Mr Weatherill said a submarine announcement would be needed before the election to help Liberal Industry, Innovation and Science Minister Christopher Pyne retain the SA seat of Sturt at the federal election. The South Australian campaign to secure the submarine construction work for the state has been underway for about two years, Premier Jay Weatherill said yesterday.Įarlier this year the Defence White Paper revealed the Government planned to order 12 new vessels as part of its future submarine program. The window for the announcement has narrowed to next week, ahead of the budget. It has been a political gift for popular independent senator Nick Xenophon, who is running candidates in Lower House seats in South Australia at the July election.Ĭoalition MPs and senators in that state have been pressing the Government for a decision to try to stem the political bleeding that threatens several seats. The political pressure on the Government did not dissipate, even after all three bidders made it clear the subs could be built entirely, or substantially, in Adelaide. The new submarine project has been embroiled in politics from the outset with the deal between prime ministers Abbott and Abe sparking fears in South Australia that it would lose its shipbuilding industry. The budget is on May 3 and shortly after that the Prime Minister will ask the Governor-General for an election and no major decisions can be made in the caretaker period. There is currently a Japanese submarine in Sydney Harbour and the Government will not make any statement until it clears Australian waters. Read moreīut with South Australian MPs and senators sweating on the announcement there is a small window in which it can be made. The lead-up to the submarine contract has involved election promises, business and political campaigns and lots of speculation. "It will be made in due course, it will be made shortly," he told Adelaide radio station FIVEaa. This morning Mr Turnbull was not prepared to confirm whether the decision would be announced prior to the election.
The Government is now convinced that is not that case and one senior source said President Barack Obama had made it clear to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull the submarine deal was a sovereign issue for Australia and there would be no implications for the alliance, no matter which bidder won. The Japanese bid has been pushed by some US officials who raised the prospect that America might not allow its most advanced combat systems to be installed in the European subs. Officials feared there was less enthusiasm in the Japanese bureaucracy for the deal and that would undo it in the long run. That leaves France and Germany still in the race.ĭefence department officials have had reservations about the Japanese bid from the outset, because it emerged as an understanding struck between former prime minister Tony Abbott and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. While it is not clear if the committee has made a final decision, it has all but eliminated the Japanese bid to build a fleet of 12 submarines to replace the Royal Australian Navy's ageing Collins Class subs. The ABC understands Cabinet's National Security Committee discussed the three international bids for the $50 billion contract last night.