Australian taxpayers are on the hook for an extra $6 billion for nuclear-powered submarines, according to the budget, bringing the total cost over the forward estimates to about $18 billion.
The budget line for the AUKUS submarines in the Defence portfolio statement raised eyebrows in the office of David Shoebridge, Greens defence spokesman and critic of the trilateral deal.
“Why on earth, in the middle of a cost of living crisis, as the climate crisis gets worse, is the Albanese government choosing to dump billions more into nuclear submarines we will never get?” he said in a statement.
The budget says the estimated actual cost for the nuclear-powered submarine project will be $2.4 billion in the current financial year. The following year has an estimate of $3.1 billion, and the following two financial years $1.3 billion and $4.9 billion, respectively. The biggest jump comes in the 2028-29 financial year, where the estimate is set at $6.2 billion.
The estimated costs in the same line in the previous budget added up to just about $12 billion.
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There is more money set aside for AUKUS as well: over the next five years, the government expects it will pay $445 million for nuclear-powered submarine “sustainment”. Given Australia does not yet have any such subs, it was unclear whether the money would go towards costs associated with visiting US nuclear-powered submarines. Most recently, the USS Minnesota arrived in Western Australia on February 25 for the first of several “routine port visits” in 2025.
Defence Minister Richard Marles did not respond to a request for more information.
All of that is of course just a drop in the ocean compared to the upwards of $368 billion Australia is prepared to pay for AUKUS by the mid-2050s.
The budget also confirmed the government would bring forward $1 billion from the 2028-29 financial year for use in the next few years instead. Marles said on X that the move would allow the government to “deliver crucial capabilities for the Australian Defence Force, sooner”.
But a pair of analysts with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute said that wouldn’t be enough to ensure the country’s defence forces remain ready and sustainable.
“The 2025–26 budget is, sadly, an opportunity lost,” visiting senior fellow Marc Ablong and researcher Marcus Schultz said.
“In failing to adequately fund defence, the government has lost the opportunity for at least one year to convince our interlocutors in the US that Australia is doing enough to build up its forces.”
US officials have called on Australia to increase its defence spending to 3% of gross domestic product. But according to ASPI, the funding will reach only 2.33% of GDP by 2033-34.