Australia Should Not Limit Itself to 8 Nuclear Submarines: Labor MP

Former soldier, now-MP Luke Gosling says Australia should not stop building submarines once its entire AUKUS fleet is completed.

A photo taken on Nov. 20, 2009, shows the British Royal Navy's nuclear submarine, HMS Astute, en-route to Faslane, on the Firth of Cylde south-west Scotland. Andy Buchanan/AFP FILES/AFP via Getty Images

Former soldier and now-federal MP Luke Gosling says Australia should increase its nuclear-powered submarine fleet to 12 vessels, instead of stopping at the planned eight under the AUKUS deal.

The tri-nation AUKUS deal was unveiled in 2021 and will see the United States and the UK arm Australia with nuclear-powered submarines to counter Beijing’s military build-up in the region.