By Rebecca Strating*
This month, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that a new submarine base will be built in either Brisbane, Newcastle, or Port Kembla on Australia’s east coast. This came after Defence Minister Peter Dutton revealed that design and construction plans for the at least eight new nuclear-powered submarines to be acquired under the AUKUS deal with the United States and the United Kingdom could be announced months before schedule.
The six Collins-class submarines that currently comprise the Australian fleet are based at HMAS Stirling, south of Perth and on the Indian Ocean. The announcement of an east coast base appears to undermine a central rationale of Australia’s move to the “Indo-Pacific” concept of its regional neighbourhood.
