The state and federal governments have selected the site of a new Defence Precinct at the Henderson shipyard in Perth's southern suburbs.
Under the AUKUS partnership, UK and US nuclear-powered submarines will start rotations in WA from 2027 with the Henderson shipyard to build army landing craft and general purpose frigates for the navy.
WA Premier Roger Cook said it was an exciting milestone for the delivery of AUKUS and will secure thousands of high-skilled jobs
"We are firing the starters gun on the largest naval shipbuilding maintenance hub in the Southern Hemisphere," he told reporters.
"(It) enables the government and industry to now get on with the job of developing this infrastructure to drive jobs and growth of the Western Australian economy into the future."
Mr Cook said he expects defence to become the second largest industry in WA in the years ahead.
Defence Minister Richard Marles has tried to reassure current users of the Henderson shipyard that they won't be negatively impacted by the defence precinct.Â
"This strip has a really significant role to play in the resources sector in Western Australia, and it's very important that that is able to be maintained," he said.
The site plan announced on Monday shows non-defence facilities will continue at the northern and southern ends of the Henderson shipyards.
Federal Labor announced $12 billion to develop the Henderson precinct in 2025, forecasting a further $13 billion over a ten year period to facilitate continuous ship building.
Plans for the site from 2024 include a floating dock for in-water maintenance and another for contingencies that could be used for unplanned repairs on nuclear powered-submarines.
The government has also committed up to $8 billion to expand HMAS Stirling naval base, south of Henderson.
14°C