Opposition leader offers broader bipartisan support for Aukus project, but criticises other defence spending cuts
, says Labor’s claim that the Aukus nuclear submarine plan is cost-neutral over four years is “not credible”, and that $3bn of defence cuts to fund the plan means the Albanese government is preparing to “cannibalise” other projects.the plan to spend up to $368bn by the mid-2050s
Dutton also offered the Coalition’s support for a plan to select a defence site for nuclear waste, promising “no politics” on that point and urging critics to “grow up”.submarine program, including $6bn in Australia and $3bn in the UK and US, mostly the latter, to increase industrial capacity to build the Virginia class submarines.
Marles said the defence budget will continue to grow, from 2% to 2.2% of GDP. The Aukus submarine plan will cost 0.15% of GDP on average a year in the long term to 2054-55, which Marles labelled “modest” given the “transformation in the capability and potency of the defence force”. In January, after receiving the defence strategic review, Marles signalled that the government would scale back some defence projects to fund others,On Tuesday Dutton told reporters in Canberra “it’s not credible for the government to say that there’s no net impact even over the forward estimates”.
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