SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine programme with the United States and Britain will cost Australia up to A$368 billion ($245 billion) by 2055, a defence official said on Tuesday.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the programme will result in an A$6 billion ($4 billion) investment in its industrial capability over the next four years.
The Australian government’s funding for the programme will come to about 0.15% of its gross domestic product per year, Albanese said in a statement, adding the plan will create around 20,000 jobs over the next 30 years.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled details of a plan to provide Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines, a major step to counter China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific.
($1 = 1.5006 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Lewis Jackson in Canberra and Renju Jose and Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Editing by Praveen Menon)
