Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced the specifics of the AUKUS trilateral security partnership deal, which will see Australia build and acquire a new fleet of eight nuclear-powered submarines.

Albanese has said the submarine deal is set to create 20,000 direct jobs for all Australians over the coming decades.

“Our agreement unlocks a set of transformative opportunities for jobs and skills and research and innovation in Adelaide, in Western Australia, and here in the United States,” he said.

The government plans on working with the state governments of South and Western Australia to teach the skills required to fill these jobs.

“Working together, our universities and research institutes will collaborate to train more Australians in nuclear engineering,” Albanese said.

Contributing to the creation of these jobs is the UK and Australian project SSN-AUKUS. These submarines will be based on a British design incorporating technologies from all three nations.

Albanese emphasised the benefits to Australia.

“This will be an Australian sovereign capability, built by Australians, commanded by the Royal Australian Navy, and sustained by Australian workers in Australian shipyards with construction to begin this decade,” Albanese said.

Before construction begins, Australia will receive three US Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines in the early 2030s.

“This is the first time in 65 years, and only the second time in history, that the United States has shared its nuclear propulsion technology,” Albanese said.

The AUKUS partnership comes two years after the $90 billion submarine deal with France was scrapped. Albanese compares the AUKUS partnership as having the same impact as the automotive industry had on Australia following WW2.

“This investment will be a catalyst for innovation and research breakthroughs that will reverberate right throughout the Australian economy and across every state and territory.”

Photo: 190218-O-N0801-002 by U.S. Pacific Fleet can be found HERE and is used under a Creative Commons Licence. The image has not been modified.