Australia will spend up to $368 billion by 2055 in the nation’s biggest-ever investment in defence.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was today joined by US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to announce the next step under the AUKUS alliance.

Australia will buy up to five American-made nuclear-powered Virginia-class submarines during the 2030s.

At the same time, billions of dollars will be invested in South Australia’s Osborne shipyard.

There, Australia will begin building nuclear submarines based on a British design, which are expected to be ready by the mid 2040s.

US correspondent Jonathan Kearsley told Laurel, Gary & Mark while Australia will build the submarines, we won’t generate the nuclear fuel used to power them.

“Australia will not be having nuclear weapons and they will not be supplying the nuclear power themselves.”

Press PLAY below to hear his report in full 

“The scale, complexity and economic significance of this investment is akin to the creation of the Australian automotive industry in the post-World War II period,” Mr Albanese said in San Diego.

“Our AUKUS partnership is not just about the US and UK sharing their most advanced submarine capability with Australia, although we do appreciate that, it’s also about building on the expertise within our three nations, so that we can achieve things greater than the sum of our parts.

“This is a genuine trilateral undertaking, all three nations stand ready to contribute and all three nations stand ready to benefit.”

The three-nation alliance was set up to counter Beijing’s push in the Pacific, with China’s President, Xi Jinping last night saying he wants his military to be a “great wall of steel”.

Image: Alexis Rosenfeld/Getty Images