Australia could initially lease submarines from UK or US but nuclear weapons remain off limits
Senior ministers confirm leasing nuclear-powered vessels from Aukus allies might be stop-gap solution until Australia takes delivery of its own submarines

French ambassador laments subterfuge on the way to Sydney airport
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The top of the Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Missouri is seen just above the water because it departs Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam
A United States Navy submarine departs Pear Harbor. Australia says it’s going to lease nuclear vessels from its Aukus partners for training purposes before the delivery of its own submarines within the 2040s. Photograph: Chief PO

The short-term leasing of nuclear-powered submarines from the united kingdom or the US is being considered by the Morrison government but the Coalition insists nuclear weapons won’t be based in Australia.

The minister of finance , Simon Birmingham, and therefore the defence minister, Peter Dutton, confirmed in seperate interviews on Sunday that leasing submarines from the Aukus allies might be a stop-gap solution until Australia takes delivery of its own – potentially within the 2040s.

“The short answer is yes,” Dutton said when asked on Sky News about leasing vessels.

Birmingham said leasing arrangements wouldn’t necessarily “increase the amount of submarines and therefore the capability across all of the partner nations” but would help with training and knowledge sharing.

“Doing so may provide opportunities for us to coach our sailors, provide the talents and knowledge in terms of how we operate,” he told the ABC.

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“ [It would help] provide the platforms for us to upgrade the infrastructure in Perth, which will be necessary for the operation of those submarines. I expect we’ll see … lease arrangements or greater joint operations between our navies within the future that sees our sailors working more closely and indeed, potentially on UK and US vessels to urge that skills and training and knowledge.”

Birmingham insisted there was no “quid pro quo” in Australia agreeing to intensify its strategic relationship with the uk and therefore the us .

He insisted nuclear weapons wouldn’t be based within Australia’s jurisdiction.

“We’ve been clear, Australia’s position in reference to nuclear weapons doesn’t change, won’t change,” he said on Sunday.

“We will meet all of our non-proliferation treaty arrangements and obligations and not be changing any of our policies in reference to the nuclear weapons technology.”

Birmingham didn’t rule out a rise within the number of UK and US uniforms on Australian shores.

“We have already got US troops and marines who add Australia on rotational deployments sometimes ,” he said.

“We already do close integrated operations alongside our US partner as we do with variety of other countries and that we always look to explore where they will be enhanced and it’s in Australia’s national interest to try to to so.”

Birmingham said Australia had informed the French government “at the earliest available opportunity” of the decide to scrap a submarine affect the French which prompted Paris to recall its ambassadors from Canberra and Washington.

Birmingham said the French were told the $90bn submarine deal was off “before it became public”. France said it had been kept within the dark.

Birmingham said changes, not just in technology but also the region, had made a replacement deal necessary.

“Prior thereto , we’ve been engaging with the French in terms of the changes that we’ve been observing in our region,” he said.

“The changes to the strategic nature of competition within the region. The changes to the challenges of the operational capabilities of conventionally powered submarines and therefore the reasons we’ve been watching the nautilus alternative are due to those different changes.

“This has been very sensitive to urge to the present point in time. We don’t underestimate the importance now of working with the French within the future around their engagement across the region and ensuring that we re-establish those strong ties with the French government and counterparts long into the longer term . Because their ongoing engagement during this region is vital , alongside these decisions that we’ve made.”

But it’s not just the French who are made uneasy by the Aukus arrangement, which remains to be figured out intimately . Australia’s allies within the Indo-Pacific have also raised concerns over what the deal will mean for tensions within the region.

Malaysia said on Saturday that Canberra’s decision to create atomic-powered submarines could trigger a regional nuclear race , echoing concerns already raised by Beijing.

“It will provoke other powers to also act more aggressively within the region, especially within the South China Sea,” the Malaysian prime minister’s office said, without mentioning China.

Beijing’s policy within the region has become increasingly assertive, particularly its maritime claims within the resource-rich South China Sea, a number of which conflict with Malaysia’s own claims.

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