Press Conference, Sydney

SUBJECTS: Ghost Shark; Australia-United States Relationship; Defence Spending; Middle East Conflict; Australia-Vanuatu Relationship; Pacific Islands Forum.  

RICHARD MARLES, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Welcome everyone today to Fleet Base East. It's a really exciting announcement that we have today, and it's great to be here with the Minister for Defence Industry, Pat Conroy, with the Chief of the Royal Australian Navy, Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, and with David Goodrich, the CEO of Anduril Australia. Today, we are announcing a $1.7 billion commitment over the next five years to manufacture Ghost Shark in Australia. It's a contract with Anduril Australia which will see the manufacturing– or the development and the manufacturing of Ghost Shark behind us. This is the highest-tech capability in the world. It exemplifies the fact that Australia is leading the world in terms of autonomous underwater military capabilities. And Ghost Shark is capable of engaging in intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike. This is a profoundly important capability for the Royal Australian Navy. Today, the contract that we are engaging in with Anduril Australia will see dozens of these units built for the Royal Australian Navy. We're not being more specific than that – given the stealth nature of Ghost Sharks, we do not want to put out there the precise number. But dozens of these units will be built in the first tranche of this program for the Royal Australian Navy. In the process, this is supporting 120 existing jobs at Anduril Australia who have been involved in the manufacture of Ghost Shark today, and during the life of this contract it will create another 150 jobs at Anduril’s facility at Alexandria, here in Sydney. This is the culmination of three prototypes of Ghost Shark having already been built and it demonstrates an exquisite capability which has been designed, developed, prototyped and now being manufactured here in Australia. Ultimately, what this does is provide enormous capability for the Royal Australian Navy. It will work in conjunction with an enhanced surface fleet, which our government is in the process of putting in place. It will work with Collins class submarines. And in the future, our future submarines. This complements the work of the Royal Australian Navy, and, in the process, provides a much more capable and a much more lethal Navy. And it's with enormous excitement that we are here today to be able to announce this contract and this commitment.

PAT CONROY, DEFENCE INDUSTRY MINISTER: Thank you, Deputy Prime Minister and I'll add a few remarks. As a maritime nation bounded by three oceans, a strong Navy is essential to our national security and our safety. At the same time, we're seeing the rise of AI and autonomy and drones. So today's announcement is a culmination of three years’ effort of the Australian Government and Anduril Australia in their supply chain. This is all about adding a lethal, autonomous capability to the Royal Australian Navy. Three years ago, the government and Anduril Australia decided to co-invest in this exciting opportunity. Three prototypes were delivered on budget and ahead of schedule, such was the commitment by all parties. This also became Mission Zero for the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator, or ASCA. This is a poster child for speed to capability, which has been the Albanese Labor Government's commitment to defence. This $1.7 billion contract is to further develop the Ghost Shark, to conduct much more research and development and to build dozens of these essential capability for the Royal Australian Navy, as well as sustaining the fleet that will be created. As the DPM said, this is a world-class capability that has the capability to conduct intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike at extremely long distances from the Australian continent. Let me repeat that, it will have the ability to provide strike at extremely long distances from the continent of Australia. They can be launched from ships or from containers around the Australian mainland. And this is, as the DPM said, a truly sovereign capability. This was designed, developed and manufactured in Australia, and it will continue to be made in Australia. We're also very excited about the opportunities to export to allies and likeminded countries, because, as the DPM said, we are confident that we are leading the world in this advanced, extremely large, autonomous undersea capability. And as we've been saying, we are moving at speed. So the first of the production variants of the Ghost Shark will be in service at the beginning of 2026. Let me repeat that, by the beginning of 2026, in the first few months of 2026 we will have our first production Ghost Shark in service. And as the DPM said, this will create an additional 150 jobs at Anduril Australia, on top of the 120 jobs already there. But there are 42 Australian companies spread throughout every state of this Commonwealth that will continue to contribute to the supply chain. So there'll be another 600 jobs created in that supply chain of those Australian companies. So 750 new jobs created by this very essential capability. So this is all about providing a stealthy, autonomous capability to the Royal Australian Navy to complement its crewed platforms, in the process driving another 750 high-skill, well-paid jobs, making Australia safer. I now invite David Goodrich, CEO of Anduril Australia, to say a few remarks.

