Pentagon AUKUS Review Sparks Australian Defense Industry Concerns

Former Australian ambassador to the United States Joe Hockey warned Thursday that Australia's defense industrial base faces "significant threat" as the Pentagon conducts a 30-day review of the trilateral AUKUS submarine agreement.

Hockey told AM Agenda that Australia must demonstrate its value as a defense partner beyond financial contributions, highlighting that Australian company Austal holds a $12 billion order book in Alabama building Virginia-class submarines for the US Navy.

"We're not just writing a cheque, but we're actually directly in the supply chain for the enhancement of the US Navy," Hockey said during the television interview.

The comments came as Australian officials from Defence Minister Richard Marles to South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas publicly expressed confidence in the submarine deal despite the Trump administration's review announced this week.

Industrial Base Under Pressure

Hockey identified Australia's limited defense manufacturing capability as a critical weakness that could undermine the nation's strategic partnerships.

"We have no industrial base of substance at the moment," he said. "We have one potential military prime, Austal, which is subject to a hostile takeover from Hanwha, a Korean company."

The former ambassador warned that allowing Australia's "last remaining shipbuilder and the third biggest naval shipbuilder in the United States" to fall into foreign hands would present "a very big challenge for the Albanese government that people aren't paying attention to."

Austal in Western Australia is expected to build $10 billion worth of frigates, pending government decisions, while its Alabama operations produce command and control towers for Virginia-class and Columbus-class submarines.

"We're actually in there building the submarines that help to protect America, and we're using Australian skills," Hockey said.

Ukraine Lessons Drive Self-Reliance Push

Drawing parallels to recent conflicts, Hockey emphasized the importance of domestic defense capabilities.

"We've learned from Ukraine, if you don't make your own weapons, if you don't build your own military, then you can't necessarily rely on foreigners to pick up the tabs when you really need it," he said.

The assessment reflects growing recognition that supply chain vulnerabilities exposed during recent conflicts apply to Australia's defense posture.

"We have witnessed in the last few weeks Ukraine and Israel using their own domestic technology to protect their people," Hockey said. "The question is, do we have that in Australia or are we going to continue to be almost entirely reliant on foreigners providing us with the technology when we need it?"

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