Australia, Defence and the anti-Midas touch with submarines

by Rex Patrick | Jun 2, 2024

It was revealed at Senate Estimates this week that there’s a corrosion problem with HMAS Sheean, one of our Collins Class submarines. Former senator and submariner Rex Patrick scrapes off the rust to reveal a much more alarming problem.

……………………………sadly for the taxpayer, almost everything our submarine procuring politicians and officials do ultimately turns into costly ruin – it’s a case of the Sadim Touch (the opposite of the Midas Touch).

…………………………To summarise, Defence wasted $4 billion dollars to not buy French Attack Class submarines, is now paying $770 million a year to keep, at best, 3 submarines in the water, and plans to embark on a $6 billion LOTE program to extend the life of the Collins Class until the AUKUS submarines start arriving (assuming they do).

……………….., by the time the AUKUS submarine program starts blowing out its already bankrupting $368 billion budget, the Collins shemozzle will look incredibly cheap by comparison. https://michaelwest.com.au/from-collins-class-to-french-to-aukus-submarines/