Air Power Precinct strengthens ‘Fortress Newcastle’ as possible east coast submarine base

Any future east coast submarine base would be expected to allow the stationing of nuclear-powered conventionally armed submarines under the AUKUS trilateral agreement between Australia, the UK and the US.

“(Selecting Newcastle as an east coast submarine base) is something that I’ve spoken on the record about before and I do think that Newcastle has its merits but that decision’s a long way down the track,” according to Labor MP and Member for Paterson, Meryl Swanson, speaking at the Air Power Precinct construction announcement on July 3.

“It's going to be another ten years or so and I know that we have committed to looking at the entirety of the East Coast because at the end of the day we do need to get the location of that base correct. But yes, I am on the record of saying that I am in favour of that.”

The Australian Government has maintained that a decision on the base location for future nuclear-powered submarines is not expected until the mid-2030s.

“We will make a decision about the east coast base towards the end of the decade or at the end of the decade. The priority is getting HMAS Stirling ready for Surf West, doing the Henderson Maritime Precinct and building the submarine construction facility in Osborne. We’ll come to it when the time is right,” according to the Australian Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy, speaking at the event.

“But we've got 10,000 people in the Hunter who work in the Australian defence industry. It's critical to the local economy and it's critical to supporting the ADF.

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“A big feature of World War II was Fortress Newcastle, where we had the Australian Defence Force, or the Army, Navy and Air Force at the time, working with the local steel industry, working with the munitions industry, working with the unions to have a really critical hub for the defence of the nation and that’s something that I'm passionate about.”

Swanson, who has previously voted in support of the Federal Government’s national firearms reform policies and proposed national gun buyback initiative, also addressed concerns within the commercial and defence firearms manufacturing community about incoming proposed restrictions and their impact on NSW businesses.

“It’s not something I’ve been asked before and to be completely honest with you it hasn’t particularly been on my radar,” she said.

“At the end of the day, defending Australia is what the Defence Force is about, and it’s a really important thing. So, we just have to take all of that into consideration. And in terms of today's announcement, this is a really positive development.”

Robert Dougherty

Robert is a senior journalist who has previously worked for Seven West Media in Western Australia, as well as Fairfax Media and Australian Community Media in New South Wales. He has produced national headlines, photography and videography of emergency services, business, community, defence and government news across Australia. Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Public Relations and Journalism at Curtin University, attended student exchange program with Fudan University and holds Tier 1 General Advice certification for Kaplan Professional. Reach out via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via LinkedIn.