DAVID GOODRICH, ANDURIL AUSTRALIA: Acting Prime, Minister Conroy, Vice Admiral Hammond, distinguished guests. Today is a very proud day. In just three years, Ghost Shark has gone from an idea, to a world-class capability, to a $1.7 billion program of record. Only three years ago, Chris Brose, Anduril’s President and Chief Strategy Officer, Dr Shane Arnot and I dreamed; what could Australia achieve if we tackled one of Defence's hardest problems. Today the dream stands before us. It didn't just happen by chance. It happened because the Royal Australian Navy, DSTG, ASCA and Anduril came together as true partners – pushing, challenging and inspiring one another to achieve the extraordinary. Ghost Shark, as the Ministers have said, is stealthy, it is long range, it is trusted, and it gives the Royal Australian Navy the ability to see further, to stay longer, to strike smarter and harder. I want to acknowledge the leadership of Vice Admiral Hammond, Professor Tanya Monro, as they stayed the course with us and provided inspiration and support over the past three years. I also want to recognise the grit of the Navy, DSTG and ASCA teams, particularly Rear Admiral Steve Hughes, Commodore Mick Turner, Commodore Darron Kavanagh, and Professor Emily Hilda, and many others too numerous to name. To my colleagues at Anduril Australia and around the world, especially Dr Shane Arnott and Andrew Glynn; your focus, belief, hard work and determination made this possible. And to our board and founders, thank you for backing the bold risks that we sought to take during the co-development phase of the program, and agreeing to build our Australian factory long before we signed the contract so that we could be ready to deliver to Navy early next year. We built the state-of-the-art factory right here in Australia with a supply chain of more than 40 amazing Australian companies. Ghost Sharks will be ready to roll off the line in the next few months, and they will be built by Australians in Australia for the Royal Australian Navy and, subject to government approval, for export to our friends and partners around the world. But this is only the beginning. Ghost Shark will continue to evolve, as it must, with new payloads, new weapons, smarter autonomy and adapting to the emerging threats. What really makes me excited it that this shows what Australians can do when we lean in, we take risk and we dare to do the hard things. Anduril Australia is proud to partner with the Australian Defence Force and the Albanese Government on this incredible program, delivering the capabilities that will safeguard Australia, strengthen our allies for decades to come. Thank you.

JOURNALIST: We saw last week the massive capabilities of the Chinese military on display, including drones and uncrewed systems. Are Australia and our security partners way behind where a country like China is?

MARLES: Well we have seen, firstly, the nature of warfare change significantly over the last few years, and we have also seen how significant autonomous systems are in terms of engaging in warfare. I think what you see behind us with Ghost Shark is the very best of Australian technology, the very best of Australian innovation. And it actually demonstrates how our innovation system within Defence, working with the private sector, is able to come up with literally the best capability in the world. I mean, we are really confident in standing here today saying that Ghost Shark is the best underwater autonomous military capability on the planet. And it is an absolute credit to Anduril, but it's a credit to Defence Science, to the Australian Strategic Capabilities Accelerator, all of the work that is done within our Defence innovation system, in partnership with the private sector, to develop a capability of this kind. And in developing this capability, and obviously there's a long lead up to the point that we're at today in terms of making this announcement, but part of this announcement today is that Ghost Shark will be in the Royal Australian Navy in service next January. It will be in service next January. But we are doing this right now, and I am really confident about Australia's innovation capabilities, and I'm very confident about this specific capability.

JOURNALIST: Are we prepared in the event of conflict in the Indo-Pacific?

MARLES: We have consistently articulated that Australia faces the most complex, in some ways, the most threatening strategic landscape that we have had since the end of the Second World War. But in answering that question, what I really want to say is that all that we are doing in terms of spending more on defence, in terms of building a much more a much more capable Defence Force, is to deter conflict and to provide for the peace and stability of the region in which we live. 

JOURNALIST: There are consistent reports out of China around improved technologies for the detection of submarines; quantum sensing, magnetic trial detection. Is this investment a hedge in case Australia's nuclear submarines aren't the apex predators in the future that they seem to be now?

MARLES: Well, we're seeing significant advancements in all facets of underwater contest, but I'd make a couple of points in response to that question. We are very confident about Australia's future submarines being fundamentally critical to Australia's military capability. And whilst there's a whole lot of advancements in technologies about detecting submarines, there's also a lot of advancements in technologies around making submarines harder to detect, and we are really confident about the program that we are on in terms of giving Australia a highly capable, long‑range submarine capability in the future. Ghost Shark complements it, Ghost Shark operates in conjunction with it – that's the point that I made up front. And it also works in conjunction with our surface fleet. And what is clear is that going forward, nations will need to have an autonomous under water military capability, and that's what Ghost Shark represents. But we will also need very much a long-range capable submarine in the future, and I'm really confident that that's what we are developing under the banner of AUKUS by providing Australia with that capability.

