Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles says he is “optimistic in the extreme” that a 2030 deadline for new nuclear-powered submarines will be met.
This is despite Marles—also the country’s defence minister—claiming earlier that under the previous government’s deadline, the submarines would be available in the late 2040s.
“I think the truth of where the former government left us at the time of the election is that they were looking at a new nuclear submarine in the 2040s. That is where they were at,”  Marles said on ABC’s Radio National on Wednesday.
“Now we will be looking at every option available to try and bring that time forward, but I think to bring it forward to eight years from now would be extremely optimistic.”…