Marles says the government would not be swayed by opposition to the $386 billion project by party elders such as former prime minister Paul Keating
Defence Minister Richard Marles has launched a passionate defence of Australia’s security pact with Britain and the United States amid growing criticism from a series of Labor luminaries, vowing there was no turning back on the $368 billion nuclear submarines deal.
“As a nation which is positioned where we are ... we have to have a top-of-the-line, first-rate, long-range submarine capability,” Marles said. “And the only way we achieve that is through a nuclear-powered submarine capability ... to be able to have the same capability in the future that, in Mr Keating’s time, when was planning for the Collins Class submarines, we must walk down this path.”
As the second part of the pact, the allies are open to working with other countries on emerging military capabilities such as electronic warfare and cyber and artificial intelligence capabilities. “It is not lost on us the significance of the step that we are taking,” Marles said. “We are really comfortable and confident about the way in which that argument is being received. There will, of course, be other voices, which happens in a democracy, and that is important, but this is a program which enjoys bypassing support in Australia, and it is happening.”
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