JOURNALIST: Building on that, are these things also sub-hunters? Can they take out enemy subs or detect them? 

MARLES: We're going to be a little coy in terms of how we answer specific questions about what this can do, given the nature of what it does. But I go back to the way the words that we've used; this is a capability which will be able to engage in intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike. And one should read those words to the fullest extent. That is the capability that we have here. 

JOURNALIST: Do you see them being used as part of a trilateral collaboration between AUKUS?

MARLES: Well, AUKUS is a capability sharing agreement between our three countries. We work together on advanced capabilities, and we are working together on underwater capabilities beyond Australia's long-range nuclear-powered submarine capability. So that's what AUKUS is. But we, in all we do, work very closely with our partners and allies around the world and in the region. And the reason we do it, what we are doing with the Defence Force that we are building, is to provide for the peace and stability of the region which we live. 

JOURNALIST: Is this additional defence spending, and does it also count as a US defence sale, so that you can to the Pentagon and say we’re lifting our defence spending? 

MARLES: Well, what this is, is an Australian development. This is Australian technology. It has been designed, prototyped, and will now be built here in Australia. This has been paid for out of the Defence budget which has absolutely increased, and it's increased by reference to how we perceive our strategic landscape. And all of this was articulated in the Defence Strategic Review. We do face, as I said earlier, the most challenging set of strategic circumstances that we've had since the end of the Second World War. That was articulated in the Defence Strategic Review and the National Defence Strategy, and it's off the back of that that we are making the decision to build the Defence Force necessary to meet the strategic moment. And what that has already seen is the biggest peacetime increase in defence spending in Australia's history. 

JOURNALIST: Can we ask a bit more about the timing of this announcement? I mean, we had China's victory day parade last week where they showcased their giant autonomous submarines.

MARLES: So the timing of today's announcement? The answer to that question is January next year. I mean, the first of these comes into service in January of next year, and so we're announcing it now in September. This announcement is timed based on how we've been developing this capability over the last three years, the contract that we have just entered into with Anduril Australia, and seeing the first of these in service, literally in the next few months. 

JOURNALIST: DPM, just on another topic? 

MARLES: Are there any others? Let’s do these and I will come back to that. 

JOURNALIST: In which case, the first batch– there'll be a few dozen, I think you said, or dozens of them. When's the second batch coming?

MARLES: Well, what we are announcing today is a $1.7 billion contract with Anduril which will see the first tranche of these being built. As I say, we're not– there is a specific number, but we're not making that public. What we are saying is that there will be dozens of these built over the course of the next five years. 

JOURNALIST: There's been some issues in the past with its stealth, speed and range. Are you satisfied that those issues have been fixed ahead of that January release date? 

MARLES: Yes. 

JOURNALIST: What is the long range? And does it operate from HMAS Stirling or an Australian base, or is it deployed from a naval vessel?

MARLES: So the answer the very first question, very long range. We're not going to go into the precise details of that more than saying that it is a very long-range capability, but I refer to what Minister Conroy said in respect of that. In terms of the deployment, maybe– 

VICE ADMIRAL MARK HAMMOND, CHIEF OF NAVY: Good morning. The short answer is yes to all of the above. You can operate from shore, it can operate from surface vessels, and so therefore it can be deployed forward and be deployed at long-range from Australian (inaudible). 

JOURNALIST: And could it be transported somewhere on a C-17? 

HAMMOND: Yes. 

JOURNALIST: Vice Admiral, you speak about the undersea battle space and developments, do you foresee a future where the oceans are much more transparent and crewed submarines are much more detectable. Is that going to change the nature of the way the undersea (inaudible) operates? 

HAMMOND: I've heard about transparent oceans since I qualified in submarines 31 years ago, and nothing's really changed. Per the Deputy Prime Minister's comments, every advancement in counter detection, in the detection capability, is usually met by an advancement in encounter detection capability and increased stealth. What I would say is that the above water environment right now is completely transparent, and no one stopped building ships and aircraft, etc. So my personal belief is that the undersea battle space will continue to be increasingly congested, increasingly contested, but ultimately that is the most opaque environment on the planet, and I believe that our allies and partners will continue to enjoy the capability advantage in that space, provided we invest in capabilities like Ghost Shark and others, as well as our crew systems for years to come.

JOURNALIST: Admiral, naval manpower is stretched at the moment. How are we going to handle this new capability?

