SHORTLAND MP and Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy says no decision has been made on the location of an east coast AUKUS subs base despite Premier Dominic Perrottet's lobbying for Port Kembla.
"The government's decisions on potential east coast basing options will be informed by the Defence Strategic Review," Mr Conroy said yesterday.
"This is an important decision. It will be made deliberately, with adequate time to consider the requirements and suitability.
"We'll analyse the facts, weigh up the options and make an announcement at the appropriate time."
Newcastle, Port Kembla and Brisbane were short-listed last March, and Hunter Defence chair Tim Owen says Newcastle has three distinct advantages over Port Kembla, which is also reportedly favoured by Defence.
Mr Owen, who had a 32-year-career with the RAAF before his brief stint as state Liberal MP for Newcastle, said the Hunter's long history as a shipbuilding region meant it was home to major marine contractors including Civmec (which owns the former Carrington Slipways/ASC site at Tomago), minehunter builder Thales and the Hunter's own Varley.
Secondly, the RAAF base and the burgeoning aerospace park at Williamtown meant high level "prime" contracting companies including BAE and Lockheed Martin were already embedded in the region.
The third advantage was a large workforce with a range of engineering and other technical skills working in coal-fired power stations and other heavy industries, whose expertise and training could be easily converted to submarine work.
Mr Owen acknowledged the apparent official preference for Port Kembla, including claims of a quicker run to deep water and proximity to a Naval practice area radiating out from Nowra.
But as the submarines would be at sea for much of their lives, Mr Owen said quick access to deep water was not as crucial as some were making out.
He said the Chinese half-share in the privatised Port of Newcastle was an issue, but there was no evidence to say the Chinese had breached their promise to let "local management do their job".
A port spokesperson said Canberra had never raised any security concerns about the Chinese shareholding, which began with port's privatisation in 2014.
They said the port had not been involved in the short-listing process and had not discussed it with the government since the announcement.
Federal Newcastle MP Sharon Claydon said AUKUS would create 20,000 jobs and Newcastle would benefit regardless of the east coast base location.
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