“It would be a very brave government that went to a federal election in around 18 months time arguing that it was a good thing to export this amount of work overseas while the other side of politics was arguing that it was a good idea to spend that money in Australia,” Hamilton-Smith, who defected from Abbott’s Liberal Party this year to become an independent, told Reuters. naval officers have been enthusiastic about the possibility of Australia partnering with Japan, which would give the three navies increased interoperability at a time of greater American strategic focus on Asia and as China’s navy grows rapidly.īut strong interest from European manufacturers willing to build submarines in Australia, a scenario that would bolster the country’s anaemic manufacturing sector and mollify the government’s blue collar critics, is making an overseas purchase a hard sell.īuying the vessels from Japan could threaten Abbott’s hold on power at the next election, said Martin Hamilton-Smith, the defence and trade minister for the state of South Australia, which is home to 27,000 defence-related jobs including 3,000 in shipbuilding.
Reuters reported in September that Australia was leaning towards buying as many as 12 off-the-shelf stealth submarines from Japan in a deal that would net it a major portion of Australia’s overall A$40 billion ($34.3 billion) submarine programme. SYDNEY, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tony Abbott is under pressure from regional officials, labour unions and members of his own party to have an open tender to build Australia’s next-generation submarine, which would be a blow to Japan and the United States. * Government says weighing several options for submarine programme * Country’s manufacturing sector hit by car plant closures * European manufacturers would build vessels in Australia * But government under pressure to hold open tender * Sources say Australia leaning toward buying Japanese submarines
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