Conroy slams Dutton’s UK submarine comments

Defence Industry minister Pat Conroy has hit back at extraordinary comments by opposition leader Peter Dutton again throwing his weight behind the purchase of US rather than UK designed nuclear submarines.

In a departure from the bi-partisanship shown by politicians to this sensitive defence purchase, Dutton told journalists at the Avalon Air Show that American Virginia-class submarines remained the best and most practical option for Australia.

Dutton said: “The beauty in my mind with the American model, of the Virginia class, was that it was a proven design, it gave us interoperability with the Americans and there will be more American subs in the Indo-Pacific than there will be British submarines”.

Conroy, also attending the air show, immediately hit back, calling Dutton’s comments ‘incredibly irresponsible’.

Conroy said: “This was a man who received classified briefings up until the 21 May on this programme.

“He is either being mischievous or he’s not privy to the latest information.”

Conroy has just returned from Barrow in the United Kingdom where BAE Systems constructs the UK’s nuclear submarines, and said the government would make announcements very shortly about the optimal path forward on Australia’s nuclear propelled submarines.

The government has said that nuclear submarine construction will take place in Adelaide as part of a three-nation Aukus effort to bolster submarine supply chains

Conroy attacked a decade of delays and chopping and changing by the coalition government.

“We had delays in terms of deciding on a replacement for the Collins class.

“They then went down the path of trying to offshore the work to Japan. They then had the contract with the French, which they then tore up, and now we’re trying to repair that damage.”

Conroy said the government was confident it had a pathway to resolve a looming submarine capability gap.

“But I just think it’s incredible for Peter Dutton to make these comments…(that) undermine confidence in the programme and it’s like the arsonist burning down a house and they’re complaining about how long it takes for the fire brigade to get there.

“This man has caused this problem. He’s a man who’s driven 28 projects to be 97 years late.

“And I just find it completely unhelpful in the public debate for him to be injecting this stuff when he knows that there are security reasons that mean that we can’t detail information until we make the announcement.”

Picture: Pat Conroy