The federal government is prepared to lease nuclear submarines from the United States while its own fleet is being built, Defence Minister Peter Dutton says. Last week, Australia entered into a regional security pact with the United States and the United Kingdom, known as AUKUS, which includes building U.S. nuclear submarines but these will not be ready until the late 2030s. Asked on Sky News’ Sunday Agenda program whether the government would consider leasing nuclear submarines in the interim, Dutton said: “The short answer is yes.” “There is all of that discussion to take place in the next 12 to 18 months,” he said. “The talk that you can just buy a nuclear-powered submarine off the shelf, of course, is just not accurate or correct.” He said the ruling Chinese Communist Party is pumping out submarines, frigates. and aircraft carriers at a record rate, and so the rest of the …