Premier of South Australia the Hon Peter Malinauskas MP, speaking during the AUKUS Nuclear Submarine announcement at Osborne Naval Shipyard in Adelaide. (Photo Credit: Australian Department of Defence)
Premier Peter Malinauskas will today return from the United Kingdom after three days of high-level briefings on the AUKUS submarine program.
Immediately upon arrival in Adelaide, Mr Malinauskas will brief Cabinet about the massive task ahead for the State to train a nuclear-competent workforce, and build the infrastructure required to support the construction of the new SSN-AUKUS submarines.
Ensuring our State is ready to start building the most complex machines on earth will require a joint effort between many government agencies including Defence & Space Industries, Premier & Cabinet, Industry, Energy, Education, Skills and Training, Infrastructure and Transport, Housing, Planning and the Attorney-General’s Department.
During his visit to the UK, the Premier toured the Barrow-in-Furness submarine shipyard, which will construct the first British AUKUS submarine, and BAE Systems’ submarine Skills Academy.
He met with some of the biggest global defence companies, senior Government officials and defence experts, including:
- The Minister for Defence Procurement Hon. Alex Chalk MP
- UK Submarine Delivery Agency CEO Vice Admiral Sir Chris Gardner KBE
- BAE Systems
- Rolls Royce
- Babcock International
- Thales
- UK Ministry of Defence
- Nuclear Powered Submarine Taskforce
- Australian Defence officials working on the AUKUS agreement
- Nuclear Industry Association
- University of Manchester Dalton Nuclear Institute
- UK Shadow Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Trade
“The clear message from each and every one of my meetings was that preparing the workforce for the massive undertaking must start immediately. That is why we have already announced a partnership with the Commonwealth to deliver a Skills Academy, and an additional 800 university places over the next four years. I also announced a partnership between the South Australian Government and the University of South Australia to deliver software engineering degree apprenticeships, and historic agreements between Flinders University and the Universities of Manchester and Rhode Island to begin delivering a comprehensive suite of the world’s best nuclear education in South Australia as early as 2023”, SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said.
Originally published by the Office of the Premier of South Australia on 20/03/2023.
