Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles shoots down Malcom Turnbull’s criticism of AUKUS, calls it ‘a good deal’

Richard Marles has shot down suggestions that AUKUS is a “really bad deal” that is in trouble after the reemergence of Donald Trump in the White House.

Speaking in Perth on Tuesday, the Deputy Prime Minister said there were no indications from the Trump administration that the AUKUS deal was on the rocks.

“If you look at all that has been said in relation to AUKUS across three countries, all of which have changed their government since the time that AUKUS was announced, there is only positive comment about AUKUS and a commitment to pursue AUKUS,” Mr Marles said.

“When I met with my counterpart, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, his comments were entirely positive about the future of AUKUS and the engagement of the Trump administration in respect of AUKUS.

“And that makes sense because that is a really good deal for all three countries that are involved.”

With the return of the unpredictable Donald Trump to the US presidency, there are uncertainties over whether the $366 billion deal — which would see Washington selling three to five Virginia Class submarines to Canberra over the next decade — will actually happen.

But not everyone agrees with Mr Marles’ view that AUKUS is “good deal for Australia”.

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said this week that there was “no guarantee” Australia would get any nuclear-powered submarines next decade because the US was failing to keep up with its own domestic demand.

“The most likely outcome of the AUKUS pillar one is that we will end up with no submarines of our own,” he said.

“There will be Australian sailors serving on US submarines and we’ll provide them with a base in WA.

“We will have lost sovereignty and security and a lot of money as well.

“That’s why I say it’s a really bad deal.”

Mr Marles dismissed Mr Turnbull’s comments.

“Respectfully, I disagree with Malcolm Turnbull,” he said.

“And it’s not a surprise to hear those words from Malcolm Turnbull.

“One thing is, he (Mr Turnbull) has been consistent about this from the moment we announced the optimal pathway back in March 2023.

“But Malcolm Turnbull will say what he says.

“This is a fundamentally critical moment for Australia. It is a critical deal for Australia.

“Because what this does is gives us an evolving capability in terms of our long range submarine capability which for a country like Australia is profoundly important.”

AUKUS will result in significant spin-offs for WA. It will be responsible for all nuclear-powered submarine maintenance in Australia.

The Albanese Government announced in 2024 that it would establish a “consolidated defence precinct” at the Henderson shipyard.

The Henderson defence precinct would be home to “depot-level maintenance and contingency docking” for nuclear-powered submarines.

The shipyard and port complex was worth up to $20 billion and provide up to 10,000 jobs.

Mr Marles would not give any timelines for the WA project.

“I’m not going to go into years now, but we need to be developing a capability there which enables us to do the maintenance of submarine,” he said.

Just before the State election, WA Defence Industry Minister Paul Papalia announced five WA businesses would work with the world’s largest nuclear-powered submarine manufacturer H11 to become an industry supplier in Australia and around the world.

One of the businesses was Veem in Canning Vale, which Mr Marles visited on Tuesday.