction yard, while 5,500 workers would support nuclear-powered submarine production at its peak.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The SSN-AUKUS submarines are based on\u00a0the design of the British\u00a0Astute-class submarine. (Supplied: British High Commission)<\/p>\n

Long time frame for delivery<\/p>\n

The submarines are being built as part of the $368-billion AUKUS submarine pact<\/a> announced in 2021.<\/p>\n

It replaced a deal to build French-designed submarines<\/a>, also in Adelaide.<\/p>\n

The first part of the plan is for Australia to buy between three and five nuclear-powered submarines from the US, beginning in the early 2030s, including at two second-hand Virginia-class submarines.<\/p>\n

Five of the eight SSN-AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines are due to be delivered by the middle of the 2050s, with the final three delivered in the 2060s.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead from the Australian Submarine Agency points out different parts of the new shipyard. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead, the director-general of the Australian Submarine Agency, said experts from the US and the UK had been in Adelaide advising the build.<\/p>\n

He said the manufacturing process at Osborne would be “identical” to the shipyard building submarines in the UK.<\/p>\n

“Their facilities are 120 years old; ours will be the most modern submarine yard in the world,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Vice Admiral Mead said.AUKUS deal details<\/a><\/p>\n

The final details of Australia’s first\u00a0nuclear submarine fleet have been unveiled \u2014\u00a0along with the price tag.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Albanese said the construction work and then the work building submarines would provide thousands of jobs into the future in Adelaide.<\/p>\n

“If you’re a 15 or 16 year old thinking about what am I going to do with my life, you can be assured that there will be well-paid, secure jobs here in Adelaide and you’ll get \u2026 that satisfaction of seeing what you are creating as a product of your labour and knowing that it is very much your contribution as well to our national interest for decades ahead,” Mr Albanese said.<\/p>\n

“We do live in an uncertain world, but we can be certain of the economic benefit to the tune of $30 billion going forward here in South Australia.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Premier Peter Malinauskas talks about the planned expansion of the Osborne shipyard. (ABC News: Stephen Opie)<\/p>\n

Much larger than frigate work<\/p>\n

Mr Albanese met with South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas for a media conference at the Osborne South shipyard five weeks ahead of the state election.<\/p>\n

Mr Malinauskas said the investment at Osborne South, where six Hunter class frigates are being built<\/a>, was “extraordinary” but it “pales into insignificance” compared with the work for the AUKUS submarines.<\/p>\n

“[We’re] here to announce arguably the most structurally significant contribution to our economy that we will ever see,” Mr Malinauskas said.<\/p>\n

“What has been announced today completely dwarfs some of the investments that we’ve seen in South Australia’s recent past \u2014 that boggles the mind.”<\/p>\n

Opposition Leader Ashton Hurn pointed out the AUKUS deal was signed by the former Coalition federal government.<\/p>\n

“I’m really hopeful that South Australian businesses can feel a part of this project,” Ms Hurn said.<\/p>\n

“It’s really important that we don’t just become a glorified IKEA where we’re bringing in products from right across the world and just assembling them here in South Australia\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We need to be at the heart of this manufacturing opportunity, because that’s what will set us up for generations to come.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The South Australian and federal governments have released plans worth $30 billion for a shipyard in Adelaide that…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":590961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[25403,144083,38602,178442,38600,4740,420,50,255477,106641,255478,45352,38603],"class_list":["post-590960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-adelaide","tag-ani","tag-anthony-albanese","tag-asc","tag-aukus","tag-australia","tag-jobs","tag-news","tag-osborne","tag-peter-malinauskas","tag-port-adelaide","tag-state-election","tag-submarines"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116072783702004536","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/590961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}