HAMMOND: Well, this capability obviously helps us out in terms of crewing, because it doesn't require a crewing capability, it's just the sustainment challenge for us. But on that, Navy retention right now, our separation rate’s about six and a half percent overall, two and a half percent of that is medical and non-voluntary; so people who either reach retirement age or that we separate because their values are not aligned with ours. So voluntary separation rate’s only 4 per cent. I think most employers in this country would be proud of a voluntary separation rate of 4 per cent. And as Minister Keogh has mentioned, we are seeing increasing improvements in recruiting and attraction, and I personally believe that systems like this are going to attract a lot of young Australians to want to be part of the future hybrid capability workforce that exists in the Royal Australian Navy, with crewed and uncrewed systems. 

JOURNALIST: You said before that these subs are going to be some of the best autonomous subs in the world. I mean, how do they actually compare with technology from other countries?

MARLES: This is the leading capability in the world in terms of a long-range autonomous underwater capability, what you are looking at with Ghost Shark is the leading capability in the world. And we are speaking here to a national strength of Australia, which makes sense when you look at the map and as a country surrounded by big oceans, much of what we need to do in terms of meeting the strategic moment, meeting the strategic challenge that our nation faces is having a highly capable Navy in all its forms; surface fleet, highly capable submarine capability, and now a highly capable uncrewed long-range underwater capability. That's what Ghost Shark represents. It's not the totality of our underwater autonomous capabilities, but this is, as a long-range platform, the world’s best.

JOURNALIST: Can we expect them to be used, for example, the Australian Navy vessels performing exercises in the Taiwan Strait, could we expect to see them accompanying those vessels? 

MARLES: Well, look, the last thing I'm going to do is start to speculate about how we will use this capability, given its nature. And we wouldn't talk about any of the missions that any of our underwater capabilities, that our submarines do, for example. So that practice won't differ in respect of this. I mean, this is a highly capable platform, but what defines it is stealth. And as a result, what you will find from me and others in the future giving press conferences like this is that we will be very coy indeed about describing exactly what these will do. 

JOURNALIST: Have you discussed this with your US counterpart, Pete Hegseth, at all?

MARLES: Look again, I’ve had a lot of conversations with my counterpart, Pete Hegseth, and we talk about how we are moving forward jointly in terms of developing our respective military capabilities. If we’re beyond this, I might ask these two to leave. 

JOURNALIST: The Prime Minister is heading to the United States soon, following on from your visit, probably the first meeting with President Trump. Will Australia be able to take new defence spending to address the concerns that the administration has clearly expressed that they want Australia to spend more on defence?

MARLES: Well, look, the Prime Minister is going to the United States to attend the General Assembly of the United Nations. In terms of any meeting with the President, we've said this on many occasions, I'm sure that at some point in the not too distant future we will see our two leaders meet. More broadly than that, we are making decisions about our own Defence capabilities based on our own assessments of our strategic landscape, the strategic challenge that we face, and what we need to do in terms of building a Defence Force to meet that. And as I've said on many occasions, that process has resulted in the biggest peacetime increase in Australia's defence spending in our history.

JOURNALIST: Does Israel’s strike against Qatar break international law?

MARLES: We are concerned about what we have seen overnight. The strikes by Israel on Qatar are a violation of Qatar's sovereignty. They risk a ceasefire in Gaza. They do not help in terms of a return of hostages. And they also risk an escalation in what's occurring in the Middle East. And so for all those reasons, we are deeply concerned about Israel's strikes on Qatar. And I’d also make this point, that Qatar has actually played a really important role since the conflict began, in bringing parties together and trying to promote peace in the Middle East. And so for all of those reasons, we are very concerned about what we saw overnight. 

JOURNALIST: A couple for Pat if that's alright. Just going back to what happened in Vanuatu over the past couple days. What happened? Why was there a breakdown, and how come this wasn't sorted when you guys were over there? Sovereignty has been a big, contentious point as part of this agreement since 2022, so how have we not gotten there? 

CONROY: The Acting Prime Minister is equally equipped to answer this question, given we were both in Vanuatu a month ago. We were open when we were over there that we had made progress and were looking to finalise the agreement. As the Prime Minister said yesterday, we've agreed on the principles and they are what they are, and we're going to continue to work on finalising the process. But the important thing here is that we respect the sovereignty of Vanuatu, and we respect their needs to work through their processes to get this finalised. And the whole philosophical approach of the Albanese Labor Government to engagement with the Pacific is firstly, we turn up, we listen to the priorities of our partners, and we act on their priorities. And you're seeing that in action right now around finalising the Nakamal treaty, and I'm confident, as the Prime Minister said, we'll get it done, and that will build on our huge achievements in the Pacific – whether it's the Falepili Union with Tuvalu, the Nauru-Australia treaty, the Bilateral Security Agreement with Papua New Guinea, this government is making huge progress in our relationship with the Pacific, repairing the damage done under the previous government, and we will just work on finalizing the agreement as committed to. 

