Conservative British MP Simon Fell has rejected claims by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton that the UK does not have the capacity to build a new class of nuclear-powered submarine for Australia under the AUKUS program.
"I simply don't accept that," he said in an interview on 7.30. "We can build that capacity and we can build submarines fast."
Mr Fell's constituency, Barrow and Furness, is home to the shipyards that build nuclear powered submarines for the British navy. Asked if the UK could upscale its capacity to build subs for Australia, he said: "One hundred per cent. If asked, we will deliver."
On Wednesday, Mr Dutton said the American Virginia-class submarines were the best option for Australia.
"The beauty in my mind with the American model, of the Virginia class, was that it was a proven design, it gave us interoperability with the Americans and there will be more American subs in the Indo-Pacific than there will be British submarines," Mr Dutton said.
Mr Dutton said he had received advice as defence minister before last year's election that the British shipyard where the nuclear submarines are built had no extra capacity.
"The advice to me at the time was very clear ... Barrow-in-Furness is obviously landlocked, it didn't have the ability to scale up."
Mr Fell acknowledged that the UK's nuclear submarine program was stretched with a number of submarines already on the production line, but said there were plans in place to expand if necessary.
He pushed back on Mr Dutton's claim that the US was in a better position to produce a submarine for Australia.
"Those capacity constraints are felt on the other side of the pond ... I know they have struggled with capacity. I know they struggle to keep up with the regular schedule of delivery, whereas we are now meeting a good pace," Mr Fell said.
Mr Fell said building nuclear-powered submarines was "hideously complex".
"It was described to me ... that there is one thing more complex than a nuclear submarine. And that is the International Space Station," he said.
"We shouldn't take our eyes off the fact that this is going to be a massive challenge for Australia to step up and build those skills and build that manufacturing base itself.
"But that's where we can really lean in and help because we have been through a period of massive growth in our shipyard."
Mr Fell told 7.30 that Australian naval officers are already training onboard HMS Anson and that these sorts of exchanges will be a feature of the AUKUS arrangement.
"From that deep integration ... all the way through to the manufacturing line, I would fully expect that we will be working hand-in-glove," he said.
He said Australia must develop its own manufacturing capacity, but the challenges are enormous.
"It's not a sustainable option for either the UK or the US to be building these things whole for you.
"We have people who have been working in that shipyard for their entire lives and they are incredibly skilled for it. You can't build that from scratch. There is going to have to be technology transfer, knowledge transfer and skills transfer."
Mr Fell remains optimistic that the UK will be chosen as the location to build Australia's first nuclear powered submarine.
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