00:01Yeah, good afternoon, Joe. These are B-21 Raiders. They are highly advanced stealth
00:07bombers that are currently in testing in the United States. The first have rolled off the
00:12production line and they're now being put through their paces before they enter active
00:16service over there. This is something the opposition is looking at potentially as a
00:21stopgap. They're airing some concerns perhaps that Australia could be left with a capability
00:27gap as our Collins-class submarines start to age and before Australia receives Virginia-class
00:34nuclear-powered submarines from the United States. That's expected from 2032, but of course
00:40we've heard plenty in the past few weeks about production delays and the like in the United
00:45States. And there are some concerns if that window gets pushed out any further, we may be
00:50left with a capability gap. The opposition now pointing to these B-21s as perhaps an answer.
00:56The reason the Shadow Defence Minister, James Patterson, likes them is because they have
01:01long-range strike capability. They can fly at a very high altitude, they are hard to detect
01:06and can carry a very significant payload. They're not, of course, a like-for-like replacement with
01:12submarines. Barty argues that long-range strike capability would be an important thing for the
01:18Australian Defence Force to have should there be a bit of a gap there before those nuclear-powered
01:23submarines arrive. Here's James Patterson speaking to the Press Club earlier today on those warnings
01:30we've heard out of the US, in particular on delays to submarine shipbuilding and the possible need
01:35for a capability like this. I think we're doing the public a disservice just by saying everything is
01:41fine, everything on track, no need to be alarmed. I think we do need to make changes so that we
01:46can
01:46deliver AUKUS and I think we do need contingencies for potential capability gaps given the challenges with
01:52the Collins Life of Type extension. Given any possible slippage in the delivery of US nuclear-propelled
01:58submarines, we need to be able to say that we will have those alternative capabilities to rely on should
02:05events get out of our control, should we find ourselves in conflict in our own region in the future before
02:11Virginia-class submarines or other capabilities arrive.
02:14Now, Joe, this isn't a commitment from the Shadow Defence Minister or the Coalition more broadly. They're not saying they
02:20will acquire
02:21these planes, should they take office. They say this is just a suggestion as something the government should perhaps take
02:27a
02:27look at in the short to medium term. Now, we also heard warnings today out of the United Kingdom on
02:33the AUKUS project. A House of
02:35Commons inquiry in the UK reporting that there are concerns on its end about the funding and effort being put
02:42into AUKUS within the
02:44United Kingdom, saying there is a real need for a step up in funding and shipbuilding capacity in the UK
02:50to meet the deadlines that AUKUS requires as Australia and the UK jointly build the AUKUS-class submarine that both
02:57countries will operate from the 2040s.
03:00The Defence Minister Richard Miles was asked about these reports earlier today and said he has no concerns about the
03:07UK's commitment.
03:08We're really comfortable with the way in which the UK is obviously contributing to AUKUS and our relationship with the
03:14UK.
03:15And we are on track to deliver AUKUS in terms of all of its milestones.
03:21And that includes the construction of the submarine yard at the Osborne Naval Shipyard where we will be building SSN
03:28AUKUS with BAE systems.
03:30So, we're very confident about that and we're very confident about the role that the UK is playing.
03:35And Tom, who's the new Defence Secretary?
03:38Megan Quinn is going to be the first woman to take on the role as Secretary of the Department of
03:44Defence, Joe, taking on that massive department here in Canberra.
03:48It was a bit of a surprise. There are a few names being kicked around over the past few months
03:52as a replacement for Greg Moriarty, the current Secretary, who's off to be the new US ambassador.
03:58Megan Quinn wasn't on many of those short lists, but she was named today.
04:03She doesn't have a huge background in defence policy in particular.
04:07She's currently the Secretary of the Department of Industry Science and Resources, but she does have plenty of industry policy
04:14on that CV.
04:15She has done some international relations work as well as a co-author of a white paper on Australia in
04:21the Asian century more than a decade ago.
04:24She is being seen internally as perhaps coming in as a change maker and there is plenty of change underway
04:30at the Department of Defence.
04:32It will soon be carved off to create a new defence delivery agency to work on the big expensive procurements
04:38the defence has at times struggled to deliver on time and on budget in the past.
04:44So overseeing some massive change over at Defence in the next few months and years.
04:48Let's see now in the natural and future plans.
04:49...
04:49There's a lot ofils here.
04:50There's a lot ofils here that have a longitude of this MĂĽller in the Molder-E proponents.
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