MARLES: Perhaps I might just say, as Pat has just said, Pat and I have been deeply engaged in both the process, but also the progress in our relationship with Vanuatu and seeing a really significant upgrading in that relationship through a new treaty level agreement. I actually welcome the comments that we heard from both Prime Ministers yesterday in Vanuatu, when they said they were confident that we would get this done. As Pat has just said, what we're doing here is difficult. There's a lot to work through, and it takes time, and we very much understand that. But progress is happening in our relationship with Vanuatu. It is being utterly transformed. We are upgrading that into a new treaty level agreement, and we too are confident that we will get this done. And in saying that I really would like to pay credit to Pat in his role, because this is an example of the improved relationships which have been underpinned by a series of agreements with nations around the Pacific, which have greatly enhanced our relationships in the Pacific and our standing within our immediate neighbourhood, 

JOURNALIST: The PM is obviously in Solomons today. It’s been about three years since the Island signed that secret security deal with China. Do you think a Beijing security presence in the in the region is inevitable, and what does that mean for our security?

MARLES: Well look, I guess I'd make a couple of points in relation to that. I think we are seeing a much more geo-strategically contested Pacific. That's simply a reality. But equally, we are as a government, and have, since the time we've come to office, been making the Pacific a focus, front and centre in terms of our foreign policy and our world view. That's very much being led by Pat and the Foreign Minister. And this has seen leaps forward in terms of the relationships that we have with countries in the Pacific, which, from my point of view, is a wonderful thing to see. It's really important for our nation. It will contribute to the human development of the Pacific, and that is fundamentally important because this has been the region in the world which has been the slowest developing region in the world. And it's really important that Australia as the partner of choice for these countries, is playing our part in contributing to the human development of the Pacific. Along the way, we are also making sure that we are the security partner of choice for these countries, and I'm really confident that we have been able to make progress in that and that we are the first partner of choice in terms of security for the nation's of the Pacific.

JOURNALIST: Can I just build on that– we have our own policing agreement with the Solomon Islands, and that said that they would wane down reliance on third partners for security reasons. Now the Pacific Island Forum is the first kind of big test when it comes to events in the Solomon Islands, and we still see a Chinese policing presence there, and we've seen some vehicles being donated, although not for security explicitly. How is our pact progressing? Are you happy with the Solomon Islands adherence to that? Are they still overly reliant on China and some of these security aspects? 

MARLES: I might ask Pat to add to the answer that I'll give, but yes, we are very happy with the way in which we have progressed our relationship with Solomon Islands across the board in security and specifically in relation to policing. There have been really significant steps taken forward with Solomon Islands over the last three years, and we’re in a very different place today to what we were when we came to government, and we are happy with that progress, but that is very much a function of diligent work that has been put in by our government, that Pat has been at the centre of.

CONROY: Thank you, Acting Prime Minister and further to both questions, Prime Minister Manele, when he was elected prime minister, his first visit was to Australia, and he reaffirmed the government of Solomon Islands view that Australia is their security partner of choice. And he also articulated an approach to policing that's entirely consistent with the Australian Government's policy position, and as importantly, the position of the Pacific Island Forum leaders’ consensus, which was a three tiered approach to security, where the primary and first level of security would be provided by the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force. Secondly, by other Melanesian policing, whether it's Fiji, PNG or Vanuatu. And then third, the rest of the Pacific. That's entirely consistent with our approach, it’s entirely consistent with the Pacific Policing Initiative, and it's entirely consistent with the 2022 PIF leaders’ consensus that if there's gaps in security in the Pacific, they should be provided by other Pacific nations. So we're hardened by Prime Minister Manele’s commitment that we are their primary security partner, that we are their security partner of choice. Security at the PIF was provided by the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force. I would make the point that previous large events in the Solomon Islands, including the Pacific Island Games, support to the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force was provided by a multinational Pacific force of Australian Defence Force, Australian Federal Police, New Zealand Defence Force, Papua New Guinea police and Fiji Defence Force. So that is the multinational Pacific approach that the Pacific has signed up for. We're supporting that, and we'll continue to go forward with it. I'll make the point on logistical support for the PIF, the largest support provider of logistic support to the PIF was Australia. We are privileged to do that. We'll continue to do that. Other countries outside the Pacific provided small levels of support around the edges, but Australia provided the greatest amount of support which is appropriate. Thank you very much. 

ENDS