Australia will spend up to $368 billion by 2055 in the nation’s biggest ever investment in defence.

Australia will buy up to five American-made nuclear-powered Virginia-class submarines.

At the same time, billions of dollars will be invested in South Australia’s Osborne shipyard. There, Australia will begin building nuclear submarines based on a British design, which are expected to be ready by the mid 2040s.

Historian at Australian Defense Force Academy at UNSW Canberra, Honorary Associate Professor Wayne Reynolds, says the deal stems from fears about China.

“I think it’s overblown, the China threat, to be quite frank,” he told Ross and Russel.

Professor Reynolds has doubts over the mammoth investment.

“It does remind me of the arrangement we had with the British before we had the Royal Australian Navy, where we spent money in Britain so that they would then deploy battleships and battle cruisers to the far east as part of our protection,” he said.

Press PLAY below to hear why Professor Reynolds has doubts

“We paid money for a while on that basis and then finally the government said we really need to build up our capability here — this is getting too expensive.”

The government expects the full cost of the program to range from $268 billion to $368 billion by 2055.

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