Defence Industry Minister Paul Papalia calls for torpedoes used in AUKUS submarines to be made in Collie

Defence Industry Minister Paul Papalia believes the torpedoes used in AUKUS submarines should be made in Collie — and he is putting hundreds of millions in State Government funding on the table to make his dream a reality. The pitch to build Mark 48 torpedoes in the South West town coincides with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Cabinet’s visit to Perth ahead of the imminent release of a sweeping review of the navy’s combat surface fleet. Mr Papalia said he expected the “Future Navy” plan to contain good news for WA shipbuilders but that it made strategic sense for the State to play an even bigger role in defence manufacturing. He nominated torpedoes as the perfect opportunity to establish WA’s first munitions factory, with Collie’s continuing transition out of coal mining and electricity generation providing a pool of skilled workers. “All of Australia’s munitions manufacturing is done on the east coast and is isolated to a very small number of sites,” Mr Papalia said. “That represents a really critical vulnerability. We are a large continent and a significant amount of defence activity occurs in WA. “We’re reliant entirely on stockpiling over here for munitions and that doesn’t make sense strategically.” Both Australia’s existing Collins-class submarines and the nuclear-powered boats that will progressively replace them through the AUKUS arrangement carry MK-48 torpedoes. They are also the torpedo of choice for all US submarines, including the Virginia-class boats that Australia will begin acquiring from 2032 as part of AUKUS. The weapons — which carry a conventional high-explosive warhead — are manufactured solely in the US by leading defence contractors Gould and Honeywell. They could only be produced in Australia with the agreement of the US Government, with Mr Papalia calling on the Commonwealth to begin that conversation in the interest of pursuing a sovereign manufacturing capability. To sweeten the deal, Mr Papalia said WA had “hundreds of millions of dollars potentially available” through the Industrial Transition Fund set up to attract major projects to Collie. “We wouldn’t necessarily fund everything but what it would do is make it easier for a manufacturer to establish a presence,” Mr Papalia said. “With a bit of political will and the support of the Americans, the torpedoes could be manufactured under license in WA.” MK-48 torpedoes are already maintained at Garden Island by highly skilled technicians, with Mr Papalia saying it was a logical extension to build them locally and represented a “good outcome for all of the AUKUS allies”. “The nation desperately needs munitions manufacturing in more locations than it currently has so we have resilience rather than vulnerability,” he said. “We have the skilled workforce down there in Collie and they’re looking for somewhere to go.” The Cook Government is committed to shutting all State-owned coal-fired power plants by 2030, a move that threatens the livelihoods of about 1200 workers in